HOLLYWOOD PARK : Hubbard Is Optimistic After End of a Troubled Meeting

The most calamitous season in the 55-year history of Hollywood Park ended Monday. The earth didn’t move, no shots were fired and there was no entry box left for the horsemen to boycott.

As did the seven trainers who saddled 2-year-olds for the closing feature, the $103,700 Hollywood Juvenile, R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood’s beleaguered chairman of the board, holds hope for the future.

“The meet was still a success,” Hubbard said. “Overall attendance was up slightly, and the handle was about even. I think this speaks well for the season, despite the fact that we had only one Friday night of racing, compared to six a year ago, and we also lost our biggest week of the year. Give us six months or a year, and it will be a different story. People will get their confidence back.”

Last week, car thieves in the track parking lot fired shots at Hollywood security personnel, but were apprehended after an off-track chase.

Hollywood Park was closed during Kentucky Derby weekend in May because of nearby rioting in the aftermath of the Rodney King jury verdict.

At the beginning of the 69-day meeting, trainers objected to Friday night racing and simultaneous betting on quarter horses and standardbreds from other tracks, forcing Hubbard to retreat from a once-a-week evening schedule. Hubbard has not given up on racing Friday nights and hopes new officers in the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Assn., the owner-trainer group, will be more receptive to his plans in the future.

“After the riots, we had to curtail our marketing plans,” Hubbard said.

“I think business might have been 15% better otherwise.”

Later in the meet, during a front-office meeting, someone asked what possibly could happen next. Don Robbins, the Hollywood Park president, said that at least there hadn’t been an earthquake.

“About 10 days later, we had two of the biggest quakes ever,” Hubbard said. Hollywood’s backstretch equine swimming pool overflowed, sending gallons of water onto the track during training hours.

While the season might have been unpredictable, the Juvenile played to form, with Altazarr, the 2-5 favorite, scoring a 3 1/2-length victory under Eddie Delahoussaye.

Just Sid, a 17-1 shot who won his two previous starts, tried to sneak past Altazarr on the inside, moving about a half-length ahead at the 3/16ths pole, but Delahoussaye didn’t flinch and rode Altazarr to his second consecutive victory after two third places in his first two races.

Tatum Canyon showed some late run to finish second, four lengths ahead of Just Sid. Altazarr, paying $2.80, earned $58,700 after running the six furlongs in 1:10.

Altazarr is owned by Ann and Jerry Moss, who also celebrated Sunday when their Qathif earned $153,600 for winning the Sunset Handicap. The Mosses and their former trainer, Bobby Frankel, bred Altazarr through a mating between Relaunch and Delicate Vine, whom Frankel saddled to win the Landaluce Stakes at Hollywood in 1986.

Brian Mayberry, who trains Altazarr, also won this year’s Landaluce, for 2-year-old fillies, with Zealous Connection, who races for the Mace Siegel family. During the meet, Mayberry won 11 races with 2-year-olds.

Delahoussaye finished a distant second in the jockey standings, 32 winners behind Kent Desormeaux, who with 107 victories became the first Hollywood Park jockey to hit triple figures since Chris McCarron’s 100 in 1984.

Delahoussaye is two for two with Altazarr. “He does everything right and has a lot of talent,” the rider said.

As for Altazarr’s future, Delahoussaye said: “It’s too early to tell. You can’t tell until they start going around two turns. That’s when you’ll know for sure.”

Except for that brief moment at the top of the stretch, Altazarr was in front all the way. “When Eddie’s on a lead like that, you know he’s got a lot of horse under him,” Mayberry said.

“He’s the greatest rider in the United States today, in my opinion. He always gives 110%. If I were a jockey, that’s who I’d want to be like. But I’d have to be two jockeys to make weight.”

Horse Racing Notes

Bob Hess Jr. beat Bill Spawr, 31-30, for the meet training title. After starting the day tied, 29-29, Hess saddled Chispa Brava to win the third race. Spawr evened the count with Long Long Trail’s victory in the sixth race. Both trainers had horses in the seventh race, their last starters of the day, and Hess’ Nat’s Sallie was the winner, with Spawr’s Doncette Two running third. It was appropriate that Kent Desormeaux would be riding Nat’s Sallie, because he and Hess teamed for 22 victories during the season. . . . Laffit Pincay took off his mounts Monday because of a sore foot, suffered when Natural Nine broke down Saturday. . . . Pincay is expected to resume riding Wednesday, when Del Mar opens. . . . On-track, Hollywood Park’s attendance average was 11,294 a day, a drop of almost 46% from the previous year, when there was no cross-town betting at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos. This year, counting off-track figures, the average attendance was 28,257, compared to 28,352 last year. Overall betting this year averaged $6.5 million, a drop of 5%. On-track, the average was $2.5 million, a drop of 47%.