Meet Ends on Down Note

The difference between the Rene Douglas riding in California in 1996 and the Rene Douglas now is more than just eight years.

“I’m the same guy,” Douglas said, “only I’m more serious and more focused.”

Without winning a stakes race, the 37-year-old Douglas won 37 races in 36 days to lead the standings at the Hollywood Park meet that ended Monday. Tyler Baze finished second with 35 wins as neither he nor Douglas won a race on closing day.

Douglas is a friend and neighbor of fellow Panamanian Laffit Pincay, who retired in 2003 with a record 9,530 wins, and is working with Pincay’s longtime agent, Bob Meldahl. After winning four consecutive titles at Arlington Park, Douglas returned to California this fall. At his first meet back, the Oak Tree stand at Santa Anita, Douglas won 18 races and finished three behind the leader, Corey Nakatani.

Douglas, whose mounts have earned more than $8 million this year, has won 234 races to boost his total to 2,987, including a win in the 1996 Belmont Stakes aboard Editor’s Note. He’s expected to reach 3,000 at the Santa Anita meet that opens Sunday.

Trainer Doug O’Neill saddled 17 winners to lock up the title, capping a consistent year. He finished second to Jeff Mullins at Santa Anita and the Hollywood Park spring-summer meet. Then O’Neill won the Del Mar title, beating Mullins by four, and finished first at Fairplex Park. O’Neill’s previous fall title at Hollywood came in 2002, and he won the spring-summer championship there in 2003.

Hollywood’s final stakes race, the $150,000 Dahlia Handicap, turned into less than Grade III-caliber with the scratches of Katdogwan, last year’s winner, and Belleski, the 9-5 morning-line favorite. Run on dirt because jockeys had safety concerns about the turf course, the Dahlia went to Festival, who outran four rivals to win by six lengths. Festival, a Japanese-bred mare, was ridden by Danny Sorenson as she made her second U.S. start for trainer Paddy Gallagher.

Average on-track attendance at Hollywood was 6,216, a drop of 4.6% from last year. The overall daily handle, $8.94 million, reflected a decline of less than 1%, and on-track betting, averaging $1.3 million, was down 2%.

“While we are generally pleased, we continue to see erosion of the fan base,” said Rick Baedeker, Hollywood Park’s president. “There is no question, the competition from the $8-billion Indian gaming industry continues to take its toll, and we’re doing our best to work with the governor and the Legislature to protect the future of the industry in California.”

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Santa Anita Meet

* Dates: 85 days, Sunday through April 18.

* Location: Santa Anita Park, 285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia.

* Race days: Wednesday through Sunday, plus Dec. 27, Jan. 17, Feb. 21, April 18.

* First post: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 1 p.m., except April 8 and 15, 3 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 12:30 p.m., except Sunday, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 and 21, March 5 and April 9, noon; and Feb. 6, 11 a.m.