Megahertz Has Juice in the Stretch

For all of her success in the U.S. for owner Michael Bello and trainer Bobby Frankel, Megahertz had gone a long time between wins at Hollywood Park before Saturday.

When the 6-year-old mare and 2-5 favorite did the expected and won the $200,000 Beverly Hills Handicap, it ended a dry spell of almost three years in Inglewood. Her most recent local victory had come via disqualification in the inaugural American Oaks on July 6, 2002.

Last, but not nearly as far back in the Beverly Hills as she had been in her two stakes victories earlier in the year at Santa Anita, Megahertz was angled to the outside by jockey Alex Solis in the stretch and won for the 13th time in 31 outings.

She ran the 1 1/4 miles on turf in the Grade II in 2:01.78.

Winendynme, who was making her first start for owner J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill after being purchased privately, was second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner, then came Halo Ola, Five Nickels, who set a slow pace, Agata and Uraib.

“I made sure I warmed her up a little more than I usually do because I didn’t think there was going to be that much pace in the race,” said Solis, who also won the Beverly Hills for Frankel last year with Light Jig. “I wanted to make sure she didn’t drop as far back as last time.

“With 124 pounds, I didn’t want her coming from 10 or 15 lengths out of it. She was a lot more aggressive herself. It might have been because she hadn’t run for a while [April 17]. I never had any concerns today.

“I thought she ran an incredible race and I think she is just getting better and better.”

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Smuggler, the 2-1 second choice, outfinished 5-2 third choice Spun Sugar by a neck to win the $300,000 Mother Goose at Belmont Park.

Trained by Shug McGaughey for Phipps Stable, the 3-year-old Unbridled filly won for the fourth time in six starts. She ran the 1 1/8 miles in the Grade I in 1:48.55 under jockey Edgar Prado.

Summerly, the 13-10 favorite and winner of the Kentucky Oaks on May 6, was third, two lengths behind Spun Sugar. Seeking The Ante was fourth, ahead of Lady Pegasus and Winning Season.

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Kelly’s Landing, the longest shot in the field at 11-1, won the $150,000 Aristides Breeders’ Cup Handicap in track-record time at Churchill Downs.

Gary Stevens was aboard the 4-year-old Patton gelding for Summerplace Farm LLC and trainer Eddie Kenneally as he won for the fifth time in nine starts. He ran the six furlongs in 1:07.59, bettering the previous record of 1:07.77 set by Kona Gold while winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4, 2000.

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The lone winning ticket on the Hollywood Park pick six a week ago today was a $52 ticket purchased at Santa Anita, according to Bob Poole, Hollywood Park’s mutuels manager.

Uncashed as of Saturday, the ticket, which was worth $152,242,20 before taxes and included 13 consolations worth $2,836,80 apiece, singled the first four winners, used two horses in the fifth leg, then had all 13 runners in the finale.

The fact the ticket had four consecutive winning singles brought back memories of the 2002 scandal involving the Breeders’ Cup pick six. The “winning” tickets that day also had begun with four singles, then used all in each of the last two races. An investigation uncovered wrongdoing involving three former college friends and led to jail time for each of them.

“It’s a paper ticket and it was purchased at Santa Anita about 10 minutes before the first pick six race went off last Sunday,” Poole said. “It was verified by us and by the state auditor. The tickets are scanned after every pick six race.”

The winning horses in the pick six on the day in question were Cat A Cold Eye ($20.80), High Z ($15.20), Fabulous West ($11.80), Snapped Up ($6.40), Valid’s Valid ($14.80) and Retsina Verde ($44). A $2 parlay on the six winners would have been worth $485,885.