Del Mar allots no stalls to trainer
Hollendorfer already banned at 2 state tracks
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has not allotted stalls to Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer for its summer season, which begins next Wednesday, and apparently has decided not to let him race his horses there.
According to Drew Couto, Hollendorfer’s attorney, Del Mar officials said at a meeting Monday night that they were unwilling to take a publicrelations risk.
But Del Mar President Joe Harper told the Thoroughbred Daily News on Tuesday: “We’ve had a couple of meetings and the ball is in Jerry’s court. We are still looking to come up with an agreement that both Jerry Hollendorfer and Del Mar can agree on.”
“Del Mar will have an official statement about the Jerry Hollendorfer situation” Wednesday morning, Del Mar media director Mac McBride said in an email.
Hollendorfer, whose 7,622 career victories are third most in thoroughbred racing history, was banned from Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields on June 22 by the Stronach Group — which owns both tracks.
Thirty horses died from injuries sustained in racing and training at Santa Anita’s winterspring season that ran Dec. 26June 23, and four were trained by Hollendorfer. Golden Gate Fields had nine fatalities Dec. 26June 9, and one was trained by Hollendorfer, although some sources believe there were two.
In announcing the ban, the Stronach Group said in a statement, “We regret that Mr. Hollendorfer’s record in recent months at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields has become increasingly challenging and does not match the level of safety and accountability we demand. Effective immediately, Mr. Hollendorfer is no longer welcome to stable, race or train his horses at any of our facilities.”
The New York Racing Association also banned Hollendor
fer a week afterward, saying it would not allow him to participate. He has been approved to operate by the California Authority of Racing Fairs and Los Alamitos, and both are conducting racing currently.
Santa Anita was plagued with problems with its racing surfaces because of heavy rain in February and March and canceled three weeks of racing. The dirt track was rehabilitated, but the injuries continued to mount, and the California Horse Racing Board asked Santa Anita to cancel the final two weeks of its season. The Stronach Group declined.
According to statistics compiled from several sources by The Chronicle, Hollendorfer hasn’t had a fatal injury at Del Mar in the past three years. According to Couto, he had only one racing fatality in 2017 and 2018 at Santa Anita.
“Did he just become a terrible horseman all of a sudden?” said Couto, who also has served as president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “There was a period of time when they had 17 inches of rain when the historic average is 3.4. Santa Anita ran 15 more races than the previous year during that time. They ran 111 races on sloppy, muddy or off tracks compared to 18 the year before.
“There was a confluence of factors setting up for tragedy. They said it’s got to be Jerry’s fault. They never warned him. They ruined a guy’s 40year career.”
Hollendorfer didn’t return calls Tuesday, nor did officials from the Stronach Group or Del Mar. Though he and Couto have not pursued legal action, that could be coming.
“We’ve been focusing on ways to save Jerry’s business in the short term,” Couto said “He has workers and owners and he is trying to take care of those people. Our initial focus is to try to figure out a pragmatic solution to keep his job alive. If there is not a pragmatic solution, all options are on the table. They didn’t warn him in advance, and they didn’t tell him why after the fact. That’s the biggest problem.”
The California Thoroughbred Trainers organization issued a statement Tuesday saying that it was talking with Del Mar about the Hollendorfer situation.
“While CTT hopes ongoing discussions will be productive, it doesn’t limit itself to those deliberations, and will consider pursuing all further remedies if it perceives those as being in the interest of the sport,” the statement read.
Two national horsemen’s groups — the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association — issued a joint statement last week urging due process for Hollendorfer.