INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Business figures for the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting were mixed, with attendance falling and all-sources handle showing a slight increase. The 61-day meeting began on April 26 and ended Sunday.
Average all-sources handle increased 1 percent, to $10.4 million daily. The track said it did not have detailed handle figures, but that they would be available later this week.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Tom Albertrani is not one of those trainers who prefer to work their horses fast. So take it as a sign that Preakness winner Bernardini is champing at the bit to run in the July 29 Jim Dandy following a five-furlong workout clocked in 58.70 seconds Monday morning at Belmont Park.
After three relatively slow breezes, Bernardini was ready to roll on a steamy morning, carving out fractions of 12.62 seconds, 24.14, and 35.01, meaning he got his last quarter in 23.69 seconds. Belmont clockers caught him galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.28.
Jockeys Lonnie Meche and Jose Verenzuela were involved in an altercation as their mounts were being unsaddled after Sunday's first race at Louisiana Downs, a track official said.
Verenzuela rode the 6-5 favorite, Literary Row, and Meche rode the 9-5 second choice, Campinout. The two alternated for the lead through fast fractions for six furlongs of the 1 1/16-mile turf race, and both were passed by Summertime Mood and Charming Kid. Literary Row gained the nod over Campinout for the show spot.
In the wake of Lost in the Fog's ninth-place finish Saturday in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint at Calder, trainer Greg Gilchrist said that he and owner Harry Aleo are giving thought to retiring the colt. Lost in the Fog, the champion sprinter of 2005, will get a rest, Gilchrist said, and a decision on his future will be made when he returns to training.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tothe-moonandback, the leading 3-year-old sprinter at Woodbine, seeks his third consecutive stakes victory Wednesday in the $125,000 Deputy Minister.
The 7 1/2-furlong event for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds will be the first start around two turns for Tothemoon-andback, who should be able to handle the tight inner-track oval, according to trainer Reade Baker.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It was a long time coming, but Ambitious Cat finally cracked through for her first stakes score in last Saturday's Grade 2, $305,900 Dance Smartly here at Woodbine.
Ambitious Cat, a Kentucky-bred 5-year-old by Storm Cat, had made seven previous appearances in turf stakes, never finishing worse than fifth or beaten more than 3 3/4 lengths.
T.H. Approval, the star of trainer Eduardo Inda's four-horse stable, is gaining that status in turf marathons in California. Sunday at Hollywood Park, T.H. Approval won his second stakes of the year in the Grade 2, $159,700 at 1 1/2 miles on turf.
Horseplayers plotting their summer wagering strategy can identify with an old Yogi Berra baseball cliche. The game, he said, is "90 percent mental, the other half is physical."
The malapropism can be applied to handicapping at Del Mar, the Southern California resort where much of the year's best racing for 2-year-olds and grass runners takes place just furlongs from the Pacific Ocean. The horses still do most of the work, but a successful season for bettors is "90 percent mental."
While more than 200 different trainers will start horses at Del Mar during the 2006 race meet, the 20 horsemen below are sure to have a significant impact on the season. Though they represent less than a tenth of the Del Mar trainer population, they combined last year to win nearly half the races.
Listed alphabetically, the following trainer capsules provide horseplayers with a preliminary look at the horsemen expected to dominate the California racing scene for 43 days this summer. Unless noted otherwise, statistics are Del Mar-specific.
Bob Baffert
2005 Meet Diary
Wednesday, July 20
The first three main-track winners raced wide, establishing a trend that held up the first five days of racing. The outside-friendly profile was not severe enough to call a "bias," but horses racing three-wide were in the comfort zone. It would be difficult for any horse to withstand pace pressure racing inside.
