Horse Racing Industry Won Its Biggest Gamble of Decade

The winner of the last race of the decade at Hollywood Park was Litigator, in a bottom-level claiming event Sunday. It was not a particularly memorable occurrence.

But slightly more than five years earlier, the most memorable American horse race of the decade took place at the Inglewood track, according to Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post.

Beyer writes:

“On Nov. 10, 1984, the horse racing industry didn’t know what to make of an innovation called the Breeders’ Cup. Pessimists wondered whether the owners and trainers of top horses would support this day of racing offering $10 million in purses; they feared that the Breeders’ Cup would upstage or eliminate other long-established championship events.

“But all of these concerns evaporated after one spectacular afternoon of racing at Hollywood Park. The sunny day was so glorious that the event seemed heaven-blessed; the races drew the best horses from America and Europe, and they produced one heart-stopping drama after another.

“The event came to a fitting climax in the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Wild Again, a 31-1 shot, led on the final turn, where he was challenged by the odds-on favorite, Slew o’ Gold. The two battled head to head, and then the stretch-running Gate Dancer swooped outside them.

“Now, the Classic was a three-horse race, with inches separating the rivals, until Slew o’ Gold was bumped and squeezed back. Wild Again finished a head in front of Gate Dancer, but the ‘Inquiry’ sign was lighted on the tote board.

“With NBC’s cameras scrutinizing their deliberation, the stewards made the right call: Gate Dancer had initiated the contact. Wild Again was the official winner of the world’s richest race, and the success of the Breeders’ Cup seemed to have been made official, too.”

Trivia time: What do the wives of Golden State Warriors Winston Garland, Uwe Blab, John Shasky and Manute Bol, Warrior assistant coach Gary St. Jean and trainer Tom Abdenour have in common?

Close to the vest: Bill McCartney, University of Colorado football coach, has closed practices and limited the availability of his players for interviews as the top-ranked Buffaloes prepare for their Orange Bowl game against Notre Dame Monday night.

McCartney said: “I’m going to try to make sure that’s my team playing New Year’s Night--protect them from the media onslaught, and gear the practices so we’re ready to play that night and not prematurely.”

Second choice: Doug Moe, coach of the Denver Nuggets, on his craft: “Actually, my No. 1 goal is retirement, but I can’t afford that. No. 2 is coaching. I want to retire, but I can’t. So I have to coach, mainly because I can’t do anything else.”

Wake-up call: After being booed in San Francisco, rookie cornerback Deion Sanders of the Atlanta Falcons said of the fans: “They’ll have to get up in the morning at 6 o’clock to go to work. I may get up and go to the bank and count my money. I don’t care about those people.”

Trivia answer: All are pregnant.

Quotebook: Mike Webster, Kansas City center, on 250-pound Chief running back Christian Okoye: “I’ve learned to get out of his way. If I can’t move my man out of the hole, I leave him there and let him take the brunt of it. I don’t want to be in the pile when Okoye hits it.”