GOLD CUP: BLINKERS REV UP LAVA MAN'S SPEED CALIFORNIAN VICTOR AIMS FOR GOLD CUP WIN.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer INGLEWOOD - Who was that masked horse? It was Lava Man Lava Man (foaled on March 20, 2001) is a dark bay gelded thoroughbred race horse by Slew City Slew (Seattle Slew) out of L'il Ms. Leonard (Nostalgia's Star) who rose from the lowest levels of claiming races to become regarded by many racing fans and members of the racing media as a , winning The Californian with jockey Patrick Valenzuela last month to become the top local hope for Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. . Nobody would have guessed it was him the way the 4-year-old gelding gelding castrated male horse. ran most of the winter and spring. Lava Man not only changed his look, but he stepped up his performance when Doug O'Neill, Hollywood Park's leading trainer, fitted him with blinkers blinkers 1. rigid pieces of leather fitted to a head harness at a point where they will obstruct the horse's lateral vision. 2. a more sophisticated piece of harness worn by expensive horses consisting of a canvas head-covering with holes for the ears to protrude and two . ``It looks like blinkers give him more speed early in the race without being asked,'' O'Neill said Thursday morning at his Hollywood Park barn. ``They block out distractions. They keep (horses) focused on racing and keep them from falling into the pack-animal routine.'' Lava Man, a California-bred grandson of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, was an unlikely candidate for the top weight assignment - a modest 118 pounds - in the year the Hollywood Gold Cup returns to handicap conditions. He started his career at a $12,500 claiming-level maiden race at Stockton in 2003 and won for the first time on his fifth try on the turf at Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the for trainer Lonnie Arterburn. A year later, he still was in the claiming ranks, and O'Neill grabbed him for $50,000 out of a race at Del Mar for owners Steve Kenley and Jason Wood. Promising efforts late last year led to disappointment when Lava Man finished in the back half of the field in the Sunshine Millions Classic The Sunshine Millions Classic is a race for thoroughbred horses held in January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California or at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Half the eight races of the Sunshine Millions are run at one track and half at the other. at Gulfstream Park in Florida, Crystal Water Handicap at Santa Anita and Tiznow Stakes at Hollywood Park. O'Neill couldn't think of anything else, so for Lava Man's next race, he gave him a black hood with ``semi'' blinkers that block his view of horses coming up beside him. ``Sometimes, as an owner or trainer, you put blinkers on or take blinkers off just to try to change their form,'' O'Neill said. Lava Man had worn blinkers for seven races in a row under Arterburn's training, winning two of them. This time, when the hood went on, Lava Man became a new horse. Jumping into contention earlier, he won a $100,000 optional-claiming race at nearly 7-1 odds on May 14 and The Californian at nearly 9-1 on June 18. At question is whether Lava Man can stretch his new early speed in his first try at 1 1/4 miles. The 10-horse field, from the rail out: Limehouse, 117 pounds; Borrego (Garrett Gomez), 115; Deputy Lad (Jon Court), 112; Pt's Grey Eagle(Corey Nakatani), 113; Anziyan Royalty (Alex Solis), 115; Congrats con·grats Informal interj. Congratulations. pl.n. Congratulations: sent him my congrats. (Tyler Baze), 117; Lava Man; Musique Toujours (Victor Espinoza), 114; Al Arz (David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the ), 113; and Keep on Punching (Rene Douglas), 113. |
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