HOLLYWOOD PARK : Opening-Day Simulcast Is a Small Factor

The extra race from Bay Meadows had little impact on overall betting as Hollywood Park opened its 26-day fall season Wednesday.

“This is just a preview of the North-South possibilities that should come next year,” said R.D. Hubbard, the track’s board chairman.

The bill that was passed in Sacramento this year, permitting tracks in Southern and Northern California to exchange races worth $20,000 or more for betting purposes, was a compromise and a disappointment for those who had hoped that all races would be eligible for simulcasting. There will be an attempt again next year to pass a bill that includes all races.

The race from Bay Meadows was wedged between the seventh and eighth races at Hollywood. Only $29,403 was bet on the race at Hollywood, with another $50,000 bet at the off-track satellite locations.

There was a handle of $572,447 for Hollywood’s live seventh race, and $690,295 was bet on the eighth race.

Because of Hollywood Park’s larger purse structure, three of the Inglewood track’s races were beamed to Bay Meadows, and they generated a handle of $321,664. Although larger handles account for added purse money, Northern California horsemen are nervous about the potential long-range ramifications of importing Southern California races. The worry is that the trend might lead to a reduction in the number of Bay Meadows races in which their horses will be able to run.

Hollywood Park plans to add all of the eligible Bay Meadows races to its racing cards. Today, for example, there will be two simulcast races available, while three more Hollywood Park races will be piped into Bay Meadows.

“On the average, we’d probably have about eight races a week that would be worth $20,000 or more,” Bay Meadows spokesman Tom Ferrall said. “But we’re working on ways that will increase that number.”

Traditionally conservative Santa Anita didn’t import Bay Meadows races on a regular basis during the Oak Tree season that ended Monday.

“North-South is not the answer to racing’s problems,” said Cliff Goodrich, Santa Anita’s president. “It’s the answer to those patrons who say that the game is too slow. It gives bettors more action, which might appeal to young people. But we look upon it as only a short-term fix.”

Hubbard says that the extra races will be a boon to the horseplayers at satellite facilities.

“More people bet our races off-track than at the track,” Hubbard said. “They don’t have the advantage of people on-track, such as going to the paddock to look at the horses. The Bay Meadows races will keep off-track customers more interested.”

Hubbard doesn’t want the imported races to lengthen the time it takes to complete a card, but on Wednesday there were 41 instead of 30 minutes between Hollywood Park’s seventh and eighth races, with the Bay Meadows race in between. The entire card was run in 4 hours 20 minutes, not much longer than usual.

“We’re trying to work it out so that each extra race falls about 15 minutes before our next live race,” Hubbard said.

Starting today, there will be common betting pools on the races that Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows exchange, which means identical payoffs at both tracks. There were separate pools Wednesday, resulting in different payoffs.

“I don’t know what kind of betting we’ll have on the races from Bay Meadows,” Hubbard said. “Going into this, I just don’t have a clue about what the numbers will be.”

With a crowd of 12,129 on track, Hollywood’s opener drew an overall attendance of 23,638. The total handle, counting $1.4 million from out-of-state sites, was $5.4 million. A year ago, the totals for Hollywood’s opener were 26,933 and $5.5 million.

A stakes race for fillies and mares was canceled when enough horses weren’t entered. The feature was a $35,000 grass allowance, which was won by Reau Perrault, ridden by Laffit Pincay and trained by Charlie Whittingham.

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Hollywood Park’s emphasis on stakes grass racing begins Saturday with the $400,000 Hollywood Derby and the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Express.

Last year’s Derby was an intersectional battle, with Paradise Creek, a shipper from Gulfstream Park, nosing out Bien Bien, and Saturday’s race is a mix of invaders and horses familiar with the Hollywood course.

Included among the probables are a couple of horses who ran with contrasting results over Breeders’ Cup weekend at Santa Anita two weeks ago. Eastern Memories, running on Lasix after a bleeding experience in his previous race, won the Volante Handicap the day before the Breeders’ Cup, and Dernier Empereur finished 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Trainer Andre Fabre failed with four other starters in the Turf, then won the Classic with Arcangues, his dirt newcomer who was 133-1.

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Gary Jones’ hearing with track stewards regarding a positive drug test has been postponed for a second time, until Dec. 4. The hearing was originally scheduled for last month and re-scheduled for today. According to Hollywood Park stewards, Donald Calabria, Jones’ attorney, requested the latest postponement because he needs more time to obtain information from Cornell University, one of the laboratories that found dezocine, a prohibited medication, in the system of Capel after the 3-year-old colt finished fifth in a race at Del Mar on Aug. 22.

Laffit Pincay rode three winners Wednesday, including his victory on Reau Perrault. . . . Mike Smith, the New York-based jockey who leads the country in purses with more than $12.3 million, will begin riding at Hollywood Park starting a week from Friday. Smith, who rode Lure to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 6, had trouble getting mounts there several days before. . . . During the Hollywood Park season, KMPC radio will carry extended stretch calls of every race, airing the results as soon as they are available. Starting at 4:30 p.m. each day, the station will cover feature races with a full race call sandwiched between pre- and postrace commentary.

Marquetry, who ran fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, has been assigned high weight of 123 pounds for Saturday’s $400,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup in suburban Chicago. . . . Recent retirees to stud include Reign Road and Flying Continental. . . . Talking about the Japan Cup in Tokyo a week from Sunday, trainer Mark Hennig said: “I’d rather face Kotashaan at a mile and a half than Lure at a flat mile.” Hennig trains Star Of Cozzene, who’ll face Kotashaan, the Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, and 14 others in the $3.6-million stake. Lure, the Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, is not running in the Japan Cup, but is expected to resume his career next year. . . . Jim Priddy, former director of racing at Fairplex Park and a racing official at other area tracks, died last Thursday. Priddy, who suffered a stroke four years ago, was 57.