TRAINER ON TRACK TO RECOVERY.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

If a gelding named Such Charisma scores a big upset in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar today, don't expect trainer Walter Greenman and his wife Jeannie to stay up late celebrating.

Walter faces a heavy schedule Monday - beginning radiation treatment designed to destroy what's left of the brain tumor that was partially removed in surgery Aug. 6 in La Jolla.

The 1-1/2 months of daily radiation will be interrupted so Greenman can fly to Kentucky for a two-day thoroughbred auction in mid-September, he said.

Which should surprise nobody who saw Greenman, a 59-year-old former jockey, go back to work at his Del Mar barn three days after brain surgery.

``I'm doing great, the best I've felt in years,'' Greenman said on the phone Friday morning. ``Ever since the operation, I've felt better and better. I can't be riding around on a horse, but I can do pretty much everything else.''

Including saddling winners. A victory by the 3-year-old filly Kits Peak and jockey Alex Solis in the $80,025 Piedra Foundation Handicap on Aug. 19 is the richest of four winners for Greenman at Del Mar, tying him for a solid 16th in the trainer standings.

``My theory is to get up and go,'' Greenman said. ``I can't lay in the bed. They (doctors) told me to stay in the hospital a little longer. But I said, `I'm getting out of here.' I'm with my friends (at the racetrack). My wife drives me around. I've got it made.''

``He's taking it (the illness) like a trooper,'' said Richard Mandella, who trains Pacific Classic favorite Malek.

All that's missing, it seems, is a chunk of Greenman's mop of white hair, shaved off before surgery. He jokes that people no longer mistake him for Bob Baffert.

The tumor was discovered in an MRI after Greenman, who'd noticed some memory loss, nearly passed out following a driving trip to the Santa Rosa fair in July, he said.

``The doctor said, `I don't know how you were walking around,' '' Greenman recalled.

The evening before the operation, he won the Del Mar nightcap with a maiden named Bulls and Bears. In the winner's circle, an emotional Greenman hugged his son and assistant, Dean.

The day after the operation, Walter already felt better, he said.

``It was exciting,'' he said. ``The next day I was remembering things I hadn't thought about since I was a little kid.''

A Kansas native, Greenman once rode five winners in a day at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, trained five winners in a day at Bay Meadows to equal the track record, and was the Bay Area's leading trainer several times in the 1970s and '80s. His notable stakes winners include Savinio, Pinfloron and Pacificbounty.

Such Charisma will be Greenman's most shocking stakes winner if the 5-year-old beats seven other horses in the $1 million Pacific Classic over 1-1/4 miles on the Del Mar main track. The son of Zilzal has run all 13 of his races on turf and has been losing to second-rate horses. The most recent of his four victories came in an optional-claiming race at Santa Anita in March.

``We don't know if he'll run on the dirt, but he's (trained) well on the dirt. He's a nice horse,'' said Greenman, adding that there's a chance he and Biszantz will decide to scratch Such Charisma from the Pacific Classic.

Such Charisma is a 20-1 long shot on the morning line, but with Greenman training and 52-year-old Laffit Pincay riding, he'd be the sentimental favorite today.

And if he wins, maybe Greenman will stay up late, and surprise nobody once again.