Power outage zaps finale

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The eighth and final race at Hollywood Park on Monday was canceled because of a power outage that struck 10 minutes before post and could not be fixed by the time dusk fell, 40 minutes later.

The tote board, tote machines, and televisions all lost power. Only emergency lights were operable. The horses were on the track for 30 minutes before track management decided to cancel the race.

There was a pick six carryover of $110,620 entering Monday's card. Track officials announced that the carryover would roll over to Thursday's card, per rules mandated for such incidents by the California Horse Racing Board. Track officials also announced that the pick six for Monday, which had a pool based on that day's wagering only, would be paid to those patrons holding tickets with winners of the first five races, again according to CHRB rules. There would be no consolation for four out of five, track officials said, again citing CHRB rules.

A total of $545,814 was bet into Monday's pick six. Those who selected the first five winners will receive $20,746.

In other multiple-race wagers, the final race was treated as though every horse were a winner. In other words, the pick four ($386.40) was paid to those who had winners in the first three legs, and the final pick three ($60) was paid to those who had the winners of the first two legs. There also was a consolation daily double that paid $16.60. The place pick-all returned $225.20. Because of the power outage, the payoffs for those wagers and the pick six could not be calculated on Monday.

All single-race wagers on the eighth race - such as exactas, trifectas, superfectas, and straight bets - were to be refunded, track officials said.

Track officials declined to estimate how much revenue was lost as a result of the power outage.

Eual Wyatt Jr., Hollywood Park's general manager, on Tuesday said Southern California Edison told the track the outage was caused by a faulty transformer.

A similar outage forced cancellation of simulcast wagering from Hollywood Park one day in October when Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting was running.

Track officials said patrons retaining an official program from Monday's card could present it for free admission at any subsequent date during the season, which closes Dec. 22.

- additional reporting by Steve Andersen