Bel Air Handicap Explained

The Bel Air Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race run in mid July at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. Open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt at a distance of a mile and a sixteenth. In its final year it was a Grade III event https://web.archive.org/web/20110610211219/http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa113001a.htm offering a purse of U.S$.$100,000.

First run in 1939, the Bel Air Handicap was not run again until 1968. From 1980 through 1982 there was no race run.

In 1997, winner Crafty Friend equaled the Hollywood Park track record for a mile and a sixteenth with a time of 1:40 flat.

Winners

border="1" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size:90%"
Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
2001Smile Again6 Laffit Pincay, Jr.Ron McAnallySidney & Jenny Craig1:41.74
2000Euchre4Alex SolisRobert J. FrankelFrank Stronach1:41.76
1999River Keen7Chris AntleyBob BaffertHugo Reynolds1:40.69
1998Free House4Chris McCarronToffan & McCaffery1:41.60
1997Crafty Friend4Alex SolisThe Thoroughbred Corp.1:40.00
1996Cleante7Chris McCarronRon McAnallyJanis R. Whithamnf
1995Soul of the Matter4Gary StevensRichard MandellaBurt Bacharach1:41.00

Earlier winners

References