Horse Racing

Everyone knew the day was coming and now it's a reality. After 75 years of horse racing, Betfair Hollywood Park will end its operations following the final race of its autumn meeting Dec. 22. The words "sad day" were repeated often Thursday afternoon at the Inglewood track, where owners, trainers, jockeys and fans reacted somberly to the news. The official announcement came in a letter from track President Jack Liebau sent to the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday informing them that Hollywood Park Land Co. would not be requesting any 2014 racing dates.

BALTIMORE - Wednesday morning at Pimlico race track was similar to most mornings for Claude McGaughey III. Except there were lots of reporters around, which made it different. McGaughey is a thoroughbred horse trainer, currently the one in the catbird's seat in his sport. His long-striding Orb won the Kentucky Derby, making him racing's next Great Brown Hope. It also makes McGaughey the present voice of the sport's future. He has little choice. Horses, except for Mr. Ed, are lousy quotes.

With its announcement Thursday, Hollywood Park did little to refute the theory that horse racing is a sport in need of hospice. They raced at the Inglewood track Friday, but it wasn't business as usual. Nor will it be the rest of this meeting and the track's final one, which ends Dec. 22. For people in the business, and fans of the sport, the next six months of racing at the place universally known as Hollypark will be an emotional saddle sore. The bulldozers are at the gate.

A few low, indecipherable noises escaped from the table where Shug McGaughey, trainer of even-money Preakness favorite Orb, sat during the post-position draw Wednesday. The horse had drawn the dreaded No. 1 gate, meaning eight horses will be closing him in as they race toward the shortest path to the first turn. McGaughey, though, was not among those who thought this meant anything significant. "Some people groaned," he said. "I didn't groan. " McGaughey acknowledged a preference to start on the outside of the field - where the jockey and horse can watch the field open up - but said he thought drawing the rail simply didn't matter in a nine-horse field running over a mile and three-sixteenths.

Apparently, trainer Doug O'Neill has taken the name of his most famous horse literally. Saturday, he decided, I'll Have Another. So, here we go again. If race fans have that feeling of "Groundhog Day," nobody could blame them. The O'Neill Show, a smash hit a year ago, will be a repeat headliner on horse racing's most prestigious stage, the Kentucky Derby. That was achieved in front of 33,005, when O'Neill's Goldencents won the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, one of the prestigious prep races for the sport's most prestigious race.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Contrary to popular perception, this will not be the first Kentucky Derby ride for jockey Kevin Krigger. Maybe his fifth or sixth. Of course, when he got his first saddle as a teenager in the Virgin Islands, he didn't have the likes of racehorse Goldencents under that saddle, as he will Saturday, in the 139th Derby. "I think I got my first saddle when I was 13," Krigger says. "So, when it was time for the Kentucky Derby, I'd put it up on the couch at home, in front of the TV set, and I'd ride the race.

BALTIMORE - Wednesday morning at Pimlico race track was similar to most mornings for Claude McGaughey III. Except there were lots of reporters around, which made it different. McGaughey is a thoroughbred horse trainer, currently the one in the catbird's seat in his sport. His long-striding Orb won the Kentucky Derby, making him racing's next Great Brown Hope. It also makes McGaughey the present voice of the sport's future. He has little choice. Horses, except for Mr. Ed, are lousy quotes.

A James Bond-style ultrasonic gun disguised as a pair of binoculars was used to stun a top thoroughbred during a race, and could have become the key tool in a massive drug and betting conspiracy, a British court was told Tuesday. Defense attorney Jonathan Goldberg said the high-pitched sound from the gun caused the thoroughbred, Ile de Chypre, to veer suddenly and throw jockey Greville Starkey as they were heading for victory at Ascot racecourse on June 16, 1988.

Los Alamitos officials have proposed 1992 racing dates that would shorten the current quarter horse meeting but provide quarter horse racing at Hollywood Park for the first time since 1987. The proposal was presented Monday to a California Horse Racing Board Committee. It asks for 32 weeks of quarter horse racing, 43 weeks of harness racing and three weeks of thoroughbred and quarter horse fair racing. Under the plan, quarter horse racing would end at Los Alamitos on Jan. 18 instead of Feb. 8.

Minutes before post time at Santa Anita recently, nine thoroughbreds and their owners paraded to the paddock area in an entrance only slightly less grand than that of Caesar returning to Rome. While the general public queued behind white barricades, trumpets erupted, bright silk pennants flew, camera shutters crackled. Waiting for jockey Eddie Delahoussaye to saddle up for the sixth race, Diane Garber and her 27-year-old daughter Lisa stood by their horse, Command the Fire.

With its announcement Thursday, Hollywood Park did little to refute the theory that horse racing is a sport in need of hospice. They raced at the Inglewood track Friday, but it wasn't business as usual. Nor will it be the rest of this meeting and the track's final one, which ends Dec. 22. For people in the business, and fans of the sport, the next six months of racing at the place universally known as Hollypark will be an emotional saddle sore. The bulldozers are at the gate.

