For Frankel, Weekend Has Far-Reaching Implications

Hollywood Park’s Turf Festival has been kind to Bobby Frankel.

With six victories, the Hall of Fame trainer is the leader in the Festival, which consists of six graded stakes races run over a three-day period.

Frankel hopes to continue his run of success this weekend in Inglewood, but he will also be involved in Kentucky and Japan.

Besides running nine horses in five of the Turf Festival races, Frankel will be represented by Aptitude in the $400,000 Clark Handicap today at Churchill Downs. He left for Tokyo Sunday afternoon and will saddle Euchre in the Japan Cup Dirt on Saturday and Timboroa in the Japan Cup on Sunday.

A lucrative weekend could push Frankel, who is having his best year in terms of stable earnings, ahead of Bob Baffert in the national money standings and could also lead to a possible Eclipse as 2000’s top trainer.

Frankel, who won the award in 1993, is also approaching $100 million in career earnings. He went into this week with $98.5 million.

“An Eclipse would mean a lot,” Frankel said. “I won one before, but it would be nice to have it happen again.

“They usually give it to the trainer who is the leading money earner and I think I have a chance if I win one of the races in Japan.”

Victories in either of the stakes in Tokyo would be something of a surprise. However, Frankel said both Euchre and Timboroa are doing well.

Forced to miss the Breeders’ Cup Classic because of a minor setback, Euchre, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Frank Stronach, scored his biggest career win in the Bel Air Handicap, a Grade II, in July and most recently was third, two lengths behind Tiznow, in the Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap.

Timboroa, who is owned by longtime Frankel client Ed Gann, won the Carleton F. Burke Handicap on Oct. 29.

“I missed the Breeders’ Cup with Euchre, so we thought we’d try him there,” Frankel said. “I loved Timboroa when he won last time. The first time I ran him [in New York], he lost a shoe before he even got to the gate, then the second time, he had trouble and never really got a chance to run.”

Once his work in Japan is done, Frankel will be back at Hollywood Park in time for the $500,000 Early Times Hollywood Derby and the $500,000 Matriarch.

In the Derby, he will send out three 3-year-olds in search of a second consecutive win in the Grade I and his third overall. Frankel’s starters will be Cocky, Igman and El Gran Papa.

Trained by Andre Fabre in France, Igman, a son of Mt. Livermore, won three in a row on the turf, before finishing eighth in a Group I in France. A disappointment most of his career, Cocky recently finished a much-troubled second in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. El Gran Papa was third in his U.S. debut in the Oak Tree Derby on Oct. 21.

“Igman is a real nice colt,” Frankel said. “He finished eighth in that Group I, but he was only beaten six lengths. Cocky should have galloped the other day and he has some quality.”

The Matriarch is a race Frankel has dominated in recent years, winning three of the last four with Wandesta, Ryafan and Happyanunoit.

A winner only once in six starts this year, Happyanunoit is back to defend her title. Perhaps a return to the Hollywood Park turf course will enable her to end a three-race losing streak. Her lone victory in 2000 came in the Beverly Hills Handicap here on July 2.

Although he would not get into specifics, Frankel is confident the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred mare will rebound Sunday.

“To be honest, I really don’t want to get into it with you,” he said. “The mare will run her race this weekend.”

Before he comes home, Frankel’s other Turf Festival starters will be Skatesheba, Langoureuse and Fantastic Filly in today’s $200,000 Miesque Stakes and Super Quercus, who won the 1999 Hollywood Derby, in the $500,000 Citation Handicap and Marine in the $200,000 Generous Stakes on Saturday.

Like Happyanunoit, Super Quercus, who is being supplemented to the Citation for $15,000, has struggled this year, losing both of his starts. However, his trainer expects things to be different Saturday.

“He didn’t like the course at all at Keeneland, then he had a lot of trouble in the race [the River City Handicap on Nov. 5] at Churchill Downs,” he said. “I think he’ll run real well.”

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Jockey Corey Black, 31, will retire from riding after Sunday’s races at Hollywood Park and become the agent for Gary Stevens.

Black, the younger brother of jockey Kenny Black, has long had to fight his weight. He won the first race of his career on Oct. 16, 1985 at Santa Anita.

The country’s top apprentice rider in 1986, Black enters today’s card in Inglewood with 1,523 victories from 14,649 mounts and close to $54 million in purse earnings.

Married and the father of twin girls, Black scored his biggest win with Best Pal in the 1993 Hollywood Gold Cup and also won various stakes races with Annoconnor, The Wicked North, Megan’s Interco, Flying Continental, Brave Raj, Infinidad, Goodbye Halo and Stop Traffic.

Stevens, who returned to riding last month after retiring last Dec. 26, had been represented by Harry Hacek.

“Corey loves stats and he gets along with everybody,” Stevens said. “He’s very enthusiastic and knows what I want. I’ve ridden with him for 15 years. He knows my temperament and can deal with that. There are a lot of pros and not many cons.”

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Green Party

Highlights of this weekend’s Turf Festival at Hollywood Park:

* Today (12:30 p.m. post)--$200,000 Miesque Stakes and $200,000 Hollywood Turf Express

* Saturday (12:30 p.m. post)--$200,000 Generous Stakes and $500,000 Citation Handicap

* Sunday (12:30 p.m. post)--$500,000 Early Times Hollywood Derby and $500,000 Matriarch