Irish Prize Gets Out of Big Jam

The first time Gary Stevens rode Irish Prize, two weeks ago, the 5-year-old gelding showed the jockey he was a fighter. Irish Prize needed more of that fight Monday, squeezing through a small hole at the top of the stretch before scoring a narrow win over entrymate Touch Of The Blues in the $475,000 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park.

The 1-2 finishers in the grass race are both trained by Neil Drysdale for Sheik Maktoum al Maktoum of Dubai. A pair of necks separated the first three horses across the wire, with Brahms, the 13-10 favorite, settling for third place.

“They both ran dynamite,� Drysdale said. “I’m very pleased.�

The $2 win price on the Drysdale entry was $7.40, with Irish Prize finishing in 1:33 3/5. Irish Prize earned $285,000 and Touch Of The Blues’ share was $95,000.

“Finally, there was a pretty narrow opening,� Stevens said of the traffic jam in high stretch. “I just poked my horse’s head in it. I didn’t know if he would go through or not. A lot of horses won’t. But this one took the bit and went. He was in front two strides later.�

In another stake at Hollywood, Voodoo Dancer, shipped here from New York and supplemented into the race for $7,500, beat favored Innit by 2 1/2 lengths in the $150,000 Flawlessly. Trainer Ron McAnally, who saddled Innit, came back with Early Flyer, who won the $100,000 Laz Barrera Memorial under Chris McCarron.

Voodoo Dancer, ridden by Corey Nakatani for the first time, had won three of five starts before Monday, but this was her first win beyond 1 1/16 miles. The time for 1 1/8 miles on grass was 1:48 1/5, with Voodoo Dancer paying $8.60 as the third choice.

Returning to sprinting, Early Flyer won for the first time since his February victory at Santa Anita in the San Vicente, which was the same seven-furlong distance as Monday’s race. Squirtle Squirt, after reeling off fractions of :21 3/5 and :43 4/5, was outrun in the stretch and finished second, beaten by three-quarters of a length. Early Flyer’s time of 1:20 2/5 was only three-fifths of a second slower than Mazel Trick’s track record, set in 1999.

“It was good to win this race,� McAnally said. “[Hall of Fame trainer Laz Barrera] was such a good friend of mine. I lived with him for two years. He was really a super guy.�

Dixie Dot Com, ridden by David Flores, was a 7 1/4-length winner of the $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, running 1 1/16 miles in track-record time of 1:40 2/5. The win sent the 6-year-old over the $1-million purse mark. . . . At Belmont Park, Canadian shipper Exciting Story found room on the rail, won the $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap by three-quarters of a length and paid $115.50 for $2. Peeping Tom was second and Alannan ran third, with Traditionally, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Pat Day, finishing ninth.

In other races at Lone Star Park, Hallowed Dreams ran six furlongs in 1:08 1/5, a track record, to win the $100,000 Valid Expectations Handicap; Royal Spy outfinished the California invader, Dr. Park, to win the $200,000 Diamond A-USA Stakes; and Voladora, at 29-1, won the $200,000 Windstar Distaff Handicap. The win by Hallowed Dreams, in the 4-year-old filly’s first start outside Louisiana, was her sixth in a row since last August, when she suffered her only loss in 23 starts.