HOLLYWOOD PARK : Lucky Forever Takes Aim at Stake

Little did any of the 4,810 fans who came to the races at Fairplex Park on Sept. 24, 1992, know they were getting a look at a future world record-holder.

Yet, the same Lucky Forever who ran the fastest 6 1/2 furlongs in history last month at Hollywood Park is the same son of Lucky North who finished eighth in a field of nine in his first career start 33 months ago.

He has overcome tendon and back problems and two extended layoffs to become a quality sprinter for owners Jeanie and Russell Bartholomew and trainer Gary Lewis.

In beating Blumin Affair by five lengths in the Rich Cream Handicap on May 20, Lucky Forever completed the distance in 1:13 1/5. This bettered the 1:13 3/5 mark set by Native Paster in 1988 and equaled a short time later by Silver Icon.

Granted, the track was very fast, but world records are usually accomplished in unique conditions. Native Paster set her record on an extremely hot and windy day at Del Mar.

Nobody is expecting Lucky Forever to break Rich Cream and Time To Explode’s seven-furlong world record of 1:19 2/5 in the $100,000 Triple Bend Handicap today at Hollywood Park, but the gelding is the 8-5 morning-line favorite to beat his five opponents.

If he is successful, it will be the first graded stakes victory for the Florida-bred and it will keep him on a path that the Bartholomews and Lewis hope takes him to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 28 at Belmont Park.

“He couldn’t be doing any better,” Lewis said. “He’s training better than ever and he keeps improving. He’s six, but he’s lightly-raced and he’s getting stronger.”

The idea of Lucky Forever being favored in a graded stakes or thinking about the Breeders’ Cup would have seemed preposterous when he began his career late in 1992. “He never showed too much in the morning and he wasn’t as strong as he is now,” Lewis said.

After finishing last in his Fairplex debut, he had two more unsuccessful starts before shocking $32,000 maidens at Santa Anita on Nov. 5, winning by 3 1/2 lengths at nearly 23-1.

But a back problem sidelined him for nine months.

“He was a very light horse, but he really filled out when he was a 4-year-old,” Lewis said. “It was hard to believe it was the same horse. He put on a couple of hundred pounds.”

After finishing seventh in an eight-horse field in a Del Mar allowance race on Aug. 8, 1993, Lucky Forever won his next start on Sept. 6 at 40-1, then scored another upset in the Bay Meadows’ Budweiser Breeders’ Cup 12 days later.

In six races since, he has finished worse than third only once. Of course, there were 15 months of down time mixed in because of his tendon problem.

“That’s a thing of the past,” Lewis said. “You can’t even really see it. He’s come back really, really well.”

A victory by Lucky Forever today would be his sixth in 14 starts and his winning percentage would almost match that of his trainer for the current Hollywood Park meeting.

Lewis, 54, has five victories and two seconds from only 12 starters. He is also ready to bring back Jumron, the El Camino Real Derby winner and third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby.

Fourth in the Kentucky Derby when victimized by a rough trip, Jumron is recovering from a pulled muscle in his back, an injury which forced him to miss the Preakness and Belmont Stakes and which will also keep him out of the Swaps Stakes on July 23.

“We’re just going to play it by ear with him,” said Lewis. “We’ll probably run him some time at Del Mar.”

Even though he would have liked to have seen his colt get his best chance in the race and would be in favor of restricting the size of the field, Lewis enjoyed his Kentucky Derby.

“It was like what everybody said to expect,” he said. “It was a thrill of a lifetime, an unbelievable experience.”

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Horse Racing Notes

Eddie Delahoussaye will be at Golden Gate Fields today to ride favored Special Price in the $200,000 Golden Gate Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf. Special Price will be making his first start since he was a fast-closing second to Red Bishop in the San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita. Corey Nakatani will also be there to ride Raintrap for trainer Bobby Frankel. . . . Gold Land is the 2-1 second choice in the Triple Bend and the others in the race are Crafty Dude, Nasr Allah, Powis Castle and Concept Win.