Bolulight Shines With Stretch Run

RENTON - Bolulight, a horse with no hooves on his front feet, fulfilled his owners' family dream with a stirring half-length victory over Ibero in the 57th and final running of the Longacres Mile in front of 17,182 at Longacres Park.

"We wanted to win this for the memory of our father," said Bolulight owner Jim Braich, who owns the gelding with his four brothers. "This is the race we wanted all along. It really is hard to say how you feel."

Braich's father, who died in 1976, was close friends with Longacres founder Joe Gottstein and raced horses for 30 years. The best of those was Bouncing Kim, who won the Joe Gottstein Futurity in 1969. He never accomplished his stated goal of winning the Mile. The five sons, who range in age from 27 to 37, re-entered the sport in 1988 with that in mind.

The family's feelings were obviously strong after Bolulight's near track-record performance of 1 minute, 34 seconds in the $293,800 Mile, just missing Always Gallant's standard of 1:33 4/5. The winner's-circle celebration featured raised index fingers and roars loud enough to startle Bolulight, delaying the horse's entrance into the enclosure.

Bolulight also backed up the prerace boasts of his jockey, Ron Hansen. After riding the gelding to victory in the Governor's Handicap three weeks ago, Hansen greeted reporters with two words: "Hello Mile." During the week leading up to the Mile, he wondered if even outstanding performances from the race's high weight Ibero and local favorite Time To Pass would be good enough to topple his horse.

Both almost did. Time To Pass grabbed a brief lead with 300 meters remaining but tired and wound up fourth. Ibero was carried five horses wide around the stretch turn by pacesetting Charmonnier, who finished a nose back of Ibero in third.

"It cost me the race," said Ibero's jockey, Alex Solis, who came up from Del Mar for the mount. "That was the difference. The winner got through on the inside because of that, too."

That Hansen was able to get his horse inside after breaking from the eleventh post position was almost as surprising as his horse's placing entering the final turn. In each of his nine previous victories, Bolulight had led at that point. Yesterday, Hansen held him back so he could save ground on the rail instead of being outside five horses on the first turn.

"I had planned on beating Ibero going wire-to-wire," said Hansen, who rode four winners yesterday. "There were just too many horses for that spot, and I just said, `What the heck, I'll take him back and see what happens.' "

Few jockeys would be so matter-of-fact about changing a horse's running style in the most important race of his life. But then few jockey have dominated a meet as Hansen has since arriving July 3. Among his 58 victories in 37 racing days are triumphs in the Longacres Derby with Star Recruit, Saturday's Luella G. Handicap with Avant's Gold, and yesterday's Washington Oaks with Senate Appointee.

The Braichs, who run a lucrative timber business in British Columbia, did more than land the track's top rider to maximize their chances at winning the Pacific Northwest's most prestigious race.

First they had to have the horse. Bolulight was purchased for about $300,000 late in his 3-year-old season last September from Canada's most powerful stable, Kinghaven Farm. His first race for the Braichs was a 12-length win in Exhibition Park's B.C. Derby. Bolulight was voted Canada's top 3-year-old colt or gelding in 1991.

His enormous ability was compromised earlier this year by his foot problem.

Bolulight is basically a horse without a hoof. This prevents him from wearing normal shoes and causes abscesses to form on the underside of his foot. The constant pounding worsens the condition.

To ensure Bolulight's feet would be fit, the Braichs had the horse's blacksmith, Tom Wade, flown in eight days before the race.

By reconstructing the foot with material developed by NASA for space missions, , Wade is able to direct Bolulight's infections to the rear foot where they can be more easily treated. Two days before the Mile, abscesses did form.

Because Wade, considered one of the top blacksmiths in Northern California, was here, he was able to quickly take care of the infection.

"These people wanted to win the Mile," Wade said. "They are smart and generous. They know how to run a business."

NOTES -- Bolulight raised his earnings to $730,097, nearly $400,000 of those for the Braichs. -- Captain Condo finished fourth in the Mile consolation race to remain winless in six starts this year. The 10-year-old won six of eight races last year and placed second twice. Bolt the Hatch's victory in the race was the first of three stakes victories by Canadian-owned horses yesterday. -- Alex Solis is likely to incur a suspension for allegedly encouraging his mount, Sierra Traveler, to drift out and be disqualified. -- Yesterday's attendance was the largest since 1987.