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Hollywood Park Racetrack

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mwelch (talk | contribs) at 01:12, 28 February 2006 (→History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the town in Texas, see Hollywood Park, Texas. For the neighborhood in Chicago, see Hollywood Park, Chicago.

Hollywood Park is a thoroughbred racecourse located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and next door to The Forum.

History

The track opened in 1938 as the Hollywood Turf Club. Its original chairman was Jack Warner of Warner Brothers fame, and its original 600 shareholders included many other Hollywood luminaries. This fact served as the origin of the track's name, as the location of the track itself is actually 10 miles outside of Hollywood.

Hollywood Park closed from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, being used as a storage facility. In 1949, the original grandstand and clubhouse were destroyed by a fire; the rebuilt facility reopened in 1950. A card club casino was added to the complex in 1994. Churchill Downs Incorporated bought the track for $140 million in 1999.

In July 2005, Churchill Downs sold the track to the Bay Meadows Land Company for $260 million in cash. Under the terms of the deal, the Bay Meadows Land Company, which operates Bay Meadows Race Course in San Mateo, will continue thoroughbred racing at the track for at least three more years. According to Bay Meadows officials, the continuation of Hollywood Park as a racing venue after that depends on California allowing the addition of alternative forms of gambling, such as slot machines, to the track. (The Orange County Register, July 7, 2005)

Notable events at the track:

Physical attributes

The track has a one and one-eighth mile dirt oval. It also has a one mile turf oval. The track regularly seats 10,000 people. Racing over the turf course has been temporarily suspended for the 2005 autumn meet due to concerns over the safety of the condition of the newly replaced turf course.

Racing

These races are the graded stakes races run at Hollywood Park.(All turf stakes listed below will be put on a hiatus during the 2005 Autumn Meet):

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