SANTA ANITA : Personal Hope Might Make Hennig’s Rookie Year Special

Trainer Wayne Lukas ran 12 horses in the Kentucky Derby before his filly, Winning Colors, won the race in 1988. This year, a new trainer, Mark Hennig, who worked five years as one of Lukas’ assistants, might be Derby-bound with a colt whom Lukas bought at auction.

Personal Hope, who ran once for Lukas, then was sent to Hennig last fall after recovering from injuries, is given a good chance to defeat River Special in the $200,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday. The San Felipe, the final important prep for the Santa Anita Derby on April 3, was part of the foundation for Gato Del Sol, Alysheba and Sunday Silence before they won the Kentucky Derby in the 1980s.

Although many of this year’s Kentucky Derby candidates have been lightly raced, Personal Hope’s appearance Sunday will be his third start in about seven weeks. He is undefeated for Hennig, having scored his third consecutive victory Feb. 17 in the Bradbury Stakes, which at 1 1/8 miles was a sixteenth of a mile longer than the San Felipe.

By contrast, River Special skipped a race because of a fever, and the Hollywood Futurity winner will be starting for the first time as a 3-year-old. Gilded Time and Mountain Cat, a Lukas trainee, have already been eliminated from the Derby because of physical problems.

Hennig’s association with Lukas was a factor in his getting both a head training job and Personal Hope.

“We had had some horses with Lukas, and that’s how I got to know Mark,� said Barry Irwin, the president of Clover Racing Stables and the Team Valor syndication groups. “I was impressed with his ability, and he always went about his work at such an even keel. The Lukas empire was struggling last summer, and I thought Mark might be available. He’s 27 years old and he acts like he’s 50.�

Gary Lavin, a veterinarian who owns Longfield Farm in Goshen, Ky., once said to Irwin, “(Hennig) is a guy who’s been training (Lukas) horses that might be getting in the Hall of Fame, and nobody knows who he is.�

Eager to reorganize Clover so that all of his clients’ horses would be handled by a single trainer, Irwin made Hennig an offer last summer.

“Barry’s got a good sense of humor, and when he first called, I thought he was kidding,� Hennig said. “But any assistant trainer with some ambition eventually wants to step out on his own. I knew I was going to be stepping off the edge of the diving board some day.�

Hennig’s agreement with Irwin allows the trainer no more than six non-Clover horses. It’s a deal similar to the one Shug McGaughey has with the Phipps family in New York.

Right now, one of those six possible outside horses is Personal Hope, the most visible runner Hennig has in his Hollywood Park barn. The Storm Bird-All The Years colt, a grandson of both Northern Dancer and Alydar, was bought by Lukas for $75,000 at a Saratoga yearling auction for Lee and Debi Lewis of Lubbock, Tex.

The only time Personal Hope ran for Lukas, in New York the day after last year’s Belmont Stakes, he was left at the gate and finished last, beaten by 18 3/4 lengths. Personal Hope came out of the race needing treatment for ankle and shin problems, and his owners, who had known Hennig through Lukas, sent the colt to Hennig at Del Mar last September.

“I had known about the horse, of course,� Hennig said. “But I had never seen him until he arrived. He’s not a mean horse, but he has his own mind. He knows that he’s a colt. He’ll throw a temper tantrum around the barn once in a while. This is part of the reason why he’s had some problems in the gate. But when he sets his mind to running, he can be real tough.�

Lukas, who has started 21 horses in the Kentucky Derby, not skipping a year at Churchill Downs since 1981, nominated 14 for the Triple Crown races this year, but most of them are not realistic Derby prospects now.

Union City, beaten by half a length by Devoted Brass after a demanding stretch duel in the San Rafael on Feb. 27, is a possibility for either the Jim Beam at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., on March 27 or the Santa Anita Derby. Mr. Scrooge, beaten by 47 1/4 lengths in two races late last year, has won two out of three since then and is a candidate for the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on March 20 or the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.,on March 27.

“Losing a guy like Hennig is like a basketball coach losing a top assistant,� said Lukas, who coached basketball before he turned to racing. “You don’t like to see them go, but you hope that they do well when they do.�

Hennig might do so well in his first year that he will be running a horse in the Kentucky Derby while his former mentor watches from the sidelines.

Horse Racing Notes

Devoted Brass, who will be ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye for the first time, drew the rail for the San Felipe. Denmars Dream, with Alex Solis, has the No. 2 spot, and outside them are River Special, with Kent Desormeaux; Personal Hope, Gary Stevens; Corby, Pat Valenzuela; and Big Way, Corey Black. Devoted Brass and River Special will carry 122 pounds, the others 116.

Between the third and fourth races Sunday, Santa Anita will offer betting on the $500,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap, the second of five races in the American Championship Racing Series, which has a $1.2-million bonus program. Pistols And Roses, winner of the series opener, the Donn Handicap, in a 44-1 upset, is the 6-1 fourth choice on the morning line for Sunday, behind Siberian Summer at 5-2, Missionary Ridge at 3-1 and Chief Honcho at 4-1.

This is the nine-horse field, in post-position order: Offbeat, Honest Ensign, Devil On Ice, Chief Honcho, Pistols And Roses, Siberian Summer, Irish Swap, Devil His Due and Missionary Ridge. Chief Honcho and Irish Swap are the highweights for the 1 1/4-mile race at 118 pounds apiece, with Missionary Ridge and Siberian Summer at 117 pounds. Two heads separated Irish Swap and Missionary Ridge behind Pistols And Roses in the Donn, and Pistols And Roses will carry 114 pounds Sunday. Siberian Summer, winner of the Strub at Santa Anita in his last start, will be ridden by Corey Nakatani. No jockey was announced for Missionary Ridge at entry time, but with Desormeaux busy at Santa Anita with River Special, Mike Smith is expected to get the mount.

The next race in the championship series will be the Californian at Hollywood Park on April 24. . . . As did Best Pal, Star Recruit lost a shoe in the Santa Anita Handicap. At 59-1, Star Recruit lost by a nose to Sir Beaufort, otherwise he would have paid the biggest price in Big ‘Cap history. Star Recruit’s next race might be the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap in Arkansas on April 10.

Southern Truce will face only three rivals today in the $100,000 Miss America Handicap at Golden Gate Fields. . . . Likeable Style, sixth as the favorite in the Santa Anita Oaks, suffered pulmonary bleeding, according to a post-race examination.