Hollywood Park: Boat Trip wins Turf Express; triple dead heat for second

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Boat Trip rebounded from a 12th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last month to win Sunday’s $100,000 Hollywood Turf Express, a race with a triple dead-heat for second between No Silent, Chips All In, and Unbridled’s Note.

Boat Trip ($9.60) ran six furlongs in 1:08.45, closing from last in a field of five to win by a half-length.

Boat Trip was ridden by Joe Talamo, who guided his mount wide in the stretch to finish on the outside of the horses in the triple dead-heat. Jonny’s Choice finished last.

The stewards spent 10 minutes reviewing a photo before announcing the dead-heat. The stewards said the official photo was inconclusive because Talamo’s head and body partially obscured the position of Chips All In.

Among the three horses who finished second, Chips All In was between No Silent to the inside and Unbridled’s Note.

The triple dead-heat was decided using photo-finish equipment from the racetrack roof. An image of the finish from a mirror on the inside of the track was “inconclusive” for the purposes of determining the order of finish, steward Scott Chaney said. The mirror is adjacent to the tote board but is approximately 40 feet from the inside rail position.

Explaining the decision, Chaney said of the photo for second, “We call them hidden-nose dead-heats.” Chips All In “is hidden.”

“If you can’t separate them, you’ve got to dead-heat them,” steward Kim Sawyer said.

As a result of the triple dead-heat, the first four finishers all paid $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. There were three winning payoffs for the exacta and quinella and six winning trifecta combinations.

Unbridled’s Note was the even-money favorite. He raced three wide on the turn and led narrowly in the stretch before being passed by Boat Trip. Boat Trip won his first stakes in the Turf Express since the Tsunami Slew Stakes over a mile on turf here in June 2012.

In the BC Turf Sprint, Boat Trip lost a shoe at the start, trainer Mike Pender said. Boat Trip finished five lengths behind race winner Mizdirection.

Boat Trip, a 4-year-old colt by Harlan’s Holiday, races for Jim Hirschmann and B.J. Wright. Boat Trip was second by a nose to Chips All In in the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sept. 27. He has won 5 of 14 starts and earned $253,196.