Horse with a lot of heart wins Dahlia Handicap in an upset at Hollywood Park

Co-owner and breeder Christopher Elia approached jockey Victor Espinoza after the rider guided Follow the Money to an upset victory in the $150,000 Dahlia Handicap (G2) for fillies and mares at Hollywood Park on December 9.

Dahlia H. (G2)
Hollywood Park, December 9, $150,000, 11/16 miles, turf, firm, 1:40.71
1-FOLLOW THE MONEY, f. 4, Pine Bluff-Money Player, by Marshua's Dancer.
2-Smooth Player, f. 4, Bertrando-Shy Pirate, by Pirate's Bounty.
3-Beautiful Noise, f. 4, Sunny's Halo-Listen Well, by Secretariat.

"Victor, why do you think I have the heart there?" asked Elia as he pointed to the emblem of a red heart sewn on the front of his purple silks. When Espinoza hesitated to reply, Elia explained that he is a heart surgeon. A cardiologist at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, Elia has operated on a list of patients that includes the mother of Tony Matos, Espinoza's agent.

Follow the Money, a four-year-old filly with a big heart, is a cardiologist's dream. She has shown courage and consistency to finish in the money in nine of 12 starts. Her worst finish was tenth place in her previous start in the Las Palmas Handicap (G2) on November 5 at Santa Anita Park because of major interference on the far turn.

"She was third and looked like she was going to make her move at the quarter pole when an outside horse came over and she got eliminated," said trainer David Hofmans. "I told Tony to go watch the rerun," said Hofmans, hoping to convince the agent to give him a call with Espinoza. "He came back and said, 'You're right.' "

Nobody had a better view of the incident than Espinoza, who was right behind Follow the Money on another horse in the Las Palmas.

"She had a lot of trouble in that race, and I knew we had a big, big chance today," said Espinoza, who stalked the pace in fourth down the backstretch before launching a three-wide bid to challenge for the lead at the top of the stretch.

Follow the Money took a short lead in midstretch and went on to score by a half-length in 1:40.71 for 1 1/16 miles on firm turf.

Pacesetter Smooth Player, the 120-pound highweight and 1.70-to-1 favorite, gave way grudgingly and held on for second in a three-way photo. Beautiful Noise, the 2.50-to-1 second choice, rallied to finish third, a head behind Smooth Player and a neck in front of Janet (GB).

Follow the Money, by Pine Bluff out of the Marshua's Dancer mare Money Player, also bred and owned by Elia, recorded her biggest victory in the Dahlia. Money Player, who died this year, is also the dam of stakes winners Wealthy and Heart Throb, who suffered a broken leg on this course.

Follow the Money has captured six of 12 starts and earned $339,446. Prior to the Las Palmas debacle, she won the Violet Handicap (G3) at the Meadowlands. She was dismissed as the 8.30-to-1 fifth choice in the field of seven.

Co-owner and breeder Patricia Elia, who is divorced from Elia but remains an amicable partner with their horses, is Hofmans's fiancee. "We've been in the business 20 years, and this is our first Grade 2," said Patricia Elia. The Elias campaigned the hard-hitting Stark South, a Grade 3 winner for John Russell.

Smooth Player was able to control the pace in the Dahlia after three scratches included Strawberry Way and defending champion Lady At Peace, both front-runners. "She still ran a big race and I'm proud of her," said trainer Dan Hendricks. "The course was a little soft and not playing for speed."

Chris McCarron chided himself after his trip on Beautiful Noise. "I'm disappointed in my ride," he said. "I made a decision, and it was a wrong one."Hofmans said Follow the Money probably would start next in Santa Anita's 150,000 San Gorgonio Handicap (G2) on January 15.

Pincay's Exclusive

Laffit Pincay Jr. expected to pose for pictures in the winner's circle during a special ceremony on December 10 marking the first anniversary date of his record 8,834th career victory aboard Irish Nip that moved him ahead of Bill Shoemaker.

Vernon O. Underwood S. (G3)
Hollywood Park, December 10, $100,000, 6 furlongs, fast, 1:09.02
1-MEN'S EXCLUSIVE, g. 7, Exclusive Ribot-Men's Number, by Meneval.
2-Love All the Way, g. 5, Majesterian-Lovewillfindaway, by George Navonod.
3-Lexicon, h. 5, Conquistador Cielo-Felidia (Ire), by Golden Fleece.

But the 53-year-old racing legend, who was serving the last day of a five-day suspension, did not have strong expectations of being in the winner's circle when he accepted the mount on Men's Exclusive in the featured $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes (G3) that day. Under California rules, the graded stakes was one in which a suspended jockey can compete.

The well-rested Pincay rose to the occasion to make December 10 memorable for a second straight year by rallying 7.20-to-1 Men's Exclusive to a three-length victory in 1:09.02 for six furlongs. Love All the Way, the 2.20-to-1 favorite in the field of seven, rallied from last to finish second, one length in front of Lexicon.

Men's Exclusive, a seven-year-old gelding, became the oldest horse to win the Underwood in its 20-year history. Although he had been close on several occasions, Men's Exclusive won for only the second time in 15 outings during the past three years and was suspected of having lost a couple of steps.

Pincay, who rode Men's Exclusive to his only other graded stakes victory in the 1997 Los Angeles Handicap (G3) here, captured the Underwood for the first time since 1985 aboard Pancho Villa.

"Love All the Way ran tremendous, but the old man-make that both old men-kicked our butts," Bob Hess Jr., trainer of the runner-up, said of the two veterans.

"He's an old horse, but lightly raced and doing very well right now," said winning trainer Wesley Ward. "Laffit knows the horse real well, and today he tried different tactics, to come from behind. I never tell Laffit how to ride, but Men's Exclusive ran well from behind three races back at Bay Meadows." "I thought I was in tough today, but I wanted to keep him back early," Pincay said. "When he was close to the pace (his usual running style) last time, he didn't fire. Today, it worked out perfect. He didn't break that sharp, and I was able to put him behind horses."

While Lexicon, the 3.70-to-1 third choice, and fourth-place finisher Straight Man, the 2.40-to-1 second choice, dueled through an initial quarter-mile in :21.83 and a half in :44.58, Men's Exclusive bided his time before a decisive burst in midstretch.

Men's Exclusive, a California-bred owned and bred by H.E. Reed, raised his earnings to $561,018 with his eighth victory in 28 starts. The victory was No. 9,029 for Pincay and 195 since his brush with immortality a year earlier. Not a bad pace on a competitive circuit for an old-timer about to turn 54 on December 29.

FINISH LINES-Popular trainer Mel Stute, recovering from quadruple bypass surgery on December 7, received the best medicine on December 9 when Flying Rudolph won a $43,680 turf sprint for claimers. Gary Stute, the trainer's son who saddled the winner, said he expected his father to be released from the hospital in a few days and back at work in a few weeks. Stute, 73, has conditioned such stars as Snow Chief, Brave Raj, and Very Subtle. ... Apprentice jockey Tyler Baze, scheduled to lose his bug after December 12, rode his 237th winner of the year December 9 aboard Go Ruby Go. ... Two stakes-winning sprinters aiming for the Underwood were retired with injuries during the week: Old Topper with a tendon problem and Love That Red with a fractured sesamoid. ...Trainer Bruce Headley, who sent out Son of a Pistol to a fifth-place finish in the Underwood, said that Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Kona Gold remains on target to make his 2001 debut in the $200,000 Palos Verdes Handicap (G2) on January 28 at Santa Anita.