Lido Palace to Donn

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Bobby Frankel has so many top older horses trampling over one another at his Hollywood Park barn that he is searching across the country for stakes opportunities, and that has led him to plan on shipping Lido Palace to Gulfstream Park for the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap on Feb. 9.

Frankel announced the decision on Monday morning, just before Lido Palace worked a sharp six furlongs in 1:13.60 at Hollywood Park. Working alone and wearing blinkers, Lido Palace was purposely kept well off the rail, and he finished strongly after going off easily.

"Look at him lower his body," Frankel said as Lido Palace powered down the stretch.

* has not raced since finishing eighth in the Japan Cup Dirt at the end of November. Before that trip, however, Lido Palace ranked as one of the best older horses in the country. He won the Whitney at Saratoga and the Woodward at Belmont Park, beating subsequent Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow in the Woodward. Lido Palace skipped the Breeders' Cup Classic because his owners, John and Jerry Amerman, thought the $800,000 supplemental fee was prohibitive.

Frankel's local option with Lido Palace was the Grade 2, $250,000 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita on Feb. 3. He said the larger purse, and Grade 1 ranking, made the Donn more attractive.

Frankel's San Antonio representative will be Euchre, who finished second to Wooden Phone in the San Pasqual Handicap on Jan. 5. Euchre missed several days of training before the San Pasqual because of an infection in a front leg.

"He came out of the race good. He should move forward," said Frankel, who said Euchre might add blinkers for the San Pasqual. "He wore blinkers for me once before, when he ran on the grass. He didn't run any good, but I think it was the grass, not the blinkers," Frankel said. "He's the kind of horse who has needed to be pushed along. Lido Palace was that way. So was Aptitude. And the blinkers helped them."

Mizzen Mast, who won the opening-day Malibu Stakes but passed Saturday's San Fernando Stakes, will return for the final leg of the Strub Series, the Grade 2, $400,000 Strub Stakes on Feb. 2, Frankel said. "I didn't want to run in the San Fernando because it's only 17 days after the Malibu, then it's just three weeks later for the Strub. That's too much," Frankel said.

"I don't want to burn him out early in the year. I think he's a real good horse."

The San Fernando was won by Western Pride, whose trainer, Jim Chapman, strutted like a peacock after the race. "None of those horses scared me. But Chapman scared me, the way he talked after the race," Frankel said.

Denon and Aldebaran, who finished first and third, for Frankel in the Hollywood Derby on turf, are nearing their first starts of the year.

Frankel said Denon will probably run in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap on Feb. 16. Aldebaran "got a little sick" recently, Frankel said, and though he has recovered, he missed some training and will not run until the end of this month or early February. He still is eligible to allowance races. "He put on some weight. He looks good," Frankel said.

This holiday weekend, Frankel will run turf star Lord Flasheart in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Marcos Stakes on Monday. He said he also would consider running Northern Quest if the turf "is real soft."

Frankel also will send out the 3-year-old Labambta Babe against West Coast leader Siphonic in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Santa Catalina Stakes.

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