Hollywood ahead of '06 pace

Boosted by strong betting on Kentucky Derby and Preakness days, Hollywood Park is up 9 percent in all-sources handle and 5 percent in ontrack handle through Saturday, the 20th day of the 63-day meeting, according to a track release.

On Saturday's Preakness program, Hollywood Park handled $20.7 million, the most ever on that day, besting the previous mark of $19.1 million from 2005. On the Kentucky Derby program May 5, the track handled $27.7 million, also a record for the day.

For the meeting, Hollywood Park is averaging $11.3 million in all-sources handle and $1.7 million ontrack. Average ontrack attendance of 6,112 is an improvement of 1.7 percent from last year.

The track's president, Jack Liebau, attributed some of the gains to strong business on Friday nights.