HOLLYWOOD PARK : Shulman, Solis Merit Votes as Meeting’s Best

Even though all precincts won’t be heard from for another four days, here is the way one best-of-the-meeting ballot will look for the Hollywood Park season, which concludes Monday:

Trainer--Sandy Shulman. After a mild slump, Shulman has come to life again in the closing days to regain the lead over Ron McAnally, continuing an eight-month roll. He won Hollywood Park last fall and was third behind Jack Van Berg and Bill Spawr at Santa Anita. McAnally and Gary Jones, who never has a bad meeting, also deserve mention.

Jockey--Alex Solis. Dedicated and not afraid to spend time improving himself, and blessed with a talented agent in Harry Hacek, Solis has already wrapped up the title, although he won’t ride for the next five days because he is suspended. He has shown versatility with the kind of horses he rides and should be successful at Del Mar as well.

Race--Beverly Hills Handicap. Hollywood Wildcat, the 1994 Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top older filly or mare, and Flawlessly, the female grass champion the past two years, finished together in the 1 1/8-mile grass race. And the winner? Corrazona, who edged both and is perfect in three American starts.

Claiming Horse--Town Caper. The late-running, 4-year-old Fatih colt rattled off three consecutive victories--two for trainer Cliff Sise, the other for Bill Wilmot--and will try to keep the streak going for new conditioner Pete Eurton. Also worthy of mention is Running Fox, who improved immensely after joining Bob Hess Jr.’s barn. He easily defeated $12,500 claimers in his first race for Hess on June 2, then returned 27 days later and was even more dominant in a low-level allowance race, winning by 5 1/2 lengths.

Sprinter--Cool Air. No one dominated the main-track sprints, but this 4-year-old filly is in a different league at 5 1/2 furlongs on this course. She is perfect in three tries at the distance.

2-Year-Old Filly--Serena’s Song. This is an easy choice because the Rahy filly dominated maidens in her California debut, then coasted home in the Landaluce. She is supposed to return in Monday’s Hollywood Juvenile, and if she beats the boys, she will be the top 2-year-old as well.

2-Year-Old Male--To be determined. This one hinges on what happens in the Juvenile. If Serena’s Song wins, no one deserves the honor. The top 2-year-old males are Mr Purple and Sierra Diablo.

3-Year-Old Filly--Lakeway. She is the best of her class to run at the meeting, and she might also be no worse than the second-best 3-year-old in the country. The daughter of Seattle Slew blew away Sardula in the much-anticipated Hollywood Oaks, and although conventional wisdom says she shouldn’t run in the Travers, how much fun would it be to see her tackle Holy Bull on Aug. 20 at Saratoga?

3-Year-Old Male--Unfinished Symph. Although his pedigree says he is supposed to be at his best sprinting on the dirt, the Aloha Prospector colt has become a terror routing on the dirt. After finishing second in the Spotlight, he looked strong in winning the Will Rogers and Cinema. The only other 3-year-old who merits consideration is Dramatic Gold, if he wins Saturday’s Swaps Stakes impressively. The son of Slew O’ Gold looked like a different horse when he returned June 25 after being away for more than two months.

Older Filly/Mare--To be determined. The two front-runners are Golden Klair and Andestine, who traded decisions in the Hawthorne and Milady, respectively. Their rubber match will come Sunday in the Vanity, and the way the race is developing in terms of pace, Andestine, who provided Chris McCarron with victory No. 6,000 in the Milady, looks to have the edge again this time.

Handicap Horse--Slew Of Damascus. Third behind The Wicked North and Kingdom Found in the Californian, a race he needed, the Slewacide gelding got the money in the big one, beating Fanmore in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

There are two other categories that also remain to be decided--grass horse and horse of the meeting. If Grand Flotilla wins the Sunset Handicap on Sunday, he deserves both honors because he also won the Hollywood Turf Handicap on Memorial Day, upsetting Bien Bien and Arcangues.

If the 7-year-old roan is beaten Sunday, there is no real clear-cut choice for top grass horse, and horse of the meeting could be Serena’s Song, if she wins the Juvenile; or Lakeway, on the strength of her devastating victory in the Oaks.

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Eddie Delahoussaye, who underwent nasal surgery July 11, won’t return until Del Mar.

“I saw (Dr. Glenn Weissmann) on Monday and he advised me to take the rest of this meet off,” Delahoussaye said. “It’s coming along well, and I’m feeling a lot better. . . . But I don’t want to take any chances on coming back too soon after the operation. I’m doing some light activity and I plan to work a couple of horses (today).”

Horse Racing Notes

Best Pal, who was scheduled to return in the San Diego Handicap on July 30 at Del Mar, was among six horses entered Wednesday morning for Friday night’s $61,200 Answer Do Handicap at seven furlongs. The 6-year-old gelding, who hasn’t run since Feb. 13, will be making his first start for trainer Richard Mandella. Kent Desormeaux was named to ride. . . . Garrett Gomez, a top rider in the Midwest who is going to try to make it on the local circuit, won with his first mount, scoring on 9-2 shot Flying Safeera in Wednesday’s fifth race. . . . Jockey Martin Pedroza turned 29 Wednesday.