Is Merv Griffins 2-year-old more than a one-hit wonder?
By Hank Wesch UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER September 7, 2005 DEL MAR – It was only the fifth race on the card of Saturday, Aug. 6, a 6½-furlong maiden event for 2-year-olds with a total purse of $54,000. But it had the feel of much more after Stevie Wonderboy produced a four-length victory. Merv Griffin, trailblazer in the 1960s and ’70s for a thousand talk-show hosts to follow and an impact player in TV production, hotels and other business ventures after that, came down to the winner’s circle in obvious excitement. Griffin owned the winner, a Stephen Got Even colt Griffin had named after pop music star Stevie Wonder, who got a national introduction on Griffin’s show while still a teenager. The impressive victory in his third career start made Stevie Wonderboy a candidate for the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity, highlight of today’s closing-day program for the 66th summer meeting. And Griffin was experiencing the anticipatory thrills reserved for owners of really good 2-year-olds. “We’ve been
