Hollywood Park Is Definitely His Turf

Racing all of the time at Hollywood Park would suit River Bay just fine.

Winless at Santa Anita, Del Mar, Belmont Park and Churchill Downs since coming to the United States in 1997, the 6-year-old Irish River horse has now won three of four at Hollywood Park after a victory in the $400,000 Charlie Whittingham Handicap on Monday.

River Bay, in giving trainer Bobby Frankel his fifth win in the race formerly called the Hollywood Turf Handicap, rallied wide to beat 8-5 favorite Majorien by a half-length in a time of 2:00 for the 1 1/4 miles on turf.

Fitted with blinkers after a one-race absence, River Bay--a 5-1 shot ridden by Alex Solis--won for the eighth time in 19 starts, and the winner’s share of $240,000 pushed his earnings to $1,119,490.

Majorien, who had some traffic trouble, finished a neck in front of Alvo Certo. Astarabad, who also didn’t have the clearest of trips, was fourth.

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Gourmet Girl won for the first time since being purchased privately by owner Gary Tanaka nearly four months ago, coming through along the rail and drawing off to beat 11-1 shot Yolo Lady by two lengths in the $208,400 Milady Breeders’ Cup Handicap.

Gourmet Girl, a 5-1 shot, won for the fourth time in six races at Hollywood Park and provided jockey Eddie Delahoussaye with the third of his four victories on the afternoon.

Victory Stripes, the 1-1 favorite, was a no-excuse third and Keeper Hill, the 3-1 second choice, ran poorly for the second consecutive race, finishing nearly eight lengths behind the leader. Keeper Hill, the 1998 Kentucky Oaks winner, was beaten by 21 1/2 lengths in the Hawthorne Handicap at Hollywood Park on April 25.

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Love That Red proved again he’s much more effective as a sprinter, taking advantage of a fast early pace and sweeping past heavily-favored Apremont to win the $85,828 Lazaro Barrera Memorial Stakes.

Love That Red, winless in two races around two turns, has won four of six races around one turn. He won the seven-furlong Barrera by three lengths in 1:20 4/5.

While Apremont, the 2-5 favorite, was pressured by longshot O’Rey Fantasma through 21 3/5 and 44 1/5 splits, Love That Red--ridden by Garrett Gomez--was almost four lengths back before making a winning move along the rail.

Apremont lost for the first time in four starts in California.

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Jockey Corey Nakatani, injured in a starting gate mishap on Sunday, was off his mounts Monday and won’t return until at least Friday, according to his agent Bob Meldahl.

Nakatani suffered a deep bruise on his right leg when Gera, a 2-year-old first-time starter, reared up in the gate. Nakatani, who is closing in on 2,000 victories, was limping noticeably after the incident.

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, along with his victory on Gourmet Girl in the Milady, had winners in the fifth race on Blowin Easy, in the seventh on Guillermo and in the 10th on Lucky Raisin, who was the second of two victories for trainer Julio Canani. Delahoussaye had only seven wins in 66 mounts at the meet before Monday. . . . The total mutuel handle at Hollywood Park of $16,104,923 was a Memorial Day record.