He's not horsing around; R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood Park's new chief, is striving to get it back on track.

In Chairman R.D. Hubbard's office at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, there are a lot of women around, and just outside, there are a lot of horses.

It's not even 9 a.m. on a Friday and the workday is barely an hour old for Hubbard, who's taken a half dozen calls from people wanting to discuss

In his outer office, Hubbard's 24-hour-a-day personal assistant (a thirtyish woman who lives and travels with Hubbard and his wife in his private jet) is fielding many other calls, only a few of which actually get through.

On this day, Hubbard has "three or four major meetings scheduled and I want to try to do some Christmas shopping." Then maybe there will be time for a scotch or two, and maybe a round of golf if there is any daylight left.

But Hubbard is probably one of those people who basically works all the time, no matter what he's doing: Figuring and thinking, and talking to what he says are the most important people in the world -- his paying customers.

Hubbard has been around for awhile, accumulating a personal fortune believed to be at least $100 million. But it was not until 1991 that many people in Southern California first heard of him.

All of a sudden, his name appeared in the local headlines because he was trying to do what many thought was impossible: take away control of the venerable Hollywood Park race track from former board chairwoman Marjorie Everett. Some thought Hubbard was crazy -- attendance was falling at the 53-year-old park, fan support for horse racing was declining, the facility had lost some of its Hollywood glitter, and then there was the recession.

But after a nasty, name-calling proxy fight, Hubbard succeeded and in the process gained a reputation as a no-holds-barred takeover artist and vengeful wildcatter.

The battle began in 1990 when Hubbard's request for a seat on the board of directors was turned down by Everett. But a relentless Hubbard fought back and last February the board dismissed Everett and installed Hubbard.

The bitter feelings linger between Everett, who controlled the park for 18 years, and Hubbard. The two will probably never be invited to the same party.

Since he became chief executive officer of the park and chairman of Hollywood Park Inc., he has spent about $18 million sprucing up the place, and recently was trying to avert his first major crisis -- a possible strike by jockeys. Hubbard claims to have reversed the downward trend in attendance, with the daily gate last summer up 11 percent to more than 20,000 horse players. (Year-end results were unavailable, but in 1990 the company had revenues of $61.6 million compared to $71.4 million in 1989, and a loss of $3.2 million compared to $10.9 million in 1989.)