Hollendorfer planning to winter at Oaklawn Park

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer plans to relocate his stable to Oaklawn Park in January, he said on Sunday.

Hollendorfer said he plans to have approximately 25 horses at Oaklawn Park, which runs from Jan. 24 to May 2. He had a stable based at the Del Mar autumn meeting, which ended on Sunday, and has a stable at Los Alamitos, which runs a two-week winter meeting from Friday through Dec. 15.

Hollendorfer has not had a stable at Santa Anita since late June when he was told to vacate his stalls after four of his runners were euthanized as a result of injuries sustained while training or racing from late December of 2018 to late June.

Hollendorfer relocated to Los Alamitos the day after Santa Anita officials ordered his stable off the property. He later won a court decision allowing him to race and train at Del Mar, but lost court decisions seeking to race at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita, tracks owned by The Stronach Group.

“I’m being forced to run at Oaklawn because I’m not up in California,” he said. “I’d like to be able to run in California.

“We’re taking everything back there.”

Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita are the only Thoroughbred tracks operating in California until June.

At the Santa Anita autumn meeting earlier this year, which included the Breeders’ Cup races, Hollendorfer’s runners raced under the name of his assistant trainer Dan Ward. The stable had two wins from eight starters at that meeting, including a win by Been Studying Her in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies and a second by Vasilika in the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

Hollendorfer is not alone in sending horses to Oaklawn Park. California-based trainers Richard Baltas, Phil D’Amato, Mark Glatt, Peter Miller, and John Sadler are likely to race at the lucrative meeting.

D’Amato and Miller said over the weekend their stables at Oaklawn Park will largely consist of runners they now have based in Kentucky. Sadler and Glatt said they have yet to finalize their plans regarding the number of runners that will be based at Oaklawn.

Glatt said he has been allotted 18 stalls.

“I’m still working it out,” he said. “I’m considering all options.”