GOLDEN GLIMPSES #159

March 30, 1999

By ED GOLDEN

How to win at the races: bet on horses trained by Vladimir Cerin first time out of the box after he claims them.

Cerin is a serious student of the game, both at the barn and at the windows.

He left his native Yugoslavia for Canada at age 14. In 1974, he moved to California where he obtained a graduate degree from UCLA in kinesiology, the study of movement. He worked for four years with professional athletes, including former tennis star Tracy Austin and basketball greats Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes and Kiki Vandeweghe, before taking out his trainer�s license in 1981.

Cerin�s father directed a large farm with a variety of domestic animals, including horses. So it�s little wonder Cerin has fashioned a successful yet relatively obscure career as a thoroughbred trainer. After a one-for-18 start at Santa Anita this meet, Cerin won with 16 of his next 51 starters (31 %), placing him second in the standings behind Bob Baffert, who�s in a league of his own with 31 victories.

"I quit coaching soccer, so I�m doing this full time," joked the 44-year-old Cerin, when asked to explain his sweet surge. "I didn�t realize how much time it took. Seriously, I have a lot of clients who have backed me and I have a lot of very, very live horses. We�ve made several claims that are competitive and I have some very good young horses.

"Over the years, I�ve always had somewhere between 20 and 25 percent winners first time out after a trainer change, so this is not unusual for me. It appears to be unusual because I�ve won so many races, but I have a lot of horses now (40). I felt that I�ve always done really well." This meet, Cerin (pronounced SIR-in) won with five horses in their first starts after he claimed them.

Cerin�s best-known client is Frank Stronach, "The Savior of Santa Anita," who bought the storied track for $126 million last December 11. Cerin has two 3-year-old colts for Stronach. One, Luftikus, by Meadowlake, won on March 14. The other is a Corporate Report colt named Conglomerate, who�s a bit away from a race.

"I use the Thorograph sheets a lot to help me evaluate a horse before I make a claim and I look for horses that have good conformation or pedigree," Cerin said. "Most of my barn consists of really solid allowance horses or expensive claimers. When you claim horses for $50,000 to $80,000, you have a little better chance of coming out with a horse that can really run."

It�s rare to see trainers at the races in the afternoon unless they have a horse entered that day. Many arrive at the barns by 5 a.m. By 2 p.m., they�ve already put in nine hours at the track. But training horses is a 24-hour a day job. Cerin is usually at the races every afternoon, whether he�s running a horse or not. That�s one reason he�s winning.

"I go to the races every day and try to see if there�s a horse who gets in trouble, or one with something in its pedigree that will indicate it might win at a different distance from where it�s been running," Cerin said. "We�re religious about taking care of their likes, and my horses have some kind of medality, some kind of machine on them every day, for therapy. They�re all in ice every day. We have a very organized, therapeutic barn. I also think the background that I�ve had in nutrition has helped me."

Cerin has little direct contact with Frank Stronach, founder and chairman of the board of Magna International, which employs 50,000 people world-wide.

"I talk to Andy (Frank�s son), whenever he�s around," Cerin said. "Mostly, I talk with Mrs. Stronach. I had spoken with Stronach a couple times over the years, trying to interest him in buying a couple claiming mares I had that became stakes-placed, so he�s kept track of my career. When he bought the track, either he called me or I called him--I forget which--and he asked me to provide some documentation about my racing career and what my strengths were."

Stronach knows Cerin�s strengths now. And so do the bettors.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Cerin is excited about Stronach�s purchase of Santa Anita, which will begin sweeping renovations as soon as the current meet ends on April 19. "And apparently, I�m not the only one," Cerin says. "If you look at the crowds that are coming to Santa Anita, my feeling is that the attendance is up considerably from last year." He�s right. Through 64 days, on-track attendance was up 2.4 % over last year, while overall attendance had increased 4.6 % . . . If Foster�s is Australian for beer, then Michael Wrona is Australian for racing announcer. Wrona, 33, is the thorough and colorful new man behind the mike at Hollywood Park, replacing another young lion, Luke Kruytbosch, who has moved on to Churchill Downs and Ellis Park. Not only is Wrona distinctive in his descriptions ("the horse is staying like a mother-in-law"), the Aussie, who called his first race at age 17 at Kilcoy Racecourse near Brisbane, is the only announcer I know of who calls every horse across the finish line . . . While leader Alex Solis was in Dubai for the World Cup, runner-up David Flores was gaining ground in quest of his first major riding championship. "It would be huge if he won it," said agent Jim Pegram, who handles business for Flores, a six-time king at Fairplex Park, who has never won a title at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park or Del Mar. "Winning the San Felipe Stakes with Prime Timber (now one of the Kentucky Derby favorites) proved David can ride a big horse in a big race as good as anybody," Pegram said. "Owners and trainers are finally overcoming their perceptions and recognizing that he�s good, and he�s been this good for three years. This is the toughest meet in the world, and winning it would be fantastic." . . . A noon first post will be the norm at Hollywood this meet. Why so early? With full card simulcasting from eastern tracks beginning around 9 a.m., it would be in Hollywood�s best interests to keep its simulcast patrons on track for the live racing. A lengthy delay from the final simulcast race to the first live race could cause some players to grow impatient for action, and leave the premises . . . Hollywood will offer the richest handicapping contest ever, worth $1 million, with $600,000 to the winner, June 25-June 27. It will include all races at Hollywood, Belmont and other selected thoroughbred simulcasts, but contestants must be on-track. Wagering will be done with real money. But it�s not cheap. Entry fee is $10,000. Second place is worth $150,000; third, $100,000; fourth, $40,000, and fifth, $30,000. Application deadline is April 13. For more information, call 310-330-7266 or log on to www.hollywoodpark.com.