The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 934

LOS ANGELES TIMES SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1991 C15" VALLEY SPORTS Val Verde's Drake Emerges From Crowds at Ventura BASEBALLGARY KLEIN Murphy Sees Spring as the Time to Shine Schroeder of Burbank, who had held an eight-point lead over Deiny aUhe beginning of the night. After having his right-front lite sheared off during a heat race, Walt Johnson of Sun Valley wps able to put his car back together in time to win the 10-lap three-quarter Midget semi-main event, qualifying for the main event. Robert Dolacki of La Puentc took command early and went on to win the 10-lap Midget semi-main event and gain a transfer to that division's main. Jordan Hermansader of Rancho Palos Vordes was another 10-lap Midget heat-race winner, capping a recovery from injuries suffered in Ventura's opening-night Midget program nearly five months ago. Other heat-winners were AJ.

Johnson of Paramount, Duane Markumof Stanton and Jones. Kenny White of Ventura took the lead from J.J. Ersce of Bell-flower on Lap 4 and went on to win a three-quarter Midget eight-lap heat race. Other heat winners were Deiny, Jim Voitel of San Gabriel, and Mark Holtz of Bellingham, Wash. BHUCEK.HUFF LoaAngclcsTlmca1 One trainer calls Pete Accardy, poring over The Dally Racing Form, above, a student of horse racing.

ACCARDY By PAUL OLSON SPECIAL TO TUB TIMES The West Coast Clash for United States Auto Club Midgets and three-quarter Midgets at the Ventura County Fair was misnamed. It should have been the West Coast Crash. Seventh-five cars were competing for 40 main-event slots in the two main-event races as the drivers bumped, banged, spun and flipped their way through a long racing program that delayed the start of the Midget feature Saturday night. However, Jay Drake of Val Verde showed he is beginning to feel at home" on the quarter-mile dirt track as he drove a smooth race to claim the 20-lap three-quarter Midget main event Drake, the defending three-quarter Midget champion, has won both of his main-event starts at Ventura this season. Frank Deiny Jr.

of Burbank finished second with Page Jones of Torrance third. Deiny's second-place finish pushed him back into the season points lead, surpassing Gary SAUGUS Continued from C14 Monteleone said. Hooper eventually finished the race one lap down. Heath, meanwhile, led from Lap 3 until Renno's repeated challenges forced him to give way. In the 25 -lap Street Stock oval main event, Brian Kelley of Arleta charged late and won his sixth main event of the season two oval and four figure-eight.

Kelley, who entered the evening tied for fourth in the points standings, started 10th and didn't assume the lead until Lap 19. Pole-sitter Oliver Aguilar led the race until Kelley's move for first When Kelley did make his bid, he and Aguilar raced door to door for 1V6 laps before Kelley pulled away. After that, Aguttar failed to finish among the top four. Rip Michels of Arleta, who was tied with Kelley for fourth place in the standings, finished second. Ed Horst of Canoga Park, who was third In the.

points standings, finished third. Garrett Cromsight of Antelope Valley finished fourth. Points leader Dave Blankenship of Reseda suffered damage to his Notre Dame's Klein Emllee Klein, a senior-to-be at Notre Dame High, teamed with Kelli Kuenne of Dallas to win a first-round match, 2 and 1, in the American Junior Golf Assn's Canon Cup on Saturday at Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs, Colo. Klein and Kuenne beat Erin O'Neill of Zephyrhills, and Dina Taylor of De Bary Fla. Lautenschlager Places 1 Janae Lautenschlager of Northridge scored 381.84 points to finish 11th Saturday in the three-meter springboard event in the U.S.

Diving championships in Bartlesville, Okla. SOUTHERN SECTION RECORDS All-time Individual leaders RUSHING YARDAGE, CAREER 5.998 RussoH Whllo. CtosdI 5,397 Roy Panares. Vatonda 1B83-85 5,213 Craig Johnson. Whlttlef Chrs 1973-75 5,181 StOvoTfltflcK.

