HOLLYWOOD NOTEBOOK
NOVEMBER 22, 2007
by John Mucciolo
The juveniles had center stage during the second week of the Hollywood meet:
Sharp Cat S.: Charles Cono LLC’s FOXY DANSEUR (Mr. Greeley) led soon
after the start and was never threatened in posting a comfortable 2 3/4-length
win for Christopher Paasch. The 4-5 favorite received a confident ride in
winning her first stakes race, reaching the wire in 1:43 for 1 1/16 miles.
Real Quiet S.: The heavily favored COLONEL JOHN (Tiznow) waited
patiently along the rail until the final turn, and once clear, the freshman colt
exploded to a facile win for Eoin Harty. The Kentucky-bred has now reeled off
consecutive impressive scores and appears to have a very bright future ahead of
him. Corey Nakatani piloted the winner, who finished off 1 1/16 miles in 1:42
4/5.
Track Stats
From a total of 43 races held over the Inglewood, California, racetrack
during the week, favorites won at a 33 percent clip and the top two betting
choices combined for 53 percent of the wins. From 30 frays contested on the
Cushion Track, seven animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (23 percent), while
four of the 13 grassy tussles went all the way on the lead (31 percent).
On Wednesday five winners broke from the inside three post positions. In
addition to that, three first-placers won in wire-to-wire fashion on the main
oval, and one did the same on the lawn. The following day, not a single horse on
the lead at the first call was in the same position at the wire.
The Hollywood turf course was very kind to front runners, with four fleet
gate breakers going all the way on the lead in the past week. That statistic
could come in handy when trying to decipher the Hollywood Turf Festival this
weekend.
Runners breaking from post 1 to 3 won half of the races during the opening
week, and they won 44 percent in this week. We’re starting to see a trend.
Meet Totals:
RACES: 85
DIRT: 61
TURF: 24
FAVORITES: 26 (31 percent)
2ND CHOICES: 19 (22 percent)
TURF WIRE: 8 (33 percent)
DIRT WIRE: 12 (20 percent)
Post Positions (wins):
RAIL: 14 (16 percent)
1-3: 40 (47 percent)
4-6: 24 (28 percent)
7-out: 21 (25 percent)
HORSES TO WATCH
Wednesday (11/14)
2ND – TIZMET (Cee’s Tizzy) drove through an opening on the inside and pulled
away from his rivals in a fine performance for Marty Jones. The gelding clearly
appreciates two-turn racing and is a viable candidate to win right back.
7TH – SOHGOL (Ire) (Singspiel [Ire]) had no chance with the winner but showed
good late energy to finish a clear second in this one. The five-year-old has
raced almost exclusively on the green and could benefit from the synthetic
surfaces in Southern California.
Friday (11/16)
4TH – WITCHY MEETING (General Meeting) showed marked improvement in her third
start, closing well to be four lengths clear in the place spot. The Tim Yakteen
charge shouldn’t be a maiden for much longer, and we’d expect her to handle
longer distances as well.
Saturday (11/17)
3RD – CHAMPAGNE EYES (Flatter) is now stakes-placed after two starts and
still has a maiden condition available for Doug O’Neill. The juvenile miss lost
to a more experienced runner in this one but was clearly the best of the rest.
6TH – ELUSIVE LEGEND (Elusive Quality) couldn’t have been much more
impressive in her winning debut, flying home after a bad break to win beneath
Garrett Gomez. The well-meant filly could be any type for John Sadler.
8TH – Multiple Group 1 hero STORM MILITARY (Arg) (Bernstein) captured his
first U.S. race and appears to have a bright future for Bobby Frankel. The
five-year-old easily took command approaching the final turn and finished with
good energy over this stakes-quality field.
Sunday (11/18)
5TH – GAYEGO (Gilded Time) was live on the board and did little to disappoint
with a convincing score for Paulo Lobo. The debuting juvenile showed good speed
and kept on in pulling away from a well-meant second-timer from the Bob Baffert
barn.
7TH – EL GATO MALO (El Corredor) gave owners West Point Thoroughbreds another
high-class runner when dusting this field for Craig Dollase. The gelded
two-year-old was never under any pressure in this one and could be really good
with expected improvement.
A Look Ahead
A six-pack of graded turf events will be held over the Thanksgiving holiday
weekend, including the $400,000 Citation H. (G1), $500,000 Hollywood Derby (G1)
and $500,000 Matriarch S. (G1). Other events on tap for the Turf Festival
include the $100,000 Generous S. (G3), $100,000 Miesque S. (G3) and $150,000
Hollywood Turf Express S. (G3).
The Thanksgiving Day feature is the $100,000 Hollywood Prevue S. (G3) for
two-year-olds over seven furlongs.