Horse Racing : Whittingham Says Ferdinand Has a Case of the Blahs, Blames Lasix

Trainer Charlie Whittingham has diagnosed Ferdinand’s problems this year and come up with an opinion. He says the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and 1987 horse of the year has the blahs.

And while there is no sure-fire cure for the blahs--the equine or human variety--Whittingham believes that Ferdinand’s condition can be improved. He said that not using Lasix for Ferdinand’s bleeding problem might be one solution.

“This is a horse that doesn’t respond to Lasix,” Whittingham said. “I’ve had other horses that were like that. Since we’ve been giving Ferdinand Lasix, he’s had the blahs. He’s been dehydrated.”

After bleeding from the lungs in a workout, Ferdinand qualified for Lasix, a diuretic commonly given to bleeders, and raced with it for the first time in the Santa Anita Handicap.

That was the first of Ferdinand’s two narrow defeats to Alysheba this year, but in his last two starts, he hasn’t even been competitive. He was fourth in a four-horse field in the Californian at Hollywood Park, finishing 9 lengths behind the winner, Cutlass Reality. And when Cutlass Reality won the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 26, Ferdinand finished third, 12 lengths behind.

Ferdinand is winless in five 1988 starts. He didn’t win in his first six starts last year, then won his last four races, including the nose victory over Alysheba in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that clinched horse-of-the-year honors. This year’s losing streak is unlike last year’s, however, because Ferdinand is going backward instead of improving.

According to Whittingham, Ferdinand hasn’t bled through the Lasix in any of his races. “But I think the Lasix is taking something out of him,” he said. “That happens when it’s used on humans, too. Sometimes they need a potassium supplement when they’re taking Lasix. We’ll just have to see if there’s something we can use other than Lasix with Ferdinand.”

Whittingham has no immediate plans for Ferdinand. Although the 5-year-old has not shown a fondness for grass in his two starts, Whittingham says it’s still possible that he will re-introduce Ferdinand to the turf at Del Mar with the idea of running him in the Arlington Million at Woodbine, near Toronto, on Aug. 20.

Ferdinand is not the only member of this year’s handicap division to have fallen upon hard times. Alysheba has lost his last two starts and couldn’t beat Cutlass Reality, either, in the Gold Cup. Bet Twice was trounced by Personal Flag in this week’s Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park.

The only older horse to show any consistency has been Lost Code, and his handlers have avoided New York, where he wouldn’t be able to run on Lasix. Unlike Ferdinand, Lost Code improved dramatically when he was introduced to the anti-bleeding medication early last year.

Even when Blairwood is scratched, he causes a problem.

The horse who ran under the wrong name--Briarwood--and won the first race, at 34-1 odds, on Kentucky Derby day was entered again at Churchill Downs the other day. Blairwood’s Derby day purse was taken away because of the mix-up and two of his handlers and three racing officials were hit with charges and reprimands.

This time, Blairwood was scratched, but when the programs were printed, the line at the bottom of the page read “Briarwood.”

Churchill Downs, which has its own printing plant, destroyed the 5,000 programs and printed a new batch with the corrected name.

With NBC discontinuing its telecast of the Rose Bowl because of escalating costs, racing leaders are wondering if the next shoe to drop might be the Breeders’ Cup, which has been carried by the network since its inception in 1984. The Breeders’ Cup, which has had disappointing ratings, is scheduled to be carried by NBC this year and in 1989, with options beyond that.

“I think NBC is happy with our races,” a Breeders’ Cup official said. “Despite the ratings, the show makes money for the network. Mobil Oil and Budweiser buy 50% of the available commercial time for the four-hour show. A network has to like that, not having to worry about selling half of the telecast.”

The comeback of Java Gold is on hold. The 4-year-old colt has re-injured the right front foot that sidelined him last year and won’t run at least until the fall.

Java Gold hasn’t run since his second-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last October. Before that, he won the Whitney Handicap, the Travers and the Marlboro Cup, and finished second to Alysheba in the voting for best 3-year-old colt.

Bob Baffert, who is threatening to end Blane Schvaneveldt’s 11-year domination of the quarter horse training championship at Los Alamitos, will saddle one of the favorites, Easygo Effort, in Saturday night’s $124,000 Dash for Cash Futurity.

Other Dash for Cash contenders who qualified for Saturday’s race in trials last week are Dashing Val, Passem Dirty, Dashes Gold Digger, Bedinette, Doctor Ro, Bonsai Billy, Queen Dream, Cash Legacy and Timefor Windis Jet. Passem Dirty, a filly, ran the fastest qualifying time, covering 440 yards in :21.62.

Horse Racing Notes

Tejano, winner of last December’s Hollywood Futurity, is winless in eight starts this year, with four second-place finishes. . . . After scratching Deputy Governor from last Monday’s American Handicap at Hollywood Park, trainer Neil Drysdale hopes to have the 4-year-old colt in form at Del Mar on July 31 for the Eddie Read Handicap, one of the major preps for the Arlington Million.

The Del Mar season, which runs from July 27 through Sept. 14, has five $200,000 races besides the $250,000 Read--the Del Mar Derby on Aug. 21, the Cabrillo Handicap on Aug. 28, the Del Mar Debutante on Sept 4, the Ramona Handicap on Sept. 11 and the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 14. . . . The Orange County Fair at Los Alamitos will run a $100,000 thoroughbred race for the first time, the Orange County Handicap on Aug. 13. That will be closing night for the 17-night season, which opens on July 26.

The already thin ranks of the 3-year-old division have been thinned even further with injuries to Proper Reality and Jim’s Orbit and the death of Buoy, who had to be destroyed because of severe leg problems. . . . Goodbye Halo, winner of the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont, returns to Hollywood Park this week and may run next month in the Alabama at Saratoga. . . . The Daily Racing Form, which took some criticism, mostly in the East, for rebuking trainer Woody Stephens for Forty Niner’s tactics against Winning Colors in the Preakness and not giving Stephens a chance to respond, approached Seth Hancock before its editorial ran. The owner-breeder of Forty Niner told the Form that both he and Stephens preferred not to comment.