HORSE RACING : A Bargain, at Any Price, Doesn’t Have to Be That Big a Gamble

HALLANDALE, Fla. —  In the race book at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas last week, a horseplayer from Los Angeles was able to make a $5,000 win bet at 2-1 odds in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and he’ll cash the ticket if any horse but Simply Majestic, Political Ambition or Warning wins.

Strange things happen in those future-book horse parlors in Las Vegas. Months before the Kentucky Derby this year, one of them was still quoting a price on a horse that had died. In recent weeks, Houston was listed as one of the favorites in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, even though trainer Wayne Lukas said repeatedly that the colt wasn’t going to run. In fact, Houston has undergone knee surgery and is out for the year.

The expression caveat emptor --let the buyer beware--didn’t originate at Nevada sports books, but a sign with that Latin phrase ought to be posted in every establishment.

This time, however, instead of bettors bucking the odds, some of them have an excellent chance to beat the house, at least in the Mile, one of the seven Breeders’ Cup races Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

When Caesars opened its future book on the Breeders’ Cup, odds were listed on more than 50 horses that were candidates for the Mile on grass.

But when 20 horses were pre-entered with $20,000 payments 10 days ago, only four of them--Golden Opinion, Simply Majestic, Political Ambition and Warning--were on Caesars’ 50-plus list. As a result, the other 16 went into a mutuel field, which means that a bettor gets them all for just one bet.

Of those 16 horses, 11 are starting Saturday. Of the horses listed separately by Caesars, Golden Opinion has been scratched and is a probable entrant in the Yellow Ribbon Sunday at Santa Anita.

Steinlen, the second choice behind Zilzal in the Mile, wound up in Caesars’ mutuel field on a technicality. There was some money bet at the hotel on a horse listed as “Steinlend,” but because the name was misspelled, those bets were canceled and Steinlen also became part of the multiple-horse field.

Vinnie Magliulo, the manager of the sports book at Caesars, confirmed what happened to the hotel’s future-book betting, except for the part about Steinlen. “I heard some discussion about Steinlen the other day,” Magliulo said, “but I’m not sure.”

Magliulo referred a reporter to the director of the race book, but he could not be reached for comment. Magliulo said that after Breeders’ Cup entries were taken at Gulfstream Wednesday, the future book closed and regular betting on the races began, with each horse a separate betting interest. After the $5,000 bet from Los Angeles was made on the mutuel field, those odds reportedly dropped to even-money.

“We had people betting on those 50 or so horses for weeks,” Magliulo said. “And since most of them aren’t running, we don’t expect to get hurt on bets like the one from L.A. That guy who bet the $5,000 has got a good bet, all right, but the three horses he has to beat aren’t exactly slouches.”

At the time of the interview, Magliulo didn’t know that Warning suffered a bruised and swollen right foreleg on his trip here from Great Britain. He’s likely to be scratched, which would leave the Los Angeles bettor with only two horses to beat.

In order to squeeze about 50,000 Breeders’ Cup fans into a plant that seldom has to accommodate more than 35,000, Gulfstream Park has installed temporary seats in almost every available space. On the outside of the clubhouse turn, for example, are portable bleachers that can seat several thousand people.

Some trainers are concerned that their horses might get spooked because they will be unaccustomedly close to spectators Saturday, both in the paddock and when they’re on the track.

Trainer Wayne Lukas was asked about the situation.

“If anyone has trouble with the crowds, it will be the horses that have been running in New York,” Lukas said, “because they’re only used to running in front of about 5,000 people.”

Attendance hasn’t dropped off to that extent at New York tracks, but Lukas wasn’t exaggerating by much.

The question that trainer Charlie Whittingham has been asked most often this week is how the jockey switch from Pat Valenzuela to Chris McCarron will affect Sunday Silence. Valenzuela lost the mount last week when Santa Anita stewards suspended him for 60 days after a positive cocaine test.

Whittingham has come up with a stock answer to the question: “The change is harder on Valenzuela than the horse.”

The winning jockey’s share of the the first-place purse in the Classic is $135,000.

At one point, there was valid talk that the Classic was going to be a three-horse race, with Blushing John threatening the big two of Easy Goer and Sunday Silence, but Blushing John is being dismissed by many because of the miserable race he ran in New Jersey on Oct. 13. Blushing John, who has won stakes at Oaklawn Park, Pimlico, Hollywood Park and Arlington International this year, finished ahead of only one horse in the Meadowlands Cup, losing to Mi Selecto by 20 lengths. Now he is 8-1 on the morning line, behind Easy Goer, Sunday Silence and Present Value.

Trainer Dick Lundy is puzzled by Blushing John’s Meadowlands race. “The only thing I can figure is that I made a mistake by sending him from Belmont Park over there for schooling the night before,” Lundy said.

“I wanted him to get used to running at night, which he had never done before. We could have vanned him back to Belmont after the schooling and then returned him to the Meadowlands the night of the race, but we just kept him there. I found out later that they leave the barn lights on all night at the Meadowlands, and he couldn’t handle that and only got about an hour and a half of sleep. Then he had to wait all day before he ran.

“It may have made a difference, but if I didn’t do what I did and he ran a bad race, then I’d be second-guessing myself, anyway.”

Gulfstream Park usually isn’t open at this time of the year but was granted permission by Florida to conduct the Breeders’ Cup weekend, providing it paid a penalty to Calder, a nearby track, which is shutting down for three days. Calder reportedly is receiving $75,000 a day.

Besides the Breeders’ Cup this weekend, Gulfstream will run three stakes Friday, three to open the Breeders’ Cup program Saturday and three more Sunday.

On Friday, Doyouseewhatisee, a California invader, is favored in the $100,000 Chief’s Crown Stakes for 2-year-olds; Fieldy is the morning-line choice in the $100,000 Very Subtle Stakes for fillies and mares, and Wanderkin is high-weighted at 117 pounds in the $200,000 Theatrical Handicap on grass for 3-year-olds and up.

Turfah, on the also-eligible list for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, is also entered in the Theatrical.

Despite beating Nashwan at a time when he was considered to be the best horse in Europe, Golden Pheasant could do no better than make the also-eligible list for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Golden Pheasant, raced by owner Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky of the Kings, ran 14th in the Arc de Triomphe after beating Nashwan.

Horse Racing Notes

Charlie Whittingham hasn’t saddled a horse here since he won the Gulfstream Park Handicap with Pretense 22 years ago. . . . When Laffit Pincay rides Mi Selecto in the Classic, he will be the eighth jockey this year on the 4-year-old colt, who is making his 13th start. . . . Cash Asmussen isn’t riding in the Breeders’ Cup because of injuries.