LA. Baptist 1970-72 5,146 Napokron Kaufman, Lompoc 1988-90 4,920 1964-66 4.882 Eric B4entemy, Bishop Amat 1984-86 4,807 Aaron Dnanucl.Quartilllll 1982-03 4,597 Ryan Knight, Rubldoux 1982-83 4,553 tovmWIMoms.Colton 1973-75 RUSHING YARDAGE, SEASON 2,7 1 3 Gtyn Mflbum, Santa Monica 1 987 2.620 Ryan Knight, Rubldou 1983 2.504 Mickey Curator, Centennial 1966 2.493 David Dotson, Vnlkry Wow 1990 2,445 Craig Johnson, WhittlorChrs 1975 2,404 Donyl Harris, Garoy 1982 2.397 Eddlo Johnson, Santa Maria 1983 2,371 Stave TeWck, LA. Baptist 1972 2,354 Aaron Emanuel, Quota Kin 1983 2,339 Russell 1986 RUSHING YARDAGE, GAME 501 Ryan Knight, Rubldoux 476 Lorry Chacon, Notre DamoR. 448 Craig Johnson, WhttUor Chrs. 424 Darren Rogers, Agoura 418 Jim Gleed, Dana Hills 405 Ryan Knight, Rubldoux 401 Dovo Johnson, CantwcH 385 Klrby Andrews, Harvard 382 Steve DUon, Rio Mesa 375 Fred Crutchor, Blair 1033 1976 1975 1975 1979 1982 1969 1970 1971 1981 Learn to Play Golf The lMcCallister K)n malm no No awkward moves or distorted positions.

Learn to use your natural balance and ability to play good and enjoyable Shaun Murphy was an integral part of the 1986 Simi Valley High baseball team that spent much of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today. Simi Valley lost to Anaheim Esperanza in the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs, but seven Pioneers eventually signed professional contracts. Pitcher Scott Radinsky is now a reliever for the Chicago White Sox; Dave Milstien is a triple-A infielder in the Boston Red Sox organization; infielder Mike Hankins signed last year out of UCLA and is at the Class-A level in the New York Yankees' organization; Tim Laker signed out of Oxnard College and is a catcher at the Class-A level with the Montreal Expos; first baseman Scott Sharts signed this year out of Cal State Northridge and is in rookie ball with the Cleveland Indians; outfielder Duane Mulville played in the Cincinnati Reds' organization; and Murphy is in his first full season in the Montreal organization. Murphy, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound outfielder, was signed as a free agent last year after a star-crossed college career.

He is batting .299 for Rockford (111.) in the Class-A Midwest League. "At the beginning of the season, I was struggling because it was so cold here," said Murphy, 22. "I came out of it and I've pretty much been doing well ever since." Murphy played two years at Arizona before transferring to Nevada Las Vegas. But after a junior season during which he hit 14 home runs for the Rebels, he underwent shoulder surgery during the winter and was slow to regain full strength. Passed over in the draft, Murphy went to several tryout camps and was signed by the Expos.

Last season, he batted .353 in 22 games for Bradenton (Fla.) in the Gulf Coast Rookie League. "It's a long season, a long haul," said Murphy, who played in the Midwest League all-star game and has hit three home runs and driven in 44 runs in 355 at-bats. Murphy wants to bypass high Class-A West Palm Beach next season and gain a promotion to double-A Harrisburg. "I'm hoping that a good spring training will get me to Harrisburg," he said. Lenders of the pack: Former Providence High and USC standout Jeff Cirillo, a third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers' affiliate at Helena, leads the Pioneer Rookie League in home runs with 10 and is fifth in batting average (.361) and runs batted in (49).

Former Alemany pitcher Joey Rosselli, who is playing for the San Francisco Giants' affiliate at Clinton, Iowa, ranks eighth in the Midwest League with a 2.71 carned-run average and has a 7-5 record. Independent thinker: Normally, when a player is among a league's offensive leaders, there Is reason to be optimistic about a promotion the following season. But Rick Hirtensteiner isn't getting too excited. Hlrtensteiner, 23, leads the Pioneer League with 60 RBIs and is fourth in average at .365. He also has seven home runs.

Hirtensteiner, however, is playing for Salt Lake City, an independent team. And unless a major league organization buys Hirten-stciner's contract, this could be his final season. "I think I should get picked up, but I'm not counting on it," said Hirtensteiner, who played at Bue-na High and Pepperdine and was signed by the Angels in 1989. "As much as I would love to play, if I don't get picked up, I think I would end up going to grad school." Hirtensteiner batted .220 last season for Quad City, Iowa, in the Midwest League. He underwent therapy for a depth-perception problem and was fitted with contact lenses before spring training, but the Angels released him a few weeks before breaking camp.

"After I was released, I sat around and didn't do anything for a while," Hirtensteiner said. "Going through that really makes you love the game." Recommended reading: Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" (Collier Books, $12.95) is more than 20 years old, but the former pitcher's tell-all account of life with the New York Yankees and Seattle remains a classic. Even funnier, but harder to come by because it's out of print, is Bouton's follow-up effort "I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally," which chronicled his days with the Houston Astros and the negative reaction to "Ball Four." boxes, says a few hellos and sits down to pore over the entries for the first race. True to his word, he bets in $2 combinations, usually covering his projections by "boxing" or "base-balling" two or three horses in the same race. "Pete is a student of the game," says Assinesi, who drops by the box before a race.

