Preview Stakes to be revealing

PORTLAND, Ore. - Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Preview Stakes serves as a prep for the nine-furlong Oregon Derby on May 6, but the prep could be a good deal more interesting than the reputed main attraction.

Going into the Preview, it is devilishly difficult to choose between the three best 3-year-olds on the grounds: Ballou Slew, Tom Two, and the exceptional filly Lawanda. Once the Preview is run, it may be all too obvious who is best.

Few would dispute that Ballou Slew, a son of Slewdledo from the barn of trainer Jim Fergason, is the most brilliant of the leading trio. If any such doubts existed, they were dissolved when Ballou Slew blew away older stakes winners by more than seven lengths in his final Preview prep, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance race on March 26. That win improved his record at Portland Meadows to three wins in as many starts, all at sprint distances. If Ballou Slew can route as well as he can sprint, he should win the Preview.

That, however, is a sizeable "if." Slewdledo, who is the perennial leading sire in Washington, has produced several horses who have won stakes at route distances, including Longacres Mile winner Snipledo, Gottstein Futurity winner Corvallis Dee, and I'madrifter, a graded stakes winner going long in northern California. The fact remains that with 1,160 progeny wins, Slewdledo's sons and daughters have an average winning distance of only 6.2 furlongs. That means that Slewdledo produces far more sprinters than routers, and there is no guarantee that Ballou Slew will fall into his sire's relatively small group of routers.

Nevertheless, Fergason and rider Clark Jones are quite confident Ballou Slew will pass his distance test.

"Clark has said all along that he will go long," said Fergason. "He settles and relaxes so well, and that is really half the battle. He is very fit now, and I have been giving him a lot of long gallops in preparation for stretching out. I feel pretty good about his chances."

Tom Two and Lawanda have yet to approach the Beyer Speed Figure of 84 that Ballou Slew hung up in his last win, but both are thoroughly proven going long. Tom Two has won three route stakes at the meeting, including the 1 1/16-mile McFadden Memorial, and Lawanda has won two, including the 1 1/16-mile Oregon Oaks in her last start. In her previous outing, Lawanda finished second to Tom Two in a one-mile allowance. Lawanda's trainer, Jonathan Nance, thinks his filly can do better on Saturday.

"She got hung up in traffic early on the second turn in that race, and by the time she got clear there were horses going by her," said Nance. "She was sort of forced into making an early move. She made the lead in the stretch, but Tom Two outfinished her. I just think she can do better if the race unfolds a little differently, and I know the added distance will help her."

Tom Two has never looked as impressive as either Ballou Slew or Lawanda, who posted her two stakes wins by a combined 18 1/4 lengths. All he does is win races. He has won 7 of 14 starts, including 5 stakes, for almost $100,000, and trainer Delmer Webb has grown to appreciate his virtues.

"He is quite a remarkable little horse," said Webb. "I never thought he would accomplish the things that he has done, but he is a very sound horse and he just keeps trying. It is never easy to beat him."

Going separate ways

Last Saturday's stakes winners will be headed in opposite directions when this meeting ends on May 7. Trainer R. G. Pierce said Charlie's Pride, who posted a three-length win over the favored Crimson Design in the Portland Meadows Mile, will probably campaign at Hastings Park, where the trainer has stalls. Our Girl Pearl, who won the Donna Jensen Handicap by two lengths over Wind at Dawn, may be headed for Santa Rosa.

"We would have liked to take her to Emerald, but there won't be any route races for her up there for the first two months, and that is just too long to wait," said owner and trainer Laurie Ansell. "We're thinking of taking her to Santa Rosa and trying her on turf."

Ann Sanguinetti, who contributed a heady ride to Charlie's Pride's Mile victory, is headed in yet another direction. Sanguinetti left on Tuesday for Thistledown in Ohio, where she will ride first call for trainer Burton Sipp.

Celebration canceled

The stage was set for Slewicide Cruise and Kevin Radke to make a triumphant return to racing in Saturday's five-furlong Flashaway Invitational Handicap, but things didn't turn out as planned. First, Radke, who hadn't ridden in more than two years, experienced car problems and didn't make it to the track. Then Slewicide Cruise, who hadn't raced since injuring to his suspensory ligament nearly a year ago, lost a nose decision to a razor-sharp Forty Durango in the Flashaway.

Slewicide Cruise, who was bet down to 4-5, was bumped hard at the start and forced wide around the turn before being outfinished by Forty Durango, who slipped through along the rail.

"The slow start cost him today, but he ran very well and the race should do him a lot of good," said Robbie Baze, who trains Slewicide Cruise. "As long as he comes out of it good, I'll be happy."

Baze said Slewicide Cruise is being pointed for the six-furlong Seattle Handicap at Emerald Downs on April 30.