Columnist Ralph Siraco: Breeders’ Cup helped to boost Hollywood Park’s season handle

Ralph Siraco

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 1997 | 12:23 p.m.

HOLLYWOOD PARK closed its 37-day autumn meeting on Monday, boasting a record in daily average handle at the stand, although daily average attendance was down 5.7 percent and total on-track attendance fell by 3.1 percent. The record daily average handle of $11.1 million was obviously aided by the presentation of Breeders' Cup XIV, which was one of the most successful renewals of the championship day, and, more importantly, by the re-establishment of pari-mutuel commingling to this Silver State.

Never underestimate the betting power of Nevada race players.

Even with a meeting filled with inclement weather and decimated fields, there was no El Nino effect at the betting windows in Las Vegas. The seventh annual turf festival, over the prime Thanksgiving Day weekend, was hit with cold weather and torrential rain. The bad conditions caused many scratches to the track's marquee event that even carried over to the end of the session.

The highest increase of all the final statistics on the meeting came in the category of Interstate Handle, which is the category for Nevada, with a whopping increase of 89 percent to more than $169.4 million from the 1996 Nevada-less $89.6 million.

The Breeders' Cup and Nevada participation contributed to a successful season that was definitely affected by bad weather.Breeders' Cup.

Here are some of the highlights during the meet:

Nov. 8 -- An on-track crowd of 51.161 attended the Breeders' Cup Championship and wagered a Southern California record of $79,741,030 on the 10-race card. Classic victor Skip Away and Juvenile winner Favorite Trick strengthen their claims for Horse-of-the-Year honors.

Nov. 29 -- Allen Paulson's Geri captures the Citation Handicap and retires from racing with nine wins in 19 starts and earnings of more than a million dollars.

Dec. 7 -- Hollywood Park becomes the first track in history to hold a walkover and have a triple heat on the same card. Sharp Cat became the walkover winner of the Bayakoa Handicap when her only two rivals scratched out of the contest due to bad weather. Then, three races later, Tina Celesta, Chans Pearl and Cool Miss Ann tied at the finish for the triple-heater.

Dec. 13 -- D. Wayne Lukas wins a fourth straight and record sixth Hollywood Starlet with Love Lock.

Dec. 14 -- Bob Baffert becomes only the third trainer in history to saddle the winners of the Del Mar Furturity and Norfolk Stakes with Souvenir Copy then the Hollywood Futurity when Real Quiet completes the trilogy in a surprise victory. Later on the card, trainer Bobby Frankel captures the Hollywood Turf Cup with River Bay and joins fellow conditioners Charlie Whittingham and John Gosden, the only others to win the Matriarch/Turf Cup double.

Dec. 21 -- Richard Mandella clinches his third Hollywood Park training title when he saddles his sixth consecutive winner in Refinado Tom for the Native Diver Handicap. Mandella finishes the meet with 14 winners.

Dec. 22 -- Kent Desormeaux wraps up the jockey title, after a competitive tussle with Alex Solis and Corey Nakatani, with 38 winners and captures his first since the 1993 autumn session.

The Horse of the Meet could be a prelude to the Horse of the Year honors.

As the debate continues for the top Eclipse trophy, media covering the 1997 Hollywood autumn stand voted 2-year-old Favorite Trick the Inglewood honor over Skip Away at the track's end-of-the-meet poll. Although Skip Away crushed eight rivals in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the west's media representatives felt Favorite Trick's convincing 5 1/2-length victory, to remain undefeated, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile was the premier event on racing's championship day.

Skip Away did take Older Male, while other Breeders' Cup day winners took other categories for the meet. Countess Diana (2-year-old Filly), Spinning World (Grass Horse) and Elmhurst (Sprinter) carried their cup victories as well.

One winner, however, didn't compete on Breeders' Cup day and was the only double-category winner. Ryafan, who won the Grade I Matriarch, captured 3-year-old Filly and 3-year-old titles. With the Matriarch and earlier victories in the Yellow Ribbon at Oak Tree and Keeneland's Queen Elizabeth Cup, she is also the favorite to win a comparable Eclipse Award.

Next year, the autumn meeting won't have Breeders' Cup to help, but, if they are smart and look at the numbers, they'll still have the Silver State players on board.