Sun Jul 1 01:35:15 2007

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Lava Man captures third straight Hollywood Gold Cup

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Inglewood, CA (Sports Network) - Lava Man made it three straight Hollywood Gold Cup wins to enter the record along aside Native Dancer. The six-year-old gelding and Native Dancer are the only three-time winners of the $750,000 race.

Lava Man, owned by STD Racing and Jason Wood, proved every bit the champion in his stretch-long duel with A.P. Xcellent. It was one of the most exciting stretch drives with Lava Man winning by a nose. Big Booster finished third.

A.P. Xcellent set the pace in the 68th edition of the Gold Cup. Lava Man, ridden by Corey Nakatani, was second, about three lengths back heading into the backstretch. In third place was Wilko with A.P. Arrow running fourth.

A.P. Xcellent and jockey Mike Smith continued to set the pace with Lava Man close behind in second. As the field approached the far turn 8-5 second choice Molengao moved into third.

Around the turn for home Lava Man and A.P. Xcellent were on even terms on the lead. Coming off the final turn A.P. Xcellent put a head in front of the 7-5 favorite. At the top of the stretch A.P. Xcellent still had a slight lead over Lava Man.

It was not until just before the wire that Lava Man stuck his nose out to defeat A.P. Xcellent. Long-shot Big Booster got up for third with Molengao and Porfido finishing in a dead-heat for fourth.

The time for the Hollywood Gold Cup was 2:03.21 on the all-weather track. This was the first time the race was conducted on the synthetic surface.

Completing the order of finish was A.P. Arrow, Saint Stephen, Wilko and My Creed.

In addition to joining Native Dancer as the only three-time winners of the Gold Cup, Lava Man is on the verge of duplicating his sweep of Southern California's three major handicap races.

Last year he became the first thoroughbred to sweep the three big handicap races in Southern California in the same year, Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic. Earlier this year he repeated as the winner of the Santa Anita Handicap.

Lava Man is trained by Doug O'Neill. However, O'Neill was not in attendance for the historic victory.

"Doug is vacationing in Ireland with his wife and mother and won't be back until Monday," explained Dennis O'Neill, the trainer's brother and assistant, from his barn Wednesday. "They planned the trip in January and were locked into those dates."

In his career Lava Man has won 17 of 40 starts and adds $450,000 to his bankroll. With the Gold Cup win he surpasses the $5 million mark in career earnings.

Lava Man returned $4.80, $3.00 and $2.10. A.P. Xcellent paid $7.40 and $4.80, and Big Booster paid $8.40 to show.

Native Dancer, who won the Hollywood Gold Cup from 1965 to 1967, was third to Colorado King in the 1964 Gold Cup.

"You know the legend of Native Diver," Dennis O'Neill said. "There's a lot of pressure going into this race because that is a really, really big thing, especially in California. I mean that horse is a legend out here and to accomplish something like that, I know Doug was really, really excited and yet nervous about what an incredible accomplishment it would be to do this three years in a row."

Earlier, in the American Invitational Handicap, Out of Control outdueled defending champ The Tin Man down the stretch to win the $250,000 turf race. This was the first stakes win for Out of Control in the United States.

Out of Control snapped the four race win streak of The Tin Man. The four-year- old from Brazil won the 1 1/8 mile race by a head over the 4-5 favorite. The final time was 1:46.89 on a firm turf course.

Michael Baze rode the colt to victory for owner TNT Stud and trainer Bobby Frankel.

Out of Control returned $13.80, $4.60 and $3.40. The Tin Man paid $2.60 and $2.10, and Fast and Furious paid $6.00 to show.