Hollywood Park closed
its 57-day spring-summer meet Sunday with drops in attendance and handle,
unable to overcome a trend at most tracks throughout the United States
in economic times that continue to be difficult.
Southern California attendance averaged 12,676, down 10.4% from the
average of 14,149 during a 55-day meet in 2009.
The average Southern California
handle of $4,794,545 was off 10.6% from the average of $5,365,2931 from the
corresponding meet a year ago.
The all sources average handle declined 10.3% from
$10,561,323 in 2009 to $9,474,780 in 2010.
“Although we are disappointed with the numbers, we
thought the meet was exciting from a racing standpoint,’’ said Hollywood Park president Jack Liebau. “The Vanity
Handicap, where Zenyatta was able to win her 17th in a row, was
memorable and there were some other outstanding performances on the track.
“We thought the changing of the purse schedule to
benefit the lower level horses was a good idea.
“The experiment with a Thursday night card (July 1)
was successful and the plan is to continue experimenting, looking for ways to
get more people on track.
“The fall meet is going to open on a Thursday night
(Nov. 4), giving us some momentum heading into the two days of the Breeders’
Cup (Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs).’’
The highlight of the meet was the aforementioned
Vanity Handicap.
Surpassing the win streaks of Cigar, Citation and
Mister Frisky, Zenyatta used a powerful late surge to defeat St Trinians for an
unprecedented third consecutive win in the Grade 1 on June 13.
Zenyatta carried 129 pounds, as she had in capturing
the 2009 Vanity, as he remained undefeated for owners Jerry and Ann Moss and
trainer John Shirreffs.
The 6-year-old Street Cry mare was also voted Horse
of the Meet for a third consecutive year in the annual media poll.
West Point Thoroughbreds’ Awesome Gem was the upset
winner of the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup while Harmonious made a successful
transition, winning the $250,000 American Oaks in her first appearance in a
graded stakes for owners Pam, Marty and Emily Wygod and Shirreffs.
La Canada Stables topped the owners’ standings with
16 victories. In terms of earnings, Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess
Stable led for a second year in a row. The Siegels earned purses totaling
$456,920.
Jockey Joel Rosario defended his crown with 79
winners, four more victories than runner-up Rafael Bejarano. Rosario
has won the last three meets at Hollywood
Park, including the fall
season in 2009.
Trainer Doug O’Neill won his fifth spring-summer
title. He finished with 28 victories, one more than Bob Baffert, who started 77
fewer horses (162-85). O’Neill has won nine training championships at Hollywood Park.