Fans Like Friday Night Openers; 32,000 See Dead Heat in Feature

Don’t look for Hollywood Park to open its spring-summer meeting on anything but a Friday night any time soon.

After 26,649 showed up last year to begin the 67-day season, an estimated 32,000 were on hand Friday night. This was the biggest opening crowd at Hollywood Park since 37,862 turned out in 1991.

Track officials were delighted with the way their opening night went, and those who bet on Abaginone and Paying Dues in the $133,700 Los Angeles Handicap were also happy.

The two horses finished in a dead heat in the featured race, completing the six furlongs in 1:08 1/5.

Unbeaten in five starts at Hollywood Park, Abaginone, the 1-2 choice, looked to be home free, but Paying Dues, a 7-1 shot, surged in the final strides to share the victory. Abaginone was ridden by Gary Stevens for trainer Sandy Shulman while Chris Antley rode Paying Dues for trainer Cliff Sise. Score Quick was a distant third.

Meanwhile, trainer Bobby Frankel picked up where he left off at Santa Anita, whose meeting ended four days earlier.

A winner of 15 turf races in Arcadia, Frankel won the first stakes race in Inglewood when favored Bon Point beat Flying Marfa in the $71,200 Bo Derek.

Never far off the pace under Gary Stevens, the 2-1 choice got the lead in deep stretch and won by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:58 2/5 for the 1 1/4 miles. Flying Marfa held off Parme by a nose for third place. It was the third win in six starts on the Hollywood Park turf course for Bon Point.

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Fresh off an easy victory in the Providencia Stakes earlier this month at Santa Anita, Gastronomical is the 3-1 favorite against 12 other 3-year-old fillies in today’s $100,000 Senorita Stakes.

Able to control the pace through some very soft fractions, Gastronomical kicked clear late to win the Providencia by 3 1/2 lengths for her second career victory.

In her only try on the Hollywood Park turf course, she ran off to a long lead in the Miesque last Nov. 24, then tired late to finish fourth behind Antespend. The Sunshine Forever filly is trained by Marty Jones.

Listening, who has won two in a row this year for trainer Ron McAnally, is the 4-1 second choice. She will be making her first start around two turns and on turf, but she is bred for grass.

The field for the one-mile race also includes European imports Clever Dorothy, trained by Frankel, and Ribot’s Secret, who drew the outside post. Also running are Wheatly Special, Proud Dixie, Hear The Music, Tootsie, Star Of Ava, To B. Super, Passion Flower, Staffin and Rumpipumpy.

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In its proposed 1997 racing calendar, the California Horse Racing Board will allow Hollywood Park to open for the last three weekends of September for Friday night and Saturday afternoon racing.

The idea is to entice horsemen to bring their horses to California early to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup, which will be held at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8, 1997.

The special programs would run concurrently with the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Fairplex Park. Two conditions for the special programs are that half of the races be run on the turf and that there be no claiming races.

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Horse Racing Notes

Today’s live card at Hollywood Park also includes simulcasts of the Fort Marcy Handicap from Aqueduct, the National Jockey Club Handicap from Sportsman’s Park and the Cactus Flower from Turf Paradise. . . . Friday night marked the official Hollywood Park debut of Luke Kruytbosch as the track announcer. Kruytbosch, 34, has been the regular race caller at Turf Paradise in Arizona the last three years and impressed when he auditioned to replace Trevor Denman last fall. Denman no longer works for Hollywood Park, but will return at Del Mar.