Big Night, 40,700 at Hollypark : 50th-Anniversary Party Is a Success

Perhaps they’ve been wrong to let sleeping horses lie, after all.

Hollywood Park, which battled to convince trainers and other horsemen to agree to even a single night of racing, Friday showed that maybe it could become a popular attraction.

A crowd of 40,700 showed up on a warm summer evening as the Inglewood track celebrated its 50th anniversary. The figure was higher than expected and no doubt will be used to support arguments calling for night racing on a regular basis sometime in the future.

Of course, most Friday nights won’t see Jaclyn Smith in the winner’s circle, surrounded by jockeys and cutting into a large birthday cake, either. This was strictly a one-time event.

Average Friday daytime attendance so far this meeting has been 13,441, and Friday night’s crowd was three times as large. Naturally, there were extenuating circumstances, and many in the crowd might not have been there were it not for the additional lure of:

--Two stakes races, the $100,000-added Cinema Handicap and the $60,000-added Seabiscuit Stakes, which generated a modicum of interest.

--A Pick Nine carryover of $1,386,271.19, which generated quite a bit more.

--The drawing for assorted prizes, including the giveaway of $50,000 to one person in attendance.

--The chance to be a part of a small slice of race track history and perhaps to get a glimpse of one of the several dozen entertainment celebrities said to be on hand.

It was Hollywood Park board member Merv Griffin who came up with the idea for a night of thoroughbred racing, which the track subsequently advertised as a first in Southern California despite Los Alamitos having raced thoroughbreds under the lights before.

It was billed as a night to see the stars under the stars, and to a certain extent, it was. It all depended on where you were sitting.

For the most part, the stars of the entertainment world chose to stay in the comfort of the Turf Club, while those in the night sky were outshone by the lights of the incoming jets approaching nearby Los Angeles International Airport.

Still, all was not lost, and there were a couple of nice touches. The usually drab Hollywood Park winner’s circle was decorated with the track’s 50th-anniversary logo, and winning riders were presented with floral blankets by personalities ranging from Henry Mancini to Jill St. John to Clint Eastwood.

There even was some racing of note.

The Seabiscuit Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile test on the turf for 3-year-olds and up, provided a surprise, being won by the Argentine-bred Feraud, ridden by Fernando Toro and trained by Cotton Tinsley.

Feraud covered the distance in a slow 1:48 4/5, allowing Captain Vigors, ridden by Aaron Gryder, to set the pace before catching and overtaking him deep in the stretch. Feraud paid his backers $23, $6.60 and $4.20; Captain Vigors, the favorite, paid $3.60 and $2.80, and Five Daddy Five, with Martin Pedroza aboard, paid $3.20 to show.

It was only the fourth win in 21 career starts for Feraud, who gave Toro his first stakes victory of the meeting.

The night’s feature race, the 42nd running of the Cinema Handicap, a Grade II event on the turf with a field of eight, did not go to the post until 10:55 p.m.

It was the Charlie Whittingham-trained Peace, given a perfect ride by Alex Solis, who emerged the winner. Peace covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46 4/5 to tie the stakes record set by Something Lucky last year and earn $78,400 for his owner, Olin B. Gentry of Lexington, Ky.

Second was Blade Of The Ball, ridden by Corey Black, while Toro brought Roberto’s Dancer home third, 1 lengths behind Blade Of The Ball. The winner paid $20.20, $8.40 and $5.20; Blade Of The Ball paid $17.20 and $6.40, and Roberto’s Dancer paid $4.60.

Peace allowed Perfecting, ridden by Gryder in the absence of regular jockey Gary Stevens, to make the pace, then made his move at the top of the stretch, eventually drawing clear to win by three-quarters of a length.

It was the second stakes victory of the day for Whittingham, who earlier won The Mother Goose at Belmont Park with Goodbye Halo.

Although the lights were not used until the third race, there was no evidence in any of the first six races that the horses were adversely affected by running at night. Some trainers had said there could be a downturn in performance, and the winner’s slow time in the Seabiscuit could have been evidence of that.

As Stevens had predicted earlier in the week, with the exception of the odd horse that might spook at shadows, most horses would not react badly to night racing.

“For instance, I ride a horse named Perfecting,” Stevens said. “He jumps shadows in the afternoon. So what’s the difference if he jumps shadows at night or if he jumps them in the afternoon?”

Mike Chambless, an assistant trainer to Wayne Lukas, had also said that Friday night’s event would not upset the Hollywood Park routine too much.

“Everything basically will stay the same as what it would, you’re just staying up later,” he said. “That’s about it. It’s a tough routine to get into when we’ve followed this (daytime racing) for so long, and then to have one night of racing and end up at 11, 11:30, it’s tough.

“With a 7 o’clock post, if you’ve got one (horse running) in the Cinema or the last (race), by the time you’ve got the horse back and cooled off and done up, you’re looking at 11, 11:30.

“I’ve trained quarter horses that we’ve run at night and there’s really not that much difference. You might see one spooking from a shadow or something, but here there’s no problem at all. This thing’s well lit, just like it is during the day. So it won’t be any different. What you’re changing is the routine of your horses. Where a horse would be resting and relaxing at night, now you’re changing him and getting him up and running.

“I don’t think it’ll be that drastic a deal for a one-night stand, but it’d be a little treacherous here if we had to do it every night.”

For the time being, at least, that does not seem to be a possibility, but Friday night’s celebration may have brought it a little closer.

Today is the first day of Hollywood Park’s second half-century, and racing returns to normal, which is to say, daylight hours.

This afternoon’s feature is the $75,000-added Los Angeles Handicap, a six-furlong sprint that has attracted a field of seven. Heading the Grade III event is Sylvan Express, who will carry high weight of 119 pounds, including rider Russell Baze.

Sunday, the $300,000 Californian has an even smaller field but a much more distinguished one. The Grade I race pits Charlie Whittingham’s 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand, against Lukas’ Gulch, who arrived here earlier this week from Belmont Park.