2009 - What a Racing Year

2009 - SPECTACULAR YEAR OF RACING

2009 was one of the wildest racing years, with a Kentucky Derby won by the second longest shot in history with Mine That Bird, to a filly, Rachel Alexandra, winning the Preakness, and another Birdstone win with Summer Bird in the Belmont.  It wasn't over yet, with the super filly Zenyatta, taking it to the boys in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic.  The sub-plots, the literally hundreds of small dramas, just an amazing year all the way around!




Overhead Analysis


Preakness

GOODBYE TO HOLLYWOOD PARK

SEABISCUIT'S TRACK RAN ITS LAST RACE ON

Hollywood Park
Program 1956
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

SUNDAY.
The track that opened in 1938 that saw Seabiscuit win the first Hollywood Gold Cup, and saw LAVA MAN and NATIVE DIVER each win it 3 times. The list of famous horses to win at Hollywood Park are a Who's Who of horseracing: Affirmed, Round Table, Gallant Man, Cigar, Skip Away, John Henry, Noor. John Henry won the Hollywood Invitational 3 times.

Trivia question for the future: the last horse to win at the storied 75-year old Hollywood Park? Woodman's Luck nosed out Depreciable in a "spine-tingling" photo finish in Race 11! And, the last jockey? Why Lava Man's pilot, Corey Nakatani rode the winner! ~Deltalady

Losing the land of Lakes and Flowers - Julie June Stewart
Hollywood Park closed its doors in December 2013 and blogger Julie June Stewart was there to say farewell to the track during its final weekend.

Excerpt: Vic Stauffer gave a call for the history books honoring the great legends of Hollywood Park. The crowd strained to hear every word of his call. “As they turn past the barns for the final time, stables that have housed racing immortals like Seabiscuit, Citation, Swaps and Native Dancer, Affirmed, John Henry, Lava Man and Zenyatta.” Suddenly you could hear the horses coming and the crowd cheered loudly. Stauffer’s voice continued as he bravely pushed on through emotion and said, “They turn into the final stretch past the lakes and flowers! From 1938 to 2013; a final eighth of a mile; 75 years down to 12 seconds. A photo finish! Seventy-five great years at Hollywood Park and that’s a wrap.” 

Goodbye forever Hollywood Park and Thanks for the Goose Girls

 Hollywood Park makes plans for auction, moving horse graves
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Betfair Hollywood Park will be dismantled rapidly after the final day of racing in track history on Dec.  22.

Hollywood Park president Jack Liebau said earlier this week that the track is making plans to hold a general auction of its holdings in January; that some basic equipment will be moved to Los Alamitos, which will host five weeks of Thoroughbred racing for the first time in 2014; and that arrangements have been made to move the graves of the prominent racehorses Landaluce and Native Diver who are buried on the property. The remains of Great Communicator, the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, also will be relocated, but a site has not been determined.  Read more at source

Hollywood Park 1956
Courtesy of Abigail Anderson

Final Stretch: The last days of Hollywood Park
After 75 years of thoroughbred racing, Betfair Hollywood Park closed for good on Sunday. Photo gallery and more at source

12 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Late Great Hollywood Park Racetrack
Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood closed Sunday after 75 years in service. The once grand venue will be demolished and replaced with 3,000 homes and a shopping center. Here are a dozen things you probably didn’t know about the late great track:

• All the proceeds from one race day were donated to the Inglewood YMCA to construct a new building in 1945.

• The clubhouse pavilion is named after longtime patron Cary Grant.  Read more at source

Program 1940
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

AP PHOTOS: Betfair Hollywood Park is closing

After 75 years of thoroughbred racing, Betfair Hollywood Park is closing for good.

The 260-acre track in Inglewood, Calif., that hosted Seabiscuit and the first Breeders' Cup in 1984, will be turned into a housing and retail development starting next year.

 

It's the second major California racetrack to close since 2008, when Bay Meadows near San Francisco was shuttered after 74 years to make way for a similar development.  More photos - read more at source

Hollywood Park's Finale: That's a Wrap!
Echoing crowds of yesteryear and making one last memory, fans flocked into Betfair Hollywood Park for a final time Dec. 22. They were there until the lights went out on the Track of Lakes and Flowers, bringing to an end a golden era of Los Angeles racing.

Located in the city of Inglewood near Los Angeles International Airport, the 238-acre property that opened for racing June 10, 1938, is slated for redevelopment into a shopping center, hotel, and homes.