Monthly Archives: July 2009

Mi Rey, an 8-year-old gelding, suffered a front right leg injury at the head of the stretch in Wednesday’s third race at Del Mar, dumping jockey Rafael Bejarano. Mi Rey, trained by Doug O’Neill, had to be euthanized, becoming the … Continue reading →

* The first race was won from well off the pace by 10-1 long shot High Stakes Silver, bringing back memories of the first two years of Del Mar’s Polytrack surface when speed was much less effective than during the … Continue reading →

As Del Mar prepares to begin its 70th season today and optimism — at least for a day — runs high among California horsemen, we are painfully reminded of two comments made recently by members of the California Horse Racing … Continue reading →

I’ve talked to three trainers in the past two weeks — Ron Ellis, Gary Stute and Doug O’Neill — who told me that Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track was playing more like a dirt track by the end of the 55-day … Continue reading →

Garrett Gomez, Joel Rosario and Rafael Bejarano. There’s not a better trio of jockeys anywhere riding at the same race track. The 70th Del Mar meet, which begins Wednesday and runs through Sept. 9, is going to be something special, … Continue reading →

Hollywood Park made it two consecutive SoCal meets that have shown an upswing in on-track attendance, however slight it may be, when the track announced on closing day Sunday that on-track crowds were up 0.8 percent for the 55-day spring-summer … Continue reading →

I’ve got friends who think that when I cover the races at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park or Del Mar, all I do is sit around and eat, drink and bet the races. Well, they’re wrong! I don’t eat quite as … Continue reading →

The great unbeaten mare Zenyatta, who ran her unbeaten streak to 11 with victories in the Grade 1 Vanity and Grade 2 Milady handicaps this meet, was voted Horse of the Meet in the media poll as Hollywood Park closed … Continue reading →

I’ve talked to three prominent Southland trainers today who all think there’s very little chance that racing will cease to exist at Hollywood Park after this spring-summer meet. In fact, one trainer told me he thinks we’ll be racing here … Continue reading →

I like Obrigado in today’s closing-day feature at Hollywood Park. He’s sharp, coming in off a 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Round Table Handicap here on June 13, he gets the services of leading rider Joel Rosario and … Continue reading →