Smaller crowd is big to bet

DEL MAR — On-track attendance for the inaugural Breeders’ Cup on Friday at Del Mar was the smallest in nine years, but customers came with deep pockets stuffed with money.

The handle, or amount wagered, at the racetrack was $9,280,504, 29% more than patrons shelled out on Friday in 2016 at Santa Anita.

The turnstile count of 45,673 a year ago dwarfed the turnout of 32,278 at Del Mar. However, attendance for the weekend at the cozier track is capped at 37,500.

The grounds were packed but not uncomfortably so.

“If they would have made it all about a crowd number, it would have been a failure,” observed Dan Purner, a health services executive who grew up near the track. His grandfather and father were involved in the racing business.

The only obvious flaw was infield video screens neglecting to show the order of horses by their saddle-cloth numbers during the last few races.

Like father, like son

Naturally, accomplished trainer Aidan O’Brien roots for his own horses to defeat all challengers. In the Juvenile Fillies Turf, he made an exception.

O’Brien, who saddled Happily, also was drawn to Now You’re Talking, trained by his son Joseph. The younger O’Brien, 24, happily retired as a jockey and switched roles this year.

“I’m always hoping he will beat me,” the elder O’Brien said. When it happens, which is not often, “We take pleasure in that.”

The rookie outdid the veteran Friday. Then again, so did everyone else in the Fillies Turf. Favored Happily brought up the rear among 14 horses, while Now You’re Talking, with the steepest odds in the field of nearly 60-1, came home eighth.

Tie one on

Bob Edwards, who was new to thoroughbred ownership last year, went out of his fashion comfort zone and wore a bow tie to the 2016 Cup.

“Chad mocked me,” he said of Chad Brown, who trained Edwards’ victorious New Money Honey.

So unfamiliar was Edwards to the neckpiece that he fastened it with a rubber band. Before Friday, Edwards learned to tie a bow, and he sported a lavender one at Del Mar.

Suffice to say that the bow tie will not be replaced soon. The Edwards-Brown tandem won again, this time with Rushing Fall.

One-liner

Elite trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, an occasionally crusty sort, was asked about the personality of jockey Flavian Prat, who delivered the trainer a win on Battle Of Midway in the Dirt Mile.

“Just really nice to work with,” said Hollendorfer, who paused for comic effect before adding, “unlike me.”