Two Droughts End on Meeting’s Final Day

Drumm Valley, a 7-year-old gelding whose last win had come in Boise, Idaho, 366 days ago, won Monday’s $109,600 Robert K. Kerlan Memorial Handicap, the closing-day feature for the 60th-anniversary meeting at Hollywood Park.

Chris McCarron finished fourth in the Kerlan with Sam’s, the even-money favorite, and didn’t have any winners on the card, but he still nailed down his 25th Southern California riding title. McCarron finished with 52 wins to 50 for Corey Nakatani, who was also blanked Monday.

The Kerlan, named after the surgeon who treated many of Los Angeles’ top athletes besides being medical director at Hollywood Park for more than 25 years, gave trainer Jerry Dutton a welcome winner. Before Drumm Valley’s half-length victory over Cuvee Brut, the Dutton barn had racked up 13 seconds and thirds, but had won with only one of 38 starters at the meet.

Drumm Valley, ridden by Victor Espinoza, had lost 11 consecutive races. An Idaho-bred, he once worked half a mile in :43 4/5 and was claimed out of a race for $2,500 in May of last year. His win Monday, in 1:03 for 5 1/2 furlongs on grass, was worth $65,760, almost as much as he had earned in 31 previous starts.

Drumm Valley broke poorly, but was never far back and overtook Cuvee Brut in midstretch. He paid $19.80 as the fourth choice, winning for the first time in nine starts on grass.

“He broke a little slow and I was worried,” Espinoza said. “I sat off the speed and when we turned for home, that was it. This has been a very good meet for me [two wins Monday and 30 overall] and I hope it continues at Del Mar.”

McCarron, 43, hadn’t won a summer meet title at Hollywood Park since 1984. Of his 25 California titles, six have come at Hollywood Park in the summer, six there in the fall, three at Santa Anita, five at Oak Tree at Santa Anita and five at Del Mar.

“I’d be foolish if I didn’t say [winning the title] didn’t mean anything to me,” said McCarron, who won three stakes Sunday including the Swaps. “Once I got in contention [in the standings], I think my competitive juices kept pushing me.”

Craig Dollase, 27, took the training title with 19 wins. He started only 38 horses, winning at a brilliant 50% clip. Second place was shared by Sandy Shulman, Bob Hess Jr. and Ron McAnally, with 16 winners apiece.

As usual, Hollywood Park announced attendance and handle figures for the season, but because so much of their business is now off-track, tracks don’t really keep score that way anymore.

“The real bottom line is the commissions we take in [from the betting],” said Don Robbins, Hollywood Park’s track president. “Based on that, there was a good upturn. Nothing spectacular, but still an upturn, and we’re very pleased.”

As just one example, Hollywood Park receives between 5.5% and 7% on bets on-track, but only gets between 3.1% and 4.8% off-track.

One of the business barometers is daily average purse distribution, and by that gauge Hollywood had its best year. Horsemen ran for an average of $374,084 in purses per day, highest in track history and about $10,000 a day more than 1995, the previous high.

“You’ve got to recognize this industry has become a multinational, interstate business,” said R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood Park’s chairman. “The decline in off-track business is more than offset by the expansion of our business overall. We’re thrilled with the season. We gave the fans a showdown between the world’s best older horses [Skip Away and Gentlemen] in the Hollywood Gold Cup, and we introduced the most successful new promotion in racing with the guaranteed pick six.”

Counting all pools, Hollywood Park’s daily handle averaged $11 million for the 66 days, an increase of almost 9%. On-track attendance, which averaged 10,385, was down 3.4%.

*

There have been 52 editions of the Oceanside Stakes, the traditional opening-day feature at Del Mar, but the race has produced 68 winners--perhaps a record for a California stake--because it has been split into divisions so many times.

This year’s Oceanside, which kicks off Del Mar’s 59th season on Wednesday, is no exception. There were 23 3-year-olds entered, so the one-mile grass race will be run in divisions for the 10th consecutive year and the 15th time in the last 18 years.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Del Mar at a Glance

* Length of Meet: Wednesday, July 22-Sept. 9 (43 days, Wednesday-Monday).

* Post Times: 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays through Mondays; 4 p.m. July 31, Aug. 7 and 14; 3:30 p.m. Aug. 21 and 28 and Sept. 4; 12:30 p.m. Aug. 15 and Sept. 7.

* Major Stakes Races: $250,000 San Diego Handicap (Saturday), $300,000 Ramona Handicap (Aug. 1), $300,000 Eddie Read Handicap (Aug. 2), $1-million Pacific Classic (Aug. 15), $250,000 Del Mar Oaks (Aug. 23), $250,000 Del Mar Debutante (Aug. 29), $250,000 Del Mar Handicap (Sept. 5), $200,000 Del Mar Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Sept. 6), $300,000 Del Mar Derby (Sept. 7), $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (Sept. 9).

* Leading Jockey (1997): Kent Desormeaux, 40 victories.

* Leading Trainer (1997): Bob Baffert, 27 victories.