"He's followed it and he knows his stuff." Accardy's handicapping doesn't pay off in the first race, but Assinesi points out that it is likely to return big dividends when Accardy and his partners set out to claim a horse. "He doesn't make hasty decisions or emotional decisions. Pete plans," Assinesi says. "He is a waiter and he is very accurate because he is patient. "Where Pete is very far ahead of a lot of other people in racing is that, along with being a very good handicapper, he knows pedigree, which is why he is very good at claiming horses on speculation.

"If he sees a horse up for $32,000 that is running on dirt but was bred to run on grass, he'll take the chance." Copland, who drops by calls Accardy "a lucky man," then adds, "but you make your own luck." As the day wears on, Accardy begins cashing in on his luck at the betting windows. He hits on exacta in the third race, another, exacta in the sixth, and a longshot in the seventh. By post time for the ninth and final race of the day, Accardy already has secured a tidy profit. Still, he cannot resist the challenge of tje trifecta picking the top three finishers in order. "Geez, what a messy race," Accardy says, scratching notes on his program.

The 10 entered horses have a combined 93 starts and only 10 victories in 1991 and the odds arc! fairly equally spread. Accardy's three horses break out of the gate seventh, eighth and ninth. He follows them with his binoculars while quietly commenting on their progress. As the horses make the far turn and enter the stretch, Accardy's whisper turns into a yelp. "Here comes the Boogieboy," he says.

"Got the first three." Dipping into his pocket, his fingers emerge with a ticket worth $349.20. "I'll cash this in tomorrow," Accardy says, tucking away the ducat and heading for the parking lot "Way to go Boogie." Boogieboard Boy, 11-to-l on the tote board when the flag went up, has won for only the second time in 14 starts. Someone asks Accardy how he made his choice. "I thought there was a lot of speed in the race and the way the track played today, it favored closing horses," he says. "I was worried about that No.

10 post position, but since he was a stretch runner, it wasn't as much of a negative." The Racing Form charts show that Boogieboard Boy has made up ground in the stretch only twice In his previous 10 races. Somehow, Accardy's explanation seems plausible anyway. In the background, old Bing is once again crooning a popular tune: "Where the turf meets the surf Down at old Del Mar Take a plane, take a car. There's a smile on every face And a winner in each race. Where the turf meets the surf at Del Mar.

Accardy's smile is particularly broad. "Really," he says, "today turned out to be a nice day." He is not referring to the left front tire on Lap 13 and had to pit. He returned, however, to finish the race one lap down. The 40-lap Sportsman main event was under way relatively early, but an accident involving racers Ken Sapper of Glendale and Mintey Jr. caused a delay.

The two tangled coming out of Turn 2 on Lap 3, with Mintey hitting the wall. Sapper left his vehicle under his own power, but Mintey was taken to Henry Mayo Medical Center for precautionary measures. Mintey was alert and talking when he left the track. Fresh off first- and second-place finishes a week ago in the Winston 100 (twin 50-lap races), Hooper started on the pole and won the six-lap Sportsman trophy dash. Michels won the Street Stock oval trophy dash after Craig Ray-burn of Newhall and Cromsight tangled bumpers in a small pilcup at Turn 3.

Horst took the Street Stock figure-eight trophy dash. Hooper continued his fine driving in the six-lap fast-heat race, passing Beckers on the outside of the back straightaway to take the checkered flag. Blankenship won the Street Stock oval fast heat and Richard Smith of Reseda won the Street Stock figure-eight fast heat. Notches Golf Win Jason Gore of Valencia and teammate Chris Riley of San Diego dropped a first-round match, 4 and 2, to Robert Dean (Raleigh, N.C.) and Jason Walters (Memphis, In mixed competition, Gore teamed with Kirsten Krogsrud of Placerville, to beat Travis Deibert (Doylestown, Pa.) and Dana Mackcy (New Lenox, 1-up. 1th on 3-Meter Board Krista Klein of Dallas won the competition with 490.14 points.

Wendy Lucero (453.60) of Denver and Karen LaFace (452.97) of Fort Lauderdale, placed second and third. WE BUY I ALUMINUM CANS I I TIP tffct Alsocoppr, mA TBI I T.T3 WW. aluminum. stainless (prices ub)od lo cluneal) all m-tai STUROCO METALS 18333 Eddy Northridge CaU (818 772-4432 Opn Sat. i Natural Way With.

'J Ql 4 SKta 4Cl 00 I NOHTHATLftNTIC MTO. 18181407-02011 stmt. Continued from C14 hence the fans aimed into each stall. On this particular day, Accardy said he would meet him on the backstretch between 10 and 11 a.m., but Copland was late. "He has a schedule he sticks to," Accardy says.

