By Bill Finley
According to a report in the Daily Racing Form from reporter David Grening, Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will not be allowed to participate at the NYRA tracks. The latest news came about a week after NYRA announced that Hollendorfer would indeed be allowed to race in New York.
A NYRA spokesperson told the TDN that there would be no comment Saturday evening. Whether or not Hollendorfer would be able to race in New York became an issue after he was banned at Santa Anita shortly after a fourth horse he trained during the recently concluded meet at the Southern California track had to be euthanized.
A day after the Santa Anita ban was announced, NYRA issued a press release that said: “(Hollendorfer) is currently utilizing stall space at Belmont Park and was approved for stalls at Saratoga Race Course for the 2019 summer meet. NYRA will honor those agreements and he will be permitted to stable and enter horses at both Belmont and Saratoga.”
Officials at Los Alamitos, which kicked off a 10-day meet Saturday, announced shortly after the Santa Anita ban went into effect that Hollendorfer would be able to race and stable at their track. Del Mar has yet to make any public announcements regarding Hollendorfer's status for the meet there.
Hollendorfer had two starters on Saturday's card at Los Alamitos, Grecian Fire (Unusual Heat) and He Will (Cyclotron), both of which were entered in the Bertrando Stakes.
According to the DRF, at least four of the six horses Hollendorfer has based at Belmont Park were in the process of being officially transferred to his assistant, Don Chatlos Jr., who now has his own trainer's license. NYRA steward Braulio Baeza told Grening that transfer was not complete as of mid-afternoon Saturday. Some of Hollendorfer's best horses are owned by Larry Best, who has spent lavishly at the sales in recent years.
“They'll be in Don's name, he is now the trainer, he has his own insurance, everything,” Hollendorfer told Grening. “I'm going to be forced to do that because my counsel told me that he understood if we entered horses that we could enter them but they would be scratched. How they would do that I don't know. I didn't want to take a chance on Larry's horses getting to run.”
When asked by Grening if he transferred his horses voluntarily, Hollendorfer said, “No.”
As for Del Mar, which opens July 17, a spokesperson for the track said, “We have been in consultations with Jerry Hollendorfer and his attorney. We are still trying to work out an arrangement that would satisfy all parties, but we are not there yet.”
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