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Opening Day

It’s opening day at Del Mar (Union-Tribune), and Saratoga is just a week away. NYRA officials must be fretting a little about attendance and buzz now that two crowd pleasers either won’t or may not put in a Spa appearance. Saratoga favorite Funny Cide is on the shelf until the fall (New York Times). “We’ll give him a little time off and then put him back in training and racing when the weather gets cool, probably around the end of September,” said assistant trainer Robin Smullen. Funny Cide came out of his last race, the Suburban, phyisically just fine, indicating that his sixth place finish there could perhaps be traced to a more existential problem. “He had no desire to get the job done,” said jockey Jerry Bailey after the race. Sackatoga managing partner Jack Knowlton said Funny Cide may try lower-level stakes next.
Afleet Alex is scheduled for the Travers, but he’ll run in the Haskell first, and trainer Tim Ritchey is making no promises about what Alex will do after:

“I would love to see him run in both races,” Ritchey said recently outside Barn 19 at Belmont Park, where Afleet Alex has been since winning the Belmont on June 11. “If he is healthy and doing well, then he will. The Haskell is the first race up. It’s very possible to do both races, but we will just have to wait and see how it goes between now and the Haskell, and then between the Haskell and the Travers” (Times-Union).

Wait and see? What kind of talk is that? I thought Alex was a superhorse, capable of leaping tall buildings and running more than one race a month.
The Times-Union also notes that Gary Stevens, Rafael Bejarano, and Ramon Dominguez are among the riders joining the Saratoga jockey colony this year.

Posted in Track Notes on July 20, 2005

No Nostalgia … No Consideration

More reaction to the Hollywood Park sale …
Inglewood city leaders are looking to the future, and they don’t necessarily see horseracing there:

“As the city evolves, we’ve got to be prepared to capitalize on every changing situation and we can’t get caught up in nostalgia,” said Assemblyman Jerome Horton … “The track’s heyday is long since gone,” said Inglewood Councilman Curren Price. “We’ll miss the horse racing, but we’re confident there’s bigger things ahead. It’s time for new uses, and that land is more valuable as a development project than as a horse racing venue at this time” (KTLA).

Price’s comments hit home — the same things can be said about Suffolk Downs and most other minor tracks in urban areas.
Horsemen at the track are peeved by the timing of the sale announcement:

“No consideration,” a veteran trainer said of the way the owners, old and new, broke the news on a day when Hollywood Park should have made headlines with the naming of the lineup for Saturday’s $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup (LA Daily News).

Posted in Track Notes on July 8, 2005

Hollywood Park Sold

The Bay Meadows Land Company bought Hollywood Park for $260 million from Churchill Downs yesterday (Daily Racing Form). Racing will continue for at least three years. What happens after may depend on whether changes are made to California’s racing law allowing other forms of gambling at tracks (read: slots). Without such, Hollywood’s acreage could be developed for commercial or residential purposes, said Bay Meadows president Terry Francher. “The land is attractive land and we’re prepared to go down either path” (LA Times).
More: “In Bay Meadows, we selected a buyer who not only recognized the value of Hollywood Park, but also is committed to continuing racing there and motivated to improve the California racing environment,” said Churchill CEO Tom Meeker, speaking of the deal (Blood-Horse) … “California horse racing announced Wednesday that it had had enough. It had sat quietly at the dinner table for too long. It was time to pound its fists and knock over the salad … What happened Wednesday was gutsy, brilliant and also somewhat desperate” (LA Times).

Posted in Track Notes on July 7, 2005

Hollywood Deal

The Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that the owners of Bay Meadows put in the leading bid of $275 million to buy Hollywood Park. Stockbridge Capital Partners entered the bidding process late and submitted a bid that was 10% higher than any others; it also agreed to hire Hollywood’s current owners, Churchill Downs, to manage the track for another three years, giving Hollywood Park a temporary reprieve from becoming a condo development.

Posted in Track Notes on June 21, 2005

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