Hollywood Park: Dollase hoping to pull Gold Cup surprise with Oilisblackgold

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Trainer Craig Dollase is a nose away from having two Hollywood Gold Cup wins in this young century.

Dollase won the race in 2010 with Awesome Gem, who is now a stable pony, and missed narrowly when Sky Jack edged the Dollase-trained Momentum in 2002.

“The race has been good to us,” Dollase said.

The 42-year-old trainer has a chance for another Gold Cup win Saturday with the outsider Oilisblackgold.

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The Hollywood Gold Cup is being run for the final time at Betfair Hollywood Park, where Dollase has been based for most of his career. The track is scheduled for demolition in 2014 after a meeting in November and December.

A 6-year-old gelding owned by Class Racing Stable, Oilisblackgold has won 3 of 26 starts and $256,240. It would be a surprise if he were to win the Grade 1 Gold Cup, but the distance of 1 1/4 miles on the synthetic main track suits Oilisblackgold, Dollase said.

Oilisblackgold was second to Gold Cup runner Sky Kingdom in the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup over 1 1/2 miles at Santa Anita in March and third behind Gold Cup runner Clubhouse Ride in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes over 1 1/8 miles here June 1.

The latter race left Dollase encouraged. “He ran a good third and he needed the race,” Dollase said.

Game On Dude will be a heavy favorite in the Gold Cup. The defending champion, Game On Dude is the 127-pound highweight. Oilisblackgold has been assigned 115, though jockey Edwin Maldonado frequently rides at 118 pounds.

Any weight break helps Oilisblackgold’s chances, though Dollase knows a win is a tough assignment. Still, he can dream about another win in Hollywood Park’s signature race.

“It would be neat to close it out with a victory,” he said.

The Gold Cup post parade will have a sense of history. Lava Man, who won three Gold Cups from 2005 to 2007, will lead the post parade. The now 13-year-old Lava Man is a pony in trainer Doug O’Neill’s stable.

Hollywood documentary DVD

In conjunction with the Gold Cup program, Hollywood Park is giving away to ontrack customers an original 77-minute DVD, documenting the history of the 75-year-old track.

The documentary, written and narrated by track announcer Vic Stauffer and directed by Edward Kip Hannan, reflects on the track’s history since its opening in 1938, with an emphasis on its early popularity in the 1930s and 1940s and its connection with film and television personalities.

The well-paced documentary follows a chronological format, showing dozens of stretch runs of famous stakes run over the years, and showcasing such famous jockeys as Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr.; the first Breeders’ Cup, held at Hollywood Park in 1984; and such famous runners as John Henry, Native Diver, and Seabiscuit.

The final minutes of the documentary are devoted to Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year who was based at Hollywood Park.