|
|
Trainers say goodbye to Hollywood Park So many faces in and out of my life Long before trainer Bob Baffert was inducted into the Hall of Fame, an impromptu trip to Hollywood Park left an indelible impression on the Nogales, Arizona native. After a brief stint as a Quarter Horse rider in 1970, he and a friend traveled to California and spent a day at the Inglewood track. "I remember visiting Hollywood Park for the first time in 1971 or 1972," Baffert recalled. "We were able to get a couple of passes left for us. The place was really packed. and the parking lot was so full, we had to park really far away. "The thing I remember most was getting up close to the winner's circle and seeing Cary Grant. That was a thrill." Baffert began his rise to the top with a string of Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos in 1983. He made a big splash when Gold Coast Express won the Champion of Champions, but few people remember the 1986 World Champion also raced at Hollywood Park. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, Hollywood Park was part of a Quarter Horse circuit that included Bay Meadows and Los Alamitos. The mixed-breed meets also featured Appaloosas. It is also seldom recalled that New Mexico's Ruidoso Downs was for a period of time (1947-1953) named Hollywood Park. "The Gold Coast Express era was a lot of fun," Baffert reminisced. "He won a big race at Hollywood Park and I remember watching the race in the (then recently-built) Pavilion (of the Stars) where the new finish line was after they reconfigured the track." Two of his fondest memories of Hollywood Park had nothing to do with his training, though. "I'm a big fan of the game," Baffert declared. "When Pincay was going for the record, it was exciting." Baffert was referring to December 10, 1999, when Hall of Fame rider Laffit Pincay Jr. rode Irish Nip to victory for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, breaking the legendary Bill Shoemaker's record of 8,833. Baffert also counted among the legion of followers of Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year whose home base was Hollywood. "When you think of Hollywood Park, you have to think Zenyatta," Baffert said. "Every time she ran, it was something special. The fans really got into it." Baffert's list of personal achievements are too numerous to mention, but an immediate thought that popped into his head was Game On Dude's victory in the 2012 Hollywood Gold Cup. "It was a real feel-good story when Chantal (Sutherland-Kruse) became the first woman to win the race," he said. It's easy to pick out trainer Ron Ellis' two major accomplishments at Hollywood Park -- victories with Declan's Moon in the 2004 Hollywood Futurity and Rail Trip in the 2009 Hollywood Gold Cup -- but neither tops his personal list. "I met my wife, Amy, here in 1987," the 57-year-old Ellis explained. "I saw her in the betting line and asked her if she wanted to split an exacta. Luckily, it won and we split another one after that." The two were married in 1988 and have three daughters -- Elizabeth, Laura and Christine. Saying goodbye, why is it sad? John Sadler owns numerous training titles, but has no hesitation picking out Melair's victory in the 1986 Silver Screen Handicap as a career milestone. "She beat (Preakness winner) Snow Chief by 11 lengths that day and her time (1:32 4/5) was the fastest ever by a three-year-old filly," Sadler said proudly. In fact, at the time only three horses, including the great Dr. Fager, had run faster. The Silver Screen turned out to be Melair's final appearance. She retired undefeated in five starts. Turn out the lights the party's over Perhaps Neil Drysdale summed up the closing of Hollywood Park best. When asked of his fondest memories of the track, the Hall of Fame trainer and former assistant to Charlie Whittingham, a Hall of Famer and the all-time leader at Hollywood Park with 222 stakes wins, responded, "There were thousands of them. That's a silly question." Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
