Frankel May Add Bay Meadows Mark to His List

(Track Report)
Bobby Frankel attempts to become the all-time leading trainer in the storied history of the Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIIT) when he sends out Dance Dreamer Saturday in the 70th running of the turf feature.

Run at nine furlongs on the Longden Turf Course, the $200,000 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Handicap is for 3-year-olds and up. Frankel will be trying to win the stakes a record fourth time.

Frankel, Ron McAnally, and Willie Alvarado each have won the Bay Meadows Handicap three times. Frankel, who earned his first Bay Meadows Handicap win in 1984 with Scruples, has taken two of the past three runnings of the race, winning last year with Super Quercus and in 1999 with Kirkwall.

Dance Dreamer is expected to be favored over four rivals in Saturday's Bay Meadows Handicap. A 4-year-old colt who began his career in France, Dance Dreamer is 3-for-6 since coming to the U.S. and joining the Frankel barn.

Dance Dreamer, a dark bay son of Nureyev, won a pair of allowance races on the turf at Hollywood Park and captured the Escondido Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 7.

Sent off as the favorite in the Del Mar Handicap (gr. II) on Sept. 1, Dance Dreamer finished eighth in the 11-furlong contest but was beaten just 2 1/2 lengths by winner Delta Form.

"Kent (jockey Desormeaux) had him a little too close to the pace," said Humberto Ascanio, Frankel's top assistant, of Dance Dreamer's run in the Del Mar Handicap. "Kent also said the turf was too hard for him that day."

Dance Dreamer will have the services of jockey Russell Baze in the Bay Meadows Handicap, a race in which he'll be the starting highweight at 118 pounds. Owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms, Dance Dreamer has four victories in nine career starts.

David Copperfield's racing record is highlighted by a win over 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus (in a maiden race at Hollywood Park in 1999) and a victory in the Cinema Handicap (gr. IIIT) in 2000.

Trained by John Shirreffs and owned by The Thoroughbred Corporation, David Copperfield was sidelined for more than a year due to an ankle problem. He made a victorious return to action on Aug. 15 at Del Mar when, making his first start in 14 months, he scored a front-running win in a nine-furlong allowance race on the turf.

David Copperfield has won five of his 16 career races and $421,983.

Locally-stabled Ninebanks will seek his third straight stakes win on the Longden Turf Course Saturday. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Ninebanks won the San Matean Handicap on Aug. 18 and the California Turf Championship on Sept. 2.

Hollendorfer claimed Ninebanks for $50,000 on Aug. 3, 2001, for owner Peter Abruzzo. In 13 starts for "The Dorf," Ninebanks has won five races and earned $217,393.

Little Ghazi ran third in Escondido Handicap, beaten 3 1/4 lengths by Dance Dreamer. A 6-year-old gelding who has made $422,493, Little Ghazi has 11 wins and 11 seconds in 38 career races.

Prodigous has finished in the money in 19 of his 33 career outings.

$200,000 Bay Meadows Handicap (gr. IIIT), 1 1/8 Mile, 3 & Up
PP. Horse, Rider, Wgt.
1. Dance Dreamer, Russelll Baze, 118
2. Little Ghazi, Ricky Frazier, 115
3. Ninebanks, Ron Warren, Jr., 115
4. David Copperfield, Jason Lumpkins, 117
5. Prodigious, Francisco Duran, 112.