"He may be gone for a while." It is 11:30 a.m.. In about two hours, the track's anthem, an oldie but goodie recorded by Bing Crosby, will be played to signify the start of another racing day. Accardy has time to spare and he would rather spend it at the condominium he shares with Nadel during the summer at an impeccably landscaped complex in Solano Beach, a short jog from the track and within hailing distance of the waterfront. Nadel, whose youngest son Keith swam for Northridge, owns the place and has owned racehorses since the 1960s. The decor shows Nadel's affinity for horses.

A framed picture of John Henry, a top money winner from the 1980s, hangs next to the fireplace in the living room. Nadel didn't own John Henry, but there are smaller, photos of some of his winners on the walls of an adjacent bedroom. One of them shows a Nadel horse named Reb's Policy, an accomplished sprinter from years ago, crossing the finish line. "Look at what the purse was in that race, $10,000," Accardy says, pointing to the fine-print caption. "The cheap clalmers, plodders, race for more than that now." Accardy turns on the television and tunes in the Financial News Network.

Playing the stock market is much like handicapping horses, he says, only not as much fun. He checks the telephone answering machine. There are 17 messages, a record. A couple of them are from Northridge swimmers who have the usual preregistration questions. "It is amazing how things get messed up," Accardy says, decrying the school's system of handling various forms of paper work.

"This is the way I get away from the tension and pressure," he adds, returning the subject to racing. "I get to the races and 1 just relax. It's been like therapy over the years." Accardy studies charts and visits Del Mar almost dally during the summer, but he does not invest heavily in the races he handicaps. He learned the danger of compulsive gambling at an early age while tagging along with his father, Pete Accardy a comedian in the 1940s who performed with, among others, Spike Jones. "I don't go to bet.

I like the atmosphere, the challenge, the competitiveness," Accardy say's a bit wistfully. "It's like something you really can't conquer completely. You can't go to a computer and put in certain numbers and get all the right answers. "Coaching Is a lot like that. When the gun goes off at the NCAA championships, each kid reacts a little different.

Their physical makeup is different. Their emotional makeup Is different; so there is never a sure thing. If I knew I could go someplace and put in some numbers and get an exact result, I would probably get bored with it and quit" Although he now has a rather large financial stake in it, racing still has a recreational attraction for Accardy because of the way he approaches the sport. "I don't overextend myself from a financial standpoint," he says, shooting a glance at the stock prices flashing across the screen. "Whatever money I use is not going to affect my life style." Accardy's initial $1,500 investment was typically cautious.

"I wanted to see the operation, how the backstretch ran, what the expenses were and who I could trust i Los Angclca Times being well-schooled is something Accardy learned coaching CSUN to 13 national titles. before I just went diving into it," Accardy says. "I wanted to experience a little of the highs and lows, which in this sport are unbelievable. You can have a great horse one day and the next day he could break a leg and you would have nothing." For years, Accardy has considered retiring from coaching to train horses himself, but he is not sure he could make the commitment. "In swimming, many years I got up at 4 In the morning, had workouts and, with college, would go all the way through until 8 at he says.

"Racing is an everyday, 365 days a year job. I'm not sure at this point that I want to dedicate my life like that again." As a result, he lets his trainers have the final say when it comes to decisions about when, where, how and against whom his horses will race. "You leave things up to the trainer because he's the guy who works with the horse on a daily basis," Accardy says. "It's an amazing business as far as that goes. You'll have multimillionaires spending a half-million to a million dollars on a horse and really not have anything to say about the Investment If they spent that kind of money on their business, they'd have everything to say about it." Accardy makes an effort to hold his tongue despite some well-defined ideas about how racehorses should be utilized to fully capitalize on their talent "A lot of trainers are stagnant in their thinking as far as that goes," he says.

"Racing is pretty stable in terms of what you're supposed to do and not do and trainers don't like to be embarrassed. If he takes a cheap horse and runs it in a fairly expensive race on the grass and is badly beaten, he might take some criticism on the backstretch. "Personally, I wouldn't care. It's like with swimming. When I first started coaching, shaving and tapering were just starting to become popular but a lot of coaches, the so-called macho coaches, still said that guys shouldn't shave their arms and legs.

"We'd get our head beat in in most meets, then we'd rest and shave for the finals and I looked like I had some kind of secret. It was no secret, but we had an advantage because I was willing to try something other people were still fighting." Accardy hopes to continue winning in horse racing the same way his swimming teams have won 13 NCAA Division II titles. "We didn't win with well-known athletes, we won with kids who got a lot better," he says. "The same can happen with horses. I think I have a good opinion when it comes to looking at horses and knowing where they belong and where they will excel." It is almost time to test those instincts at a betting window.

After a five-minute drive to the race track, Accardy, flashing his owner's license at all the proper places, makes his way to the owners' STUDIO CITY GOLF COURSE 4141 WHITSETT AVE. STUDIO CITY CA 91604 (818) 761-3250 (213) 877-3777.