HORSE RACING: TURF RACES IN LIMBO HOLLYWOOD TRACK UNUSABLE.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

ARCADIA - A day after Hollywood Park canceled turf racing for its upcoming season because of the poor condition of its grass course, talks Wednesday focused on creating races for the idled horses at other California tracks.

Hollywood Park officials want to simply take the money that would have gone into turf races - including $1.7 million from the autumn season's marquee Turf Festival of grass-course stakes - and use it to raise purses for the every-day dirt-track races that now will make up the entire 31-day meet opening next Wednesday.

But in negotiations at Santa Anita with leaders of Thoroughbred Owners of California, the Hollywood Park officials heard proposals to schedule a late November weekend of mid-level turf races at Santa Anita and improve the turf races at Golden Gate Fields in Albany. Discussions were to go on today.

Santa Anita would like Hollywood Park to trim its weekly calendar from five to four days so that low-level main-track horses aren't over-raced before the Arcadia track opens Dec. 26.

California Horse Racing Board member Richard Shapiro called for the state's racing industry to ``pull together'' to solve a crisis that could have far-reaching consequences - not only for Hollywood Park's new owners.

``I would prefer to see enhanced turf racing somewhere in the state ... for the turf horses that are affected,'' Shapiro said. ``One weekend (at Santa Anita) is not enough.''

Leading horsemen's pleas to run the $500,000 Hollywood Derby, $500,000 Matriarch and other major Turf Festival races at out-of-season Santa Anita or Del Mar were rejected by Hollywood Park as financially and logistically impossible.

``Save the Turf Festival so (trainers) Bobby Frankel and Ron McAnally can make $300,000? It doesn't make sense,'' said Martin Panza, the Hollywood Park racing secretary. ``It pains me to lose the Turf Festival, but my concern is more for the guy who's got a turf horse at the (allowance) level.''

Trainer Richard Mandella said after reading about Hollywood Park's plan: ``It sounds like somebody doesn't give a damn about the good horses.''

Faced with drainage problems and inconsistent footing on its turf course, the Inglewood track was installing a different strain of Bermuda. Test workouts last month showed the course had failed to take root and would not withstand racing.

Turf events account for more than one-quarter of Southern California racing. Hollywood Park traditionally hosts the nation's best turf racing each winter.

Kevin Modesti, [phone]

kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com