Hubbard Takes Stinging Shot at Stronach

R.D. Hubbard, no longer running Hollywood Park, is also no longer linked to the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., but his public comments Thursday, in the middle of an NTRA forum at the Inglewood track, probably burned the last bridge between racing’s struggling marketing arm and Frank Stronach.

Hubbard was speaking for himself in accepting a service award from the NTRA, but Stronach isn’t naive enough to believe that the several NTRA executives in the room weren’t in agreement with Hubbard’s stinging criticism. Applauding the loudest when Hubbard finished were those same NTRA officials and--oh, yes--Lonny Powell, who recently resigned after a short-lived run as the head of Stronach’s Santa Anita Park.

“I don’t understand why Frank Stronach is joining up with [the Eastern tracks] that are trying to destroy the NTRA,” Hubbard said. “If Stronach was investing his own money rather than the money of his stockholders, I wonder if he’d be doing this. I still haven’t seen what his game plan is. The NTRA would be better off having [Stronach’s tracks] as partners, but if not, let’s go forward without them. Years from now, the people that got out will want back in. Meantime, let’s just go ahead and prove them wrong.”

Maybe Stronach is gone forever, anyway. Two weeks ago, his seven tracks, including Santa Anita, joined 15 others in dropping out of the NTRA. At a speech this week in Kentucky, Stronach said he was “not in cahoots” with the tracks Hubbard mentioned.

“[The Eastern tracks] have their own selfish interests,” Hubbard said. “That’s why they want to destroy the NTRA.”

Tim Smith, commissioner of the NTRA, would still like to see Stronach reconsider, as he did a year ago, and remain in the fold. At Hollywood Park, Smith bemoaned the lobbying struggles his people have in Washington with federal legislators who don’t comprehend racing’s impact on state economies. As a voice for the industry, the NTRA loses credibility if it doesn’t represent Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, two of the country’s major tracks. Stronach also owns Gulfstream and, with Santa Anita, Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields, he’s in control of three of the five thoroughbred tracks in California.

Another reason for Smith to covet Stronach tracks is that their dues account for more than $1 million a year in the NTRA coffers.

“I feel like the Florida election officials,” Smith said. “I can’t make a prediction on the outcome. I can’t say what tracks, if any, will be coming back in. But we’ll still proceed in a serious way and continue with our mission, which is to improve racing’s economic position.”

One of the NTRA’s objectives is to increase television exposure, but the ratings for last Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs continue to make racing a tough sell. The eight-race NBC telecast got a 1.8 rating, lowest since the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984. The rating means that 2.2 million households tuned in. The Breeders’ Cup ratings have dropped 61% since NBC carried the inaugural races at Hollywood Park.

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That Oak Tree-to-Churchill Downs Breeders’ Cup jinx was shattered this year.

Before last Saturday, horses that prepped at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita for the four Breeders’ Cups at Churchill Downs had fared badly. They were one for 49 on dirt and one for 14 on grass, but this time three of the eight Churchill winners--Tiznow, Kona Gold and War Chant--ran off prep races at Santa Anita.

Churchill Downs’ hard running surface took its toll, however. Riboletta, injured while running in the Distaff, has been retired, and two of trainer Bob Baffert’s 2-year-olds suffered knee injuries. Notable Career’s injury is more serious than Flame Thrower’s and she is scheduled to have surgery today. Notable Career, winner of the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, led in the stretch before finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Flame Thrower, winner of the Norfolk at Santa Anita and the Del Mar Futurity, lost for the first time in five starts when he ran eighth in the Juvenile.

Notes

Two Breeders’ Cup winners--War Chant in the Mile and Spain in the Distaff--might run before the end of the year. War Chant could become a serious contender for the Eclipse Award for best male on grass with a win in the $500,000 Early Times Hollywood Derby on Nov. 26. Spain is a probable for the $250,000 Falls City Handicap at Churchill on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23. . . . John Harris, a prominent owner-breeder, has been appointed to the California Horse Racing Board. The addition of Harris will give the board a four-member quorum for its conference-call meeting next Tuesday. The board still has three vacancies. . . . Undefeated Jetin Excess, unable to run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies because of a bruised foot, shoots for her fourth consecutive win today in the Moccasin Stakes.