Everyone knew the day was coming and now it's a reality. After 75 years of horse racing, Betfair Hollywood Park will end its operations following the final race of its autumn meeting Dec. 22. The words "sad day" were repeated often Thursday afternoon at the Inglewood track, where owners, trainers, jockeys and fans reacted somberly to the news. The official announcement came in a letter from track President Jack Liebau sent to the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday informing them that Hollywood Park Land Co. would not be requesting any 2014 racing dates.

LOUISVILLE, KY.  - Todd Pletcher is now one for 36 in the Kentucky Derby. The trainer with a vast empire of horses entered five in Saturday's 139th run for the roses and, as bettors expected, Revolutionary, the colt guided by Calvin Borel , moved well over the wet track - but not well enough to catch winner Orb. Borel had Revolutionary running at the end, but ultimately finished third. A three-time winner of the race - twice in mud - Borel had spurred bettors to make Revolutionary the favorite for much of the day. "The only thing I could have done on the far turn was creep up closer on him," Borel said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Contrary to popular perception, this will not be the first Kentucky Derby ride for jockey Kevin Krigger. Maybe his fifth or sixth. Of course, when he got his first saddle as a teenager in the Virgin Islands, he didn't have the likes of racehorse Goldencents under that saddle, as he will Saturday, in the 139th Derby. "I think I got my first saddle when I was 13," Krigger says. "So, when it was time for the Kentucky Derby, I'd put it up on the couch at home, in front of the TV set, and I'd ride the race.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The horse with the short name and the long stride won the Kentucky Derby here Saturday. Fans of Orb, and headline writers worldwide, rejoiced. Orb's daddy was Malibu Moon; thus the short name with its perfect family connection. Other choices might have been Full, Half or Neil Armstrong. But the owners, cousins Dinny Phipps and Stuart Janney, got it right, just as their wonderful horse did, in front of 151,616 at Churchill Downs. Joel Rosario got it right too. The super jockey from the Dominican Republic left the Southern California jockey colony last year to head east in search of new adventures.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Around Clockers' Corner at Santa Anita, they will tell you never to ignore jockey Mike Smith in a big race, no matter the odds. Those who heeded that advice in the $1-million Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old females were happy Friday. Smith, riding 38-1 shot Princess Of Sylmar, dawdled near the rear of the field most of the race and then found a hole on the homestretch and guided the filly past all the bigger-name horses to victory. The Princess paid $79.60, $29.40 and $14. Smith's horse paid $727 for a $2 exacta, $3,470.80 for a $2 trifecta, and $12,445 for a $2 superfecta.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The horse with the short name and the long stride won the Kentucky Derby here Saturday. Fans of Orb, and headline writers worldwide, rejoiced. Orb's daddy was Malibu Moon; thus the short name with its perfect family connection. Other choices might have been Full, Half or Neil Armstrong. But the owners, cousins Dinny Phipps and Stuart Janney, got it right, just as their wonderful horse did, in front of 151,616 at Churchill Downs. Joel Rosario got it right too. The super jockey from the Dominican Republic left the Southern California jockey colony last year to head east in search of new adventures.

A few low, indecipherable noises escaped from the table where Shug McGaughey, trainer of even-money Preakness favorite Orb, sat during the post-position draw Wednesday. The horse had drawn the dreaded No. 1 gate, meaning eight horses will be closing him in as they race toward the shortest path to the first turn. McGaughey, though, was not among those who thought this meant anything significant. "Some people groaned," he said. "I didn't groan. " McGaughey acknowledged a preference to start on the outside of the field - where the jockey and horse can watch the field open up - but said he thought drawing the rail simply didn't matter in a nine-horse field running over a mile and three-sixteenths.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With nary a thought to Hamlet, trainer Bob Baffert is currently suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In his current situation, and in a world where oft-misinformed social media stirs the rumor pot to a boil, there is little he can do. Shakespeare might advise not to "take arms against a sea of troubles. " Baffert's friend Wayne Lukas advises the same, but in straighter language. "Bob will take the high road," Lukas said Thursday. The issue is a prickly one. It has created more Internet buzz than an acre of beehives.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As the Kentucky Derby approaches, consider Dennis O'Neill and Tom Knust as Twin Spires for racehorse Goldencents. The backstretch barns at Churchill Downs were celebrity central Wednesday morning, led by the current biggest celebrity in town, Rick Pitino. He coached Louisville's basketball team to the NCAA title a month ago and now has a shot at an all-time strange daily double - NCAA and Kentucky Derby titles. Pitino owns 5% of Goldencents, an investment of $3,100 made last summer at Del Mar when he heard about the horse and asked in on the action.