On Track’s Last Day, Trainer Savors Big First

A week before her 21st birthday, trainer Kristin Mulhall won her first Grade II stakes race Sunday at Hollywood Park after missing by a head winning a Grade II at Arlington Park earlier in the day.

“I’m mad at you for not winning both of them,” owner Stephen Taub jokingly told Mulhall as he accompanied her from the box seats to the winner’s circle at Hollywood after Puerto Banus’ half-length win over Cagney in the $150,000 Sunset Handicap.

Taub owns Puerto Banus in partnership with Neil Papiano and Noctis Stable, the same group that finished second with Californian as Evolving Tactics narrowly won the $250,000 American Derby at Arlington.

Mulhall, who has been training since June of last year, is the daughter of Richard Mulhall, the former trainer who manages the stable for Thoroughbred Corp. Her father unsuccessfully urged his daughter to stay in the show-horse game.

“Like I had a vote,” said Richard Mulhall, who trained Supremo, the sire of Puerto Banus, when he won the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita in 1994.

Puerto Banus’ win, his first in a stake and at odds of 11 to 1, helped wrap up closing day at Hollywood’s 65-day meet. The 43-day meet at Del Mar opens Wednesday.

Kristin Mulhall is wearing a small cast on her left arm.

“It started out all the way up to my shoulder,” she said. “Memorial Day weekend, at Santa Anita, I started to get on a horse one morning and he threw me over the other side,” she said.

Mulhall has 30 horses in her care, 12 owned by Taub.

“It feels great to win a Grade II, especially at these odds,” she said. “The longer [Puerto Banus] goes, the better he gets, and he definitely likes grass.”

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Puerto Banus posted his fourth win in 13 starts, running 1 1/2 miles in 2:26 4/5. Cagney, who led in mid-stretch, finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Continental Red, the 2-1 favorite. Since Mulhall has been training Puerto Banus, the 4-year-old colt has had two wins and a second in three starts.

Pat Valenzuela, who rode Continental Red, beat Espinoza, 81 victories to 69, to win the Hollywood riding title.

But Espinoza’s win in the Sunset left him with a 9-8 advantage over Valenzuela in the stakes standings.

“I had control of the race, by putting a little pressure on the favorites [Continental Red and Cagney],” said Espinoza, who rode Puerto Banus to his maiden win for trainer Bob Baffert in January 2002 at Santa Anita.

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Although Hollywood Park’s daily average attendance of 8,498 was a drop of about 7% from last season, the track’s overall handle of $688.5 million was virtually the same as a year ago. Hollywood was bolstered by $32.8 million in Internet and telephone betting. “While [Internet and phone betting] has had an impact, we can’t forget the $5-billion Indian gaming industry, which has sprung up overnight,” said Rick Baedeker, Hollywood’s president ... Doug O’Neill won Hollywood’s main-meet training title for the second straight year. O’Neill saddled 37 winners, the most at the track since Laz Barrera’s 37 in 1979, when the meet was 12 days longer ... Dermot Weld, who shipped in Dimitrova from Ireland to win the American Oaks at Hollywood Park on July 5, did the same thing with Evolving Tactics in the American Derby ... Trainer Bobby Frankel and jockey Jerry Bailey, who combined to win Saturday’s $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks with Spoken Fur, struck again Sunday to win the $750,000 Delaware Handicap with Wild Spirit. The 4-year-old filly, paying $3.60, beat Take Charge Lady by six lengths. Summer Colony, the only horse to beat Azeri, finished sixth ... Wando, winner of the Queen’s Plate, added the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie and can become the seventh horse to sweep the Canadian Triple Crown if he wins the Canadian Breeders Stakes at Woodbine on Aug. 9 ... Well Fancied won the $100,000 Evan Shipman Handicap at Belmont Park ... Bob Mieszerski of The Times, picking seven winners Sunday, led all public handicappers with 190 winners at the Hollywood Park meet. Mieszerski was also the leader this year at Santa Anita.

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64th Del Mar Meeting

* Dates -- Wednesday-Sept. 10

(43 days).

* Post times -- 2 p.m. daily with the following exceptions: July 25, Aug. 1, Aug. 8 and Aug. 15 (Fridays), 4 p.m.; Aug. 22, Aug. 29 and Sept. 5, 3:30 p.m.; Aug. 24, Sept. 1, 12:30 p.m.

* Significant races -- $400,000 John C. Mabee Handicap (July 26), $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap (July 27), $250,000 San Diego Handicap (Aug. 3), $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (Aug. 10), $300,000 Del Mar Oaks (Aug. 24), $1 million Pacific Classic (Aug. 24), $250,000 Del Mar Debutante (Aug. 30), $250,000 Del Mar Handicap (Aug. 31), $300,000 Del Mar Derby (Sept. 6) and $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (Sept. 10).

* Leading trainer (2002 meet) -- Bob Baffert (30 wins).

* Leading jockey (2002 meet) -- Patrick Valenzuela (46 wins).