HOLLYWOOD PARK : On Further Review, Bien Bien Wins and Fraise Is Disqualified

A nose ahead of Bien Bien at the wire, heavily favored Fraise misbehaved enough in the stretch Sunday to be disqualified by the stewards in a Hollywood Turf Cup decision that might wind up in the lap of the California Horse Racing Board before an embittered Allen Paulson is finished.

Paulson, who bred Fraise and later gave him to his wife, Madeleine, after she beat him in a golf match, joined in the mild chorus of boos that came from the crowd after Fraise’s number was taken down after an 11-minute review of the $500,000 race by stewards Pete Pedersen, Dave Samuel and Tom Ward.

“Pat Valenzuela (Fraise’s jockey) is paid to finish first, and he did,� Pedersen said. “We get paid to make judgments like this, and that’s what we did.�

For Fraise, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf by a nose over Sky Classic on Oct. 31, the outcome could mean more than the difference between the $275,000 that Bien Bien earned and the $100,000 that the Paulsons got for their colt’s second-place finish. Fraise and Sky Classic, who has been retired, are the top contenders for the Eclipse Award for best male grass horse, and Sunday’s development will further confuse the voters.

Fraise’s foul occurred in the final sixteenth of a mile, with Valenzuela whipping his horse left-handed and the colt drifting out two lanes and making repeated contact with Bien Bien on the outside. Pedersen said that Valenzuela’s use of the whip influenced the stewards’ decision. Pedersen also discounted a suggestion from Allen Paulson that the stewards “pick on Pat too much.�

Valenzuela, who claimed foul against Bien Bien and Chris McCarron because of an incident that occurred before the horses reached the stretch, was angry that the stewards disallowed his objection. The jockey told Fraise’s owners after the race that they should appeal the outcome of the race, and Paulson said that he would consider such action.

McCarron, winning the Turf Cup for the fifth time with his 11th mount, expected the stewards to disqualify Fraise as he and Bien Bien’s trainer, Paco Gonzalez, leaned against the outside rail while the stewards deliberated.

“The winner came out and kept bumping my horse,� McCarron said. “These were not brushes, they were bumps, and they caused my horse to lose his momentum. I was confident that the (other) number would come down. The only reason the stewards took so long was because they appreciated the seriousness of their decision.�

McCarron and Valenzuela disagreed about what happened between the three-eighths pole and the quarter pole. With Trishyde, ridden by Alex Solis, on the lead but weakening, and Gary Stevens aboard a tiring Tel Quel on the rail, Bien Bien was making a sweeping move on the outside of Fraise, who was also reaching for his stretch gear.

“Chris was riding my horse the whole way,� Valenzuela said. “He grabbed his left rein and angled his horse in to me. If that’s not interference, I don’t know what is. My horse was hit in the hind quarters and turned out. Gary’s horse hit the fence twice. We (Fraise and Bien Bien) brushed later, but that wouldn’t have happened if (we hadn’t been) bothered earlier.�

McCarron saw the earlier incident this way: “The other horse came out on me on the turn. He was trying to make room for himself.�

Commenting on Valenzuela’s foul claim, Samuel said: “On the replays, we couldn’t tell if the four horse (Tel Quel) came out, or if Chris’ horse came in, or if the horses bumped at all. It was impossible to assign any fault.�

Allen Paulson conceded that Fraise had made contact with Bien Bien in late stretch. “But it was just a little bump,� he said. “What took them (the stewards) so long to figure it out? It couldn’t have been that serious if it took them that long. Look at what they did to all the people who bet on my horse. I don’t see how this is right.�

Bill Mott, who trains Fraise, had beaten Bien Bien by a nose with Paradise Creek in the Hollywood Derby on Nov. 22. Of Sunday’s race, Mott said: “Pat said that he was fouled on the turn. If there are two fouls involving the same horses, usually they make it a wash.�

Bien Bien, scoring his first victory since taking the Swaps Stakes on dirt at Hollywood Park on July 25, paid $11.20. His time for 1 1/2 miles was 2:31 1/5.

Horse Racing Notes

Kent Desormeaux, who suffered multiple skull fractures when kicked by a horse Friday, will be moved today from intensive care to the definitive observation unit at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, according to a statement from Hollywood Park. Hospital officials reported that Desormeaux received family visitors Sunday and ate dinner, which was his first meal since the spill. He is expected to be released later this week and won’t resume riding for an estimated four to six weeks. Desormeaux’s wife, Sonia, is in the late stages of her first pregnancy.