Hollywood Park handle down slightly from record 2007 meet

Zenyatta was voted Horse of the Meet at Hollywood Park (Benoit Photo) Hollywood Park broke the $20-million mark in handle on its five major days for the first time during its Spring/Summer Meet, but was unable to buck a national trend as overall handle at the 60-day session was down 1.8 percent. Handle averaged a record $11.9 million at the 63-day Spring/Summer Meet in 2007, compared to $11.7 million in 2008. "The tracks across the country have struggled to maintain their 2007 averages," Hollywood Park President Jack Liebau said. "We were up against record figures and I think we did as well as we could have hoped in these tough economic times." A record $29,773,657 was wagered on Kentucky Derby Day, the highest handle of the meet and the largest single-day handle in California this year. Preakness Stakes Day handle was $21,049,983 and Belmont Stakes Day handle was a record $25,721,762.

On July 5, which featured five graded stakes races, including the American

Oaks Invitational (G1) and CashCall Mile Invitational (G2), Hollywood Park

generated a record handle of $25,137,676, the highest in track history excluding

Breeders' Cup and Triple Crown days. It is the sixth highest overall handle in

the 70-year history of the track.

While the on-track average of $1.5 million was down 9.7 percent and the

off-track average in Southern California of $2.7 million was down 10.4 percent,

advance deposit wagering continued to grow with a daily average of $2.1 million

-- up 14.6 percent from 2007.

"Account wagering on races at Hollywood Park no doubt benefited from the

standoff between TrackNet and the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group because other

signals were not available to account wagering providers," Liebau said.

Purses averaged $447,329, while fields averaged 8.3 horses per race -- 8.5 on

Cushion Track and 7.7 on the Lakeside Turf Course.

Jockey Rafael Bejarano, who shifted his tack to Southern California during

the 2007 Autumn Meet, rode 56 winners to garner his first Hollywood Park

riding title. Joel Rosario came next in the riders' standings with 45.

Sadler sent out the winners of 30 races, seven more than runner-up Doug

O'Neill, to claim his second Hollywood crown, following his Autumn Meet

championship in 2007.

Bejarano and Sadler also led in stakes wins with 10 and seven, respectively.

Everest Stables Inc. topped the owners' standings with 14 wins, while the

undefeated filly ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) was voted Horse of the Meet in the annual Media Poll.