Hollendorfer Update: Horses Back Under His Name 'Next Week'

In a brief call with the TDN Sunday morning, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer explained that the horses “we enter next week” at Del Mar will once again run under his name.

This follows a judicial ruling Friday in the San Diego County Superior Court, granting Hollendorfer and co-plaintiffs the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) a preliminary injunction on the action taken by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, barring the trainer from stabling and entering horses under his name at the facility. Del Mar took the action after The Stronach Group (TSG) ordered Hollendorfer to remove his horses from Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields after American Currency became the sixth Hollendorfer-trained horse fatally injured at both facilities during a six-month period.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) subsequently appeared to bar Hollendorfer from running horses at their facilities under his name, but opened its doors to his assistant, Don Chatlos, now training owner Larry Best's horses in New York. Dan Ward assumed the role of trainer for his Southern California string at Del Mar. Nevertheless, no formal regulatory ruling has been metered out to Hollendorfer in California and New York.

By Hollendorfer's own estimates, his stable has shrunk by half through a variety of ways, including owners removing their horses and through the sale of those he himself owned. Hollendorfer's reinstatement at Del Mar might have stemmed the leak, but “the owners that I have lost have not come back,” he said.

“You can't take 10 horses and transfer them to a trainer for two weeks or three weeks and then go to the guy and say, 'Well, I'm giving them back to Hollendorfer.' That's not the way it works,” he explained. “Although they might not have actually wanted to do what they did, it would be hard for them to reverse their decision once they made it. If they would have stuck it out, they probably would have been okay, no matter what, but they didn't, and that was their decision.”

Far from being a settled issue, Del Mar could yet take the matter into arbitration. Hollendorfer said that Del Mar hasn't indicated to him its plans.

“I think that's something the Del Mar Turf Club would have to decide–that's up to them,” he said.

According to attorney Darrell Vienna, representing the CTT, Del Mar's legal representative, Chris Jaczko, raised in the court room Friday the issue of arbitration.

“But my guess is, it wouldn't take place before the meeting had ended anyway, so it may not be something that comes to fruition,” said Vienna, adding, “I'm hoping that it sets the groundwork for a settlement of these issues. Arbitration is when you can't decide between yourselves.”

The issue of arbitration isn't the only hanging question mark. The CTT has filed two separate complaints with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), said Vienna, one July 12 concerning the actions taken by Del Mar against Hollendorfer, and the other July 24 concerning The Stronach Group's (TSG) actions.

According to Vienna, he has yet to respond to an email from the CHRB sent Friday, after the judge's ruling, about the complaints.

“And their response didn't indicate that they had gone forth with the complaints at any point, even though it required an immediate action,” Vienna added.

The legal specifics of the complaint lodged with the CHRB concerning TSG's actions is slightly different to that concerning Del Mar, with TSG-related complaint focused around the issue of “breach of contract,” Vienna explained. “I've seen in the media lots of discussion about private property rights, but you can contract around private property rights.”

Nevertheless, Vienna said that he hopes Friday's ruling, in which the judge “basically found that the CTT and Mr. Hollendorfer would [likely] prevail in a full trial on merit,” will bring about broader resolution.

“I'm hoping now, given that, there's some impetus for Santa Anita, The Stronach Group, to think about these things a little more differently, and hopefully come to some mutually acceptable agreement, short of involvement of the CHRB or the courts.”

According to Vienna, he wrote a letter July 24 to TSG chief operating officer, Tim Ritvo, in which he gave TSG 48 hours to reach a settlement with Hollendorfer and the CTT.

“This is after everybody else has attempted it, now I'm involved. We really would like to settle this, but we're not going to let it drag on,” he said.

On Friday after the hearing, Hollendorfer's attorney Drew Cuoto, explained that TSG has communicated with Hollendorfer about the possibility of the trainer and TSG chairman and president Belinda Stronach meeting to discuss the situation.

“They want Jerry to go into a meeting alone with several TSG representatives without his council present, him against however many they choose to put into a room and we frankly don't think that's an appropriate way to handle it,” said Cuoto.

TDN reached out to TSG, Del Mar and the CHRB for further clarification on some of these issues, but didn't receive a direct response to the questions raised.