HOLLYWOOD GOLD CUP: MIXED BREW IN CUP FAVORITES AREN'T ONLY HORSES TO KEEP AN EYE ON.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer INGLEWOOD - The $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. features only six horses but enough questions about favorites Congaree and Harlan's Holiday to make Sunday's race interesting. Congaree comes out of a fading sixth-place finish at odds-on in the Metropolitan Mile on a sloppy track at Belmont Park Noun 1. Belmont Park - a racetrack for thoroughbred racing in Elmont on Long Island; site of the Belmont Stakes Belmont Elmont - a town on Long Island in New York; site of Belmont Park and is winless in two tries at the Gold Cup's 1 1/4-mile distance, although his photo-finish second to Milwaukee Brew in the Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during in March sold many handicappers on his stamina. Harlan's Holiday must improve on a troubled fifth as the bettors' choice in the Brooklyn Handicap The Brooklyn Handicap is an annual American race for thoroughbred horses first held at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York in 1887. It is currently held at Belmont Park on Long Island. on another rainy day at Belmont and is 0 for 3 at 1 1/4 miles, though his second behind Moon Ballad in the Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in March wasn't bad. The point is that there are reasons to look beyond the top two in the 64th running of the Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
Expected to be entered Thursday morning are Congaree (Jerry Bailey riding), Harlan's Holiday (John Velazquez), Kudos (Alex Solis Alex O. Solis (born March 25, 1964 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California. He first gained national prominence when he won the 1986 Preakness Stakes with Snow Chief. ), Piensa Sonando (Gary Stevens), Western Pride (Jose Valdivia) and Golden Ticket (Pat Valenzuela). All 4- to 6-year-olds, the horses will be assigned 124 pounds each under the race's weight-for-age rules. The handlers of Perfect Drift, winner of the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, decided to pass up the Gold Cup and run closer to their Kentucky base in the July 19 Washington Park Handicap The Washington Park Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses. The race is open to horses age three and up who are willing to race the one and three-sixteenths mile distance. The race is held each year at Arlington Park, the successor of Washington Park. at Arlington Park near Chicago. ``I'm happy to have the six horses we have,'' Hollywood Park racing secretary Martin Panza said. ``Between Harlan's Holiday, Congaree and Kudos - those are three Grade I horses - it makes it a very interesting race. Golden Ticket, we know he wants to go a mile and a quarter. Even as the sixth horse in the race, he's got a long-shot chance.'' Probably because it usually has been held in the early summer, after older horses have established their form and before they face improving 3- year-olds, the Gold Cup has been remarkably predictable, the post-time favorite winning 48 percent. The distance gives hope to Kudos, whose February 2002 victory in a San Marino Handicap moved off turf makes him the only 1 1/4-mile winner in this field; Golden Ticket, the Hollywood Park record holder at the rarely run 1 3/8 miles (2:13.42); and Piensa Sonando, second in a Group 1 race at 1 3/8 in Chile. Congaree, the 5-year-old whose $2.2 million earnings are second in the field to Harlan's Holiday's $3.4 million, was vanned from trainer Bob Baffert's Santa Anita barn to Hollywood Park on Tuesday morning to get a feel for the Gold Cup track in a 5-furlong workout timed in 1:00 3/5. Kevin Modesti, (818) 713-3616 kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com |
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