The Week in Review: Hollendorfer Ban Raises More Questions Than it Answers

Only time will tell if The Stronach Group (TSG)'s June 22 banishment of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer from Santa Anita Park and all other TSG tracks is a step in the right direction in terms of improving equine safety in the midst of the California track's 30-horse fatality crisis. But in the short term, the ruling-off has raised more questions than answers.

Chief among them are how did Hollendorfer morph so quickly from a Hall-of-Fame trainer into a persona non grata in the eyes of TSG management?

Four horse deaths at Santa Anita in a six-month span were obviously the tipping point. The Los Angeles Times also reported two Hollendorfer trainees have died at TSG-owned Golden Gate Fields during the same time frame.

But if TSG wants to create a truly transparent trainer responsibility code, it owes the public–and other trainers stabled at its nationwide portfolio of tracks–more clarity and specifics about what Hollendorfer was allegedly doing that contributed to those fatalities.

Did the sheer number of recent fatalities alone trigger Hollendorfer's ban? Or is the 73-year-old, multi-decade mainstay on the annual North American winningest trainer list simply out of step with the rapidly changing times in terms of horse care?

TSG's statement issued on Saturday stated “Individuals who do not embrace the new rules and safety measures that put horse and rider safety above all else, will have no place at any Stronach Group racetrack. 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.”

Surely there is more to this story. Dr. Dionne Benson, TSG's recently hired chief veterinary officer, did not return a Sunday voicemail message from TDN requesting comment prior to deadline for this column. Neither did Hollendorfer.

But according to Horse Racing Nation, Hollendorfer did say on the Sunday morning “Track Talk” radio show based in San Diego that “in our barn, I didn't break any rules or anything like that…We were totally cooperative with the vets and the people coming around to look at the horses in every single situation.”

Racetracks that use “house rules” to try and weed out alleged wrongdoers are almost always in a “damned if they do, damned if they don't” situation. People complain endlessly about how racing's regulatory bodies at the state level are toothless when it comes to getting rid of rule breakers and problem-causers, because the cases are often appealed, reduced, or overturned via the courts.

Yet when a racetrack steps up to assert its private-property rights to exclude anyone they like, some of those very same complainers leap to defend the ruled-off person, pointing out how such banishments don't afford the accused a due-process shot at defending themselves.

In this case, perhaps it's telling that the trainers' organization that represents Hollendorfer doesn't even know what to make of his banishment.

Jim Cassidy, the president of California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT), said in a Sunday phone interview that he can't comment one way or the other on whether the CTT is supportive of Hollendorfer.

“That's difficult to say,” Cassidy told TDN. “We're going to have a board meeting later on this week to have a discussion about what we can do, or if there is anything we can say or do. We can't do much since this is private property, and [TSG] can have who they want or don't want here. So there's not much of legal consequence that we can do about it. We can make a stink about it, but it's just the way it is.”

When asked if even the most safety-conscious trainers have developed a mentality that one bad step could ruin their careers and reputations, Cassidy said most CTT horsemen are adapting willingly to the new, hyper-sensitive racing landscape.

“Mostly, everybody's taking care of business the way they should be,” Cassidy said. “That means everybody is trying to do the right thing. They've taken steps here to try to protect everybody and the horses–great steps. As far as the protesters and all of that, we try to ignore it the best we can. Nobody's happy about it because they think it's unfair. You just hold your breath and hope everything goes smoothly, day to day to day.”

Asked to comment on whether he felt TSG was shifting the safety narrative away from Santa Anita and putting the onus on trainers, Cassidy said this:

“The racing surface, since we've gotten rid of all the rain, has been in great shape. As far as blaming the trainers, it seems everybody wants to blame the trainers, no matter what the situation is. We take [flak] because when one guy has a problem, we're all pointed at. If people are looking at you with wide eyes, everybody has to be very careful. But even if you're very careful, you can still have an accident. It's inevitable. There's nothing we can do about that. You just have to take all the corrective measures you can to make sure that you're not doing anything blatant.”

Both TSG and the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) have mandated a slew of changes to training and racing protocols over the past half year. Is there anything the CTT believes those organizations should be doing differently?

“To be quite honest with you, I don't know what else they could possibly do,” Cassidy said. “They're pulling out all the stops. They're watching these horses from morning until evening when the races are over. There are veterinarians all over the place watching horses. The trainers are watching their own horses. I've never seen it cared for like this before.”

The SoCal racing now shifts to Los Alamitos Race Course, and Hollendorfer has been welcomed to race there by track management.

“Los Alamitos will gladly provide stalls to Jerry Hollendorfer, a Hall of Fame trainer and an unexcelled horseman,” Edward Allred, the track's owner, said in a press release issued after the trainer's TSG ban was announced. “Unless forbidden by the CHRB, we intend to permit entries from Hollendorfer. We do not feel he should be a scapegoat for a problem which derives from a number of factors.”

In May, Hollendorfer announced an intention to race a string of horses on the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit. He currently has 16 stalls at Belmont, but only eight are occupied.

“Mr. Hollendorfer is currently utilizing stall space at Belmont Park and was approved for stalls at Saratoga Race Course for the 2019 summer meet,” read a statement, in part, issued Sunday by Pat McKenna, NYRA's communications director. “NYRA will honor those agreements and he will be permitted to stable and enter horses at both Belmont and Saratoga.”