HOLLYWOOD PARK: WAGERING: GOOD BET HOLLYWOOD'S MEET TO START AMID SCANDAL.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer INGLEWOOD - As Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
``I think at this point we are talking about an isolated instance,'' Hollywood Park president Rick Baedeker said of the apparent fix. ``The scrutiny of the process has never been higher. (Until) the tote system becomes impregnable, we'll be watching all the bets every day.'' The Inglewood track will open at 12:30 p.m. as an investigation continues into a suspicious winning wager on the Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982 by a consortium of North American racing organizations, led by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. pick-six Oct. 26 at Arlington Park Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks (six) than any other major in Chicago. It appears a Maryland bettor, who ended up with the only perfect tickets and stood to collect more than $3 million, conspired with a totalizator totalizator, totalisator a computer-driven, machine-operated betting system which eliminates the bookmaker in the betting industry which surrounds horse and dog racing. Called also parimutuel. company employee to enter selections after four of the six races had been run. On Saturday, Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. - which owns Hollywood Park - joined two other horse racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with companies in announcing the computer systems that process bets will be subject to audits and new security measures Noun 1. security measures - measures taken as a precaution against theft or espionage or sabotage etc.; "military security has been stepped up since the recent uprising" security . ``As unfortunate as this incident has been, the good news is we caught the SOBs, and they'll pay for their crime,'' Baedeker said. ``Hopefully we can send the message that we're more vigilant as an industry and we're going to close the loopholes (in the computer systems).'' Baedeker said he expects the Breeders' Cup case to be ``in the back of (fans') minds. Everybody has choices for their entertainment or gambling dollars, and we can't afford to be any less attractive.'' To some fans, the case confirms suspicions that insiders or computer hackers have been placing wagers during the running of races, fears brought to a head in the first race of Hollywood Park's spring-summer meet in April when a $118,000 wager from Maine belatedly dropped the winner's odds from 9-2 to 2-5. Officials said at the time the wager had been placed 40 seconds before the race began and wasn't reflected in the odds for more than a minute because of normal data-transmission delays. Baedeker said it is now believed the six-figure bet was a mistake, that the gambler intended a five-figure bet. Baedeker said that because such incidents create ``the impression that there's manipulation,'' mid-race odds changes should be ``intolerable'' to the industry. He said Hollywood Park's reviews of past wagering patterns has not revealed betting fixes such as the one alleged to have occurred at the Breeders' Cup. The Inglewood track hopes to keep the focus on the horses during the 35-day season that runs through Dec. 22. Wedged between the Breeders' Cup and Santa Anita's Dec. 26 opening, the Hollywood Park autumn meet is the black sheep black sheep n. 1. A sheep with black fleece. 2. A member of a family or other group who is considered undesirable or disreputable. of the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, circuit. But its Thanksgiving-week ``Turf Festival'' annually features strong grass-course stakes, and the Dec. 21 Hollywood Futurity frequently anoints California's early hope for the Kentucky Derby. HOLLYWOOD PARK AT A GLANCE --Dates: Racing today through Dec. 22, open Wednesdays through Sundays, as well as Monday, Nov. 11. --First post: 12:30 p.m. each day except Fridays Nov. 8 and 15 (7 p.m.) and Thanksgiving Day (11 a.m.). --Phone: Switchboard, (310) 419-1500; scratches and results, (626) 446-8501. --Internet: hollywoodpark.com --TV: Fox Sports West 2 carries live coverage 3-5 p.m. most days, 7-9 p.m. on Fridays Nov. 8 and 15; KDOC KDOC Kansas Department of Corrections has replays of Wednesday and Thursday races, 10 p.m.; Friday afternoon races, 10:30 p.m.; Friday night races, 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday races, 7:30 p.m. CAPTION(S): box Box: HOLLYWOOD PARK AT A GLANCE (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion