Del Mar unwilling to let Hollendorfer train at upcoming meet

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was informed by Del Mar officials during a meeting late Monday that the track was not willing to let him run horses at its meet that begins next week, a situation his attorney, Drew Couto, decried Tuesday.

“Del Mar is unwilling to take a public-relations risk is the easiest summary of it,” Couto said Tuesday morning when asked the results of the meeting, which took place at Del Mar. “Regardless of how supportive they are of Jerry, they don’t feel they want to take the PR risk.

“But that’s not a valid basis to deny a license,” Couto said. “Jerry is very frustrated, and understandably so.”

Del Mar officials declined to comment on the situation, mirroring the approach taken by the New York Racing Association when it reversed an earlier decision to allow Hollendorfer to train there.

Hollendorfer, 73, is a Hall of Famer who ranks third all-time among trainers in victories, with 7,622 through racing Sunday.

His travails began June 22, when The Stronach Group – which owns Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields, as well as the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Southern California – informed Hollendorfer he could no longer train, race, or stable his horses at Stronach-owned tracks, which includes all the major tracks in Florida and Maryland, too.

The order was made after his claiming horse American Currency suffered a fatal injury in a workout that morning at Santa Anita. The Stronach Group in recent weeks had instituted a policy whereby horses who wanted to work needed approval from the track ahead of time, a procedure Hollendorfer followed. American Currency was the fourth Hollendorfer horse who suffered a fatal injury at Santa Anita since the six-month long meet began on Dec. 26, and was the second in June following nearly four months without incident.

Hollendorfer has no ruling against him in California from the state racing board, nor from New York’s gaming commission. He has a valid license in both states.

“Nobody can cite any rule he’s violated, either from the California Horse Racing Board or a Santa Anita rule,” Couto said.

Couto said his goal at the meeting, which also included representatives of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers, was to find “a pragmatic solution consistent with regulations and horsemen’s contracts.”

“Absent that,” he said Tuesday, “we are evaluating what our next step will be. We are trying to explore all pragmatic solutions before finding a technical, legal solution.”

Couto said that during Hollendorfer’s meeting with Del Mar officials, “we were told he had done nothing wrong, that they disagreed with what The Stronach Group did, but that it’s a PR problem.”

“That’s not a valid reason,” he said. “There are rights under the horsemen’s contract, and due process. If a racing association has a disagreement with horsemen, there are provisions to address that.”

Couto – who for much of the 2000s served as president of the TOC – said what Hollendorfer has endured should serve as warning to other trainers that “you can be denied if it suits a racetrack to have you out, if it’s just in their personal best interests.”

Couto said Del Mar has had “three great years recently regarding equine fatalities, and Jerry has been a big part of that.”

“Yet nobody on the racetrack side would acknowledge that,” Couto said. “Last year at Santa Anita, he didn’t have a single breakdown.”

Hollendorfer operates one of the largest stables in California, with approximately 60 runners in Southern California and another 60 in Northern California. Both of those stables have had to relocate in recent weeks after the edict from The Stronach Group, which has impacted the livelihood of long-time employees.

Hollendorfer moved his Southern California-based runners to Los Alamitos, and his Northern California-based horses to Pleasanton. He is currently racing at Los Alamitos. Pleasanton closed for racing on closed Sunday, but remains open for training. Sacramento opens for racing on Friday in the north. Both Pleasanton and Sacramento, like Del Mar, are on a fair grounds. As such, all sit on land overseen by the California state government, which has injected itself into California racing more forcefully in recent months, most notably by ordering a panel to evaluate entries at Santa Anita, then Los Alamitos, and, next week, Del Mar.

Hollendorfer also had horses at Belmont Park. The New York Racing Association originally put out a statement saying it would allow Hollendorfer to race there, but a week later – on June 29 – reversed course while declining to comment on why its position had changed. His horses in New York that were owned by Larry Best subsequently were moved to Hollendorfer’s former assistant, Don Chatlos Jr., who went out on his own under Best’s support owing to the current situation.

“Here’s a guy who for 30 years has been a phone call away from every racetrack management or racing office,” Couto said. “If they need a horse to fill a race, if they call asking to help out, every time he’s been there. When California shifted from dirt to synthetic, he said if it’s good for the horse, I’ll do it.

“When there was testing initially to get threshold levels for TCO2,” Couto said, referring to a process that can detect an illegal practice known as milkshaking, “he volunteered. He and Dick Mandella were the first two to step forward. Whenever the sport needs him, he steps forward. He’s never asked for help with his aftercare program. All he wants is, ‘tell the truth about my record,’ all the good years he’s had, just don’t run over him.”