THOROUGHBRED RACING / BILL CHRISTINE : Lite Light’s Trainer in Tough Spot

Farma Way’s jockey, Gary Stevens, is fired. Best Pal’s trainer, Ian Jory, is fired. The next shoe to drop in California racing could be Jerry Hollendorfer telling the owners of Lite Light that they should be training the talented 3-year-old filly instead of paying him to do the job.

After Lite Light ran the race of her life in the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park--despite internal bleeding, she missed beating Meadow Star by less than a full nose--Hollendorfer did the only logical thing: He brought Lite Light back to California to begin a campaign that, he planned, would end with her running in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs Nov. 2.

In Kentucky, unlike in New York, Lite Light will be able to run with Lasix, the anti-bleeding diuretic.

Shortly after Lite Light returned to California, however, Louis Burrell Jr., one of the horse’s owners and brother and partner of M.C. Hammer, the rap star, called the Racing Times, a new daily newspaper, and indicated that his family wanted Lite Light to race Meadow Star again at Belmont in the Coaching Club American Oaks July 6.

Since then, Hollendorfer has been downplaying the idea and for all the right reasons. Lite Light would have the distinct disadvantage of shipping across the country to run in Meadow Star’s back yard again. And because of New York’s medication rules, Lite Light would be running without Lasix again.

The Burrells ought to be reminded that Lite Light has bled from the lungs not once but twice in New York, the only two times she has run there. The first time was in the Breeders’ Cup last year, when Henry Moreno trained her. The Burrells didn’t own her then, but that doesn’t change the fact.

There’s still one more reason for Lite Light to avoid running at Belmont against Meadow Star. Even if Lite Light would win the Coaching Club against great odds, the victory wouldn’t help her in the race for the Eclipse Award. A victory at Belmont would leave the horses even in their rivalry and require a rubber match in the Breeders’ Cup.

Lite Light still could win the divisional title without the Belmont race by beating Meadow Star in the Breeders’ Cup, which has become the barometer for championships.

Louis Burrell Jr. evidently is worried that Meadow Star won’t go to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup. In May, owner Carl Icahn’s filly stayed in New York, rather than go to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Oaks, which Lite Light won by 10 lengths.

Maybe Meadow Star won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup, but that will cost her credibility with the Eclipse voters. Lite Light could win at Churchill Downs without her and still be assured of much support at the polls.

The Burrells have been in racing for just a few months and already have spent millions of dollars, including a reported $1.2 million for Lite Light. They have been embraced by a struggling, depressed industry for their head-long dive into the sport, and on Belmont Stakes weekend, Hammer made hundreds of friends around the track, signing autographs and posing for photographs with strangers.

The day his family’s Media Plan ran at Belmont, Hammer lingered so long before leaving the paddock, signing scraps of paper, that it was touch and go whether he’d get to his box in time to watch the race.

But horsemen they are not. Hollendorfer has been around horses for more than 20 years and last year saddled 244 winners, a figure that was topped only by Wayne Lukas.

“Hammer and I are planning our schedules to come to New York (for the Coaching Club), and we’ll be there if we have to saddle Lite Light ourselves,” Louis Burrell Jr. said recently.

Jerry Hollendorfer is in a tough spot, because he’s working for owners with deep cash reserves. But if he lets the Burrells run Lite Light without him at Belmont, there isn’t a trainer in the country who would disagree with him.

Masake, one of the favorites Sunday in the $150,000 Hollywood Oaks, might not run in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

Brian Sweeney, who trains the Honeymoon Handicap winner, is still debating whether to van Masake across town from his Santa Anita training headquarters. Masake also is nominated for the $100,000 Pucker Up Stakes at Chicago’s Arlington International Racecourse July 6.

The Pucker Up is the same distance as the Oaks, but it’s on grass, the preferred surface for Masake. The only times Masake has run on dirt, she turned in a fourth-place finish at Bay Meadows and a sixth at Santa Anita. On grass, she has won twice--the California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields and the Honeymoon at Hollywood--in six starts.

Both of Masake’s poor runs on the main track come with footnotes. At Bay Meadows, she showed a 103-degree fever after the race, and at Santa Anita she bled slightly and has been treated with Lasix in subsequent starts.

“I think she’ll be all right on dirt,” Sweeney said. “She’s very aggressive the way she trains, and I don’t think she’ll be a coward on dirt. I worked her at Hollywood the other day and deliberately had another of my horses run about five or six lengths in front of her. The dirt in her face didn’t bother her. If she runs Sunday and doesn’t win, we won’t use dirt in her face as an excuse.”

Haunting, who will be ridden by Alex Solis, drew the inside post in Sunday’s eight-horse field. Outside her, in order, come Sprucory with David Flores; Fowda, Eddie Delahoussaye; Grand Girlfriend, Chris McCarron; Winglet, Pat Valenzuela; Officer Lea, Jose Santos; Fappies Cosy Miss, Gary Stevens; and Masake, Martin Pedroza. Fowda and Winglet will run as an entry and all horses will carry 121 pounds.

Horse Racing Notes

Linda Card has been scratched from today’s Valkyr Handicap at Hollywood Park and been entered in another stake Sunday, the $55,000 Silver Screen Handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. She will carry 118 pounds, two fewer than Forest Fealty. . . . Greek Costume, winner of the Jersey Derby, carries 123 pounds, the same weight as Queen’s Gray Bee, in today’s $300,000 Arlington Classic, a 1 1/8-mile stake for 3-year-olds. California will be represented by Character, the Cinema Handicap winner. Also in the race is Whadjathink, who ran seventh in the Preakness. Character and Whadjathink each carry 120 pounds. . . . Sunny Blossom, carrying high weight of 120 pounds, runs today in the $100,000 True North Handicap, a six-furlong race at Belmont Park.