18 Feb. USA. General George H. G2. Laurel Park. 7f. Dirt. 300.000 $
1.- BUSTIN STONES (R.Dominguez)
2.- LORD SNOWDON (J.Rose)
3.- PREMIUM WINE (A.Napravnik)


Trainer Bruce Levine admitted to having a couple of worries yesterday going into the Grade II $300,000 General George Breeders' Cup Handicap: His lightly raced but blazingly fast chestnut colt Bustin Stones likely would face pace pressure from horses starting to his outside, and the sprints earlier on the Laurel Park card were won by horses rallying from far behind.

"I didn't think speed was doing good here," said Levine, making a rare foray into Maryland from his base at Belmont Park in New York. "It seemed like the closers had more of an edge over the speed horses."

Not his speed horse.

When the gate opened, Bustin Stones went right to the front under jockey Ramon Dominguez. He set a comfortable, moderate pace, shook off the half-mile challenge of Stormin Normandy and opened up turning for home.

Only Lord Snowdon and Premium Wine had a chance to catch him, and those two locked up in a bumping battle deep in the stretch. Lord Snowdon held his ground, closed the gap but didn't have enough, and Bustin Stones beat him by a head.

On a wet track listed as "good," Bustin Stones ran the seven-furlong race, one of the richest winter sprints on the East Coast, in a sharp 1 minute 24.47 seconds. Lord Snowdon finished second, 1 1/2 lengths in front of Premium Wine. The winning favorite paid $6.20.

A steady rain dampened the winner's circle celebration, but not the enthusiasm. Last summer, Levine discovered Bustin Stones had a bone chip floating in his left-front knee and the colt went under the knife. Oftentimes, horses fail to recover their speed after invasive knee surgery, but Bustin Stones has only gotten faster, and Levine is dreaming of big summer races such as the historic Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

"He's probably better than he was last year to win a Grade II," Levine said. "He doesn't really train like a horse like that; he trains like an average horse. But when he races, he puts his game face on."

Bustin Stones, owned by Roddy Valente of Loudonville, N.Y., now has won all five of his starts, and the General George was his first outside the protection of New York-bred company.

Only one runner in the seven-horse field had won a graded stakes race heading into the General George, and that horse had the most trouble in the race. Divine Park, a promising runner from the barn of Kiaran McLaughlin, won the first three races of his career and then returned from an injury in December to run fairly well in the Grade I Malibu in California.

Bettors made the 4-year-old colt a close 2.60-to-1 second choice behind Bustin Stones, but he broke through the starting gate before the race began and faded badly, finishing last.