Sise enters meet well stocked

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Hollywood Park spring-summer meet is just getting off the ground, and trainer Cliff Sise could be off to a strong start. Sise entered three live contenders on Wednesday's opening day card and one more Thursday, and his top 3-year-olds are geared for successful campaigns.

The last two spring-summer meets at Hollywood, Sise has won 35 races from 128 starters (27 percent), and he enters 2002 stronger than ever. Good Terms and Roberto's Show fit Sunday in the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes; impressive maiden winner Rock Opera will stretch out Saturday in a turf route; and Fan Appeal is among the contenders in one of two allowance races Thursday. The first big payday may arrive Sunday.

Good Terms, with a win and a second from two starts, enters the Snow Chief with only one question. Can he route? "I think what he really wants to do is route," Sise said. "He looks like a good horse, and he trains like a good horse." Corey Nakatani worked Good Terms five furlongs Tuesday in 1:00.40.

Good Terms, a gelding, will be one of the favorites in a weak edition of the Snow Chief. None of the probable starters is a stakes winner. The 1 1/8-mile Snow Chief is one of 10 stakes races for California-breds on Sunday, Gold Rush Day at Hollywood Park.

Sise's second Snow Chief starter has two-turn experience. Roberto's Show was beaten only a length in a Cal-bred allowance March 28, his first start around two turns. A gelding, he figures to improve second time running long, providing Pat Valenzuela goes easy with the stick. "He doesn't like the whip," Sise said of Roberto's Show, who has won 1 of 6. The Snow Chief will be his third start following a layoff.

While the Cal-breds will be racing for a higher purse than stablemates Rock Opera and Fan Appeal, those two enter the meet with as much potential. Rock Opera scored an impressive debut win March 30 in a downhill sprint, and will stretch out to two turns on Saturday.

A similar challenge faces Fan Appeal. The filly, by Lear Fan, finished sixth in her debut while fussing with a piece of equipment. Second time out, she put it all together and scored at 33-1. According to Sise, she came of the race better than she went in. "Before, she would never train, now she goes 1:12," he said. "She looks great, she's doing good." Fan Appeal goes in race 1.

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