Columnist Ralph Siraco: Frankel again dominates Hollywood Turf Festival

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Nov. 29, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

At the end of last year trainer Bobby Frankel established some pretty lofty statistics on the way to another Eclipse Award. His 25 Grade I victories and money-won title of $19,143,289 in earnings were both records.

Pivotal to his late-year run for the records was the Thanksgiving weekend Turf Festival of racing at Hollywood Park. The three-day series of big graded stakes races with high six-figure purses gave Frankel the opportunity to set the standard.

Frankel has always been partial to stakes on turkey day in California.

There has been a presidential election, an Iraq war and a rise -- then fall, then rise again -- of gas prices since the last Turf Festival. However, some things just never change.

Hollywood Park staged its 14th Turf Festival over the four-day weekend. Frankel started nine horses in five Festival races this year. The six-race turf series began on Friday with the Miesque stakes. Frankel saddled Louvain and imported jockey Ramon Dominguez to ride the Irish-bred 2-year-old filly. Although Frankel had success with Southern California-based jockeys, he expressed a desire to use the Maryland-based rider and thought the timing was right. It was. Making her stateside debut, Louvain ran down favorite Royal Copenhagen to prevail.

Later on the Friday card, the Hollywood Turf Express featured a field of grass sprinters. This time, Frankel saddled the 2003 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Cajun Beat. Again, 28-year-old Dominguez was aboard. Coming from off the pace, the 4-year-old gelded son of Grand Slam roared home to win by daylight. Frankel would start the Festival taking a pair on the first day bringing his series record to 13 wins while Dominguez ended the day 2-for-2 with the Hall of Fame trainer.

Saturday featured the Citation Handicap and the Generous Stakes. Frankel sent a trio of runners in the Citation: Nothing To Lose, Three Valley and Leroidesanimaux. Although Dominguez rode for Frankel here, it was jockey Jon Court who would benefit from the Frankel touch. Leroidesanimaux took the Citation as the Dominguez-ridden Three Valley finished third. A to the Z split the Frankel quinella while Nothing to Lose lost. Badly.

Later, the Todd Pletcher-trained Dubleo took the Generous asrain showers hit the Inglewood track.

Under clearing skies, the Sunday series finale featured two Grade I $500,000 races, The Matriarch and Hollywood Derby.

Frankel has owned the Matriarch.

This year, Frankel entered a pair owned by his primary client, Juddmonte Farms, Etoile Montante and Intercontinental. For the Matriarch Frankel imported Edgar Prado and Jerry Bailey to ride. Prado took Etoile Montante right to the lead in the one-mile race and held off everybody. Frankel's dominance of the race is so deep that he's taking the race with generations of relatives. Intercontinental is a half-sister of last year's winner Heat Haze. His Matriarch record now stands at six wins in the last nine renewals.

Although Frankel missed winning the Hollywood Derby, Jerry Bailey swept the day with that victory on Good Reward. Bailey leaves for a vacation and Frankel leaves in quest of more graded stakes victories.

Frankel became the first trainer to saddle more that two Festival winners in a single year with four victories this year, extending his totals to 15 Turf Festival wins overall.

Some things just never change.