HOLLYWOOD PARK: CLOSERS ARE THE VICTORS NEW TRACK BRINGS CHANGE IN RESULTS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Staff Writer INGLEWOOD -- Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
If you anticipated a tectonic shift in the way thoroughbreds compete in California, you probably did well at the betting windows. The first race of Hollywood Park's 36-day autumn season was won by a filly named Matty G Whiz who sat in mid-pack on the home turn with jockey Martin Garcia before rallying on the outside. The second went to a filly named Brite Red State who was briefly last on the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. with Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza (born May 23, 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California. before looping the pack. And the trend continued through the eight-race card, come-from-behind horses running rampant at a place front-runners have dominated for decades. ``I think you (a rider) have to be a little more patient now,'' jockey 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. said. ``We're so used to speed, speed, speed. I like this, actually.'' The first track to act on orders from the legislature that California's five major thoroughbred tracks install synthetic surfaces by the end of 2007, Hollywood Park spent more than $8 million on an English-made composition called Cushion Track, a composite of synthetic fibers, elastic fiber elastic fiber n. Any of the fibers 0.2 to 2 micrometers in diameter containing elastin. They branch and anastomose to form networks and fuse to form fenestrated membranes. Also called yellow fiber. and granulated gran·u·late v. gran·u·lat·ed, gran·u·lat·ing, gran·u·lates v.tr. 1. To form into grains or granules. 2. To make rough and grainy. v.intr. rubber, coated with a wax blend and mixed with silica. The intent is to create kinder footing in a state with a national reputation for hard tracks that break down horses. At tracks where similar surfaces have been used in England (``all-weather'' surfaces debuted there a decade ago) and Kentucky (so-called ``Polytrack'' went in at Turfway Park Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located in Florence, Kentucky, a part of Cincinnati, Ohio's Kentucky suburbs. It conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets per year, and offers year-round simulcast wagering from tracks across the continent. and Keeneland in the past two years), sharp declines in injuries have been reported. Wednesday, two horses failed to finish their races, Steve's Boy being pulled up by jockey William Antongeorgi on the turn and vanned off the track after the sixth race, and favored Captain Squire eased in the stretch by Solis before being walked back to the barn after the seventh. But a track spokesman said examinations found neither horse to be seriously injured. ``At this point, I can't blame the track,'' Solis said of Captain Squire taking what the jockey called ``a bad step.'' As trainers have done since horses began exercising on the synthetic track in September, first-race winner Mark Glatt Glatt may refer to:
``I have one horse that's kind of arthritic all over. There'd be days when he'd dread training, he'd hang his head when he went out of the barn,'' Glatt said. ``Now, that horse bucks and squeals on his way to the racetrack.'' A representative of the company that makes Cushion Track declined to gloat Wednesday. ``To make any conclusions about the track at this stage would be unwise,'' said Philip Bond, overseas business manager for Equestrian Surfaces of Burnley, England. ``We'd like to see about 100 races on the track.'' After that, Bond said between races, ``minor adjustments'' could be made in the care and feeding of the relatively low-maintenance surface to accommodate the local climate and demands of Hollywood Park's relatively high hoof-traffic. Bond said the surprise of opening day was that after the maintenance crew ran a water truck over the track -- to see what the effect of moisture would be during a race -- a jockey complained that the wet surface produced annoying ``kickback The seller's return of part of the purchase price of an item to a buyer or buyer's representative for the purpose of inducing a purchase or improperly influencing future purchases. .'' Under normal conditions
Because the lack of spray helps trailing horses, because front-runners seem to tire on the deep surface and because stretch-runners can dig in harder, most tracks with synthetic surfaces have seen the tactical edge swing from speed horses to closers. Although one day is too short a test to proclaim the end of California's trademark speed bias, those who predicted the ascendance as·cen·dance also as·cen·dence n. Ascendancy. Noun 1. ascendance - the state that exists when one person or group has power over another; "her apparent dominance of her husband was really her attempt to make him pay of tortoises and long-fused turf horses at Hollywood Park are correct so far. In the six races run on the main track, winners rallied from fourth, eighth, sixth, seventh, ninth and seventh, all but one closing on the outside. At this meet's 2005 opener, winners came from first, third, third, fourth, first, third, second and fourth. Clockings were slightly slower than before. heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Matty G Whiz, ridden by Martin Garcia, wins the first race of Hollywood Park's 36-day autumn session on Wednesday. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. |
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