Hidden Assets a cinch

STICKNEY, Ill. - Hide the children and run for cover. Hidden Assets is coming to town.

Hidden Assets, a 4-year-old filly owned by Richard, Bertram, and Elaine Klein, may be the shortest price of the Hawthorne meet when she starts Saturday in the $50,000 Regal Rumor Stakes. She faces six rivals in the six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.

On paper, the race is no contest. Hidden Assets has won five of her nine lifetime starts, is a Grade 3 winner, and has faced some of the best fillies and mares in the country. Of her four losses, three have come at the hands of other graded stakes winners. The credentials of her opponents don't even come close.

Hidden Assets trains under Bernie Flint and his son, Steve, at Churchill Downs, where she has been working steadily since mid-April. She hasn't raced since finishing third to March Magic and Penny Blues after setting a fast pace in the Poinciana Breeders' Cup at Hialeah on April 7. But the freshening should only have done Hidden Assets some good after having run three fast races this winter in Florida. And although there surely are more important goals for her this summer, Hidden Assets does not appear vulnerable in the Regal Rumor.

Jeremy Beasley, who is 6 for 47 at the meet, scores a minor coup in picking up the mount. Beasley rode regularly for the Flints when he was based in Kentucky.

Regulars on the local scene make up the remainder of the field. They are Capitol View, Come September, Q.P. Cat, All That's True, Faccia Bella, and Lil Bobbie Too - and they know each other well. If some of them get caught up pursuing Hidden Assets, second place could fall into the lap of Faccia Bella. With a bankroll of more than $350,000, Faccia Bella is the top earner in the field, and she often puts in a solid stretch run in sprint races.

Arlington next for Scoop

Trainer Gene Cilio said the 3-year-old filly Scoop is likely to make her next start in an allowance race next month at Arlington Park. Scoop, a Gone West filly owned by Jim Tafel, turned in a subpar effort in the May 18 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico, finishing last of five after setting the early pace.

Cilio said that no physical problems were detected in Scoop after the Black-Eyed Susan. "She scoped clean and she's sound as a dollar," he said.

Cilio said Scoop might have been uncomfortable racing on the lead, which might have contributed to her poor performance.

"There are some stakes for her later in the summer," he said.

* The Arlington Park backstretch opened on Monday, and though only a smattering of horses have shipped in, some are beginning to show up on the work tab there. The Arlington meet begins on June 13.