Let's Go To The Races: 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.

The Auld Lang Syne, a $25,000 starter allowance race (VIDEO) with a $57,750 purse, rang out an 11-race card Sunday, the last live racing to be held at the landmark site that hosted 75 years of memorable competition. A crowd of 13,283 was on hand at Hollywood Park for the last time.

Terlingua at Hollywood Park
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

Trumpeter Jay Cohen brought out the post parade with a medley of "Auld Lang Syne" and "Hooray for Hollywood."

And almost predictably, the 1 1/16-mile turf event required a final photo to determine that Woodmans Luck nosed out Depreciable in a spine-tingling finish.

As the horses thundered past the finish line, race caller Vic Stauffer told the crowd, "A photo finish. Seventy-five years came down to a camera close-up." Then he added, "Seventy-five years at Hollywood Park. That's a wrap!" Read more at source

Say Goodbye to Hollywood - Slideshow
Hollywood Park, which opened in 1938, will host its final live racing card on Sunday. After 75 years of hosting Thoroughbred racing, the 240-acre, Inglewood, Calif. Facility will close for good after this weekend’s action and construction is scheduled to take place early in 2014 that would transform the racetrack into housing, retail and entertainment facilities and park land.

Hollywood hosted the first Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 1984 and served as a stage for some of the sports finest equine athletes, including Citation, Seabiscuit, Affirmed, and Zenyatta.

Don Ameche, Hedy Lamar, James Stewart at HP
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

Eclipse Sportswire is on hand to capture some lasting images of the historic track that very soon will be no more. Enjoy this slideshow courtesy of Eclipse and “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” along with America’s Best Racing. Read more at source

Hollywood Park closes for good
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Fans crowded into Betfair Hollywood Park for the last time Sunday.
The track closed for good after the day's 11 races, ending 75 years of racing that featured such thoroughbred stars as Seabiscuit, Triple Crown winners Citation, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, and Zenyatta. The first Breeders' Cup in 1984 was run here. The track will be turned into a residential and retail development starting next year.

For its last day, though, the track came alive again, with jammed parking lots, lines at the betting windows, and fans and employees swapping stories about the Track of the Lakes and Flowers. Paid attendance exceeded 13,000 -- more than double that of a typical weekend -- and after 2 p.m. the gates were opened to everyone to alleviate congestion, a track spokesman said.

It was the largest crowd since 25,837 attended Zenyatta's last race in California on Oct. 2, 2010.

California Chrome, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Victor Espinoza and trained by Art Sherman, won the final stakes race, the $200,000 King Glorious for 2-year-olds by 6 1/4 lengths. Read more at source

Inglewood’s landmark Hollywood Park racetrack closes after 75 years
Rudy Carreon was just 17 when a Huntington Park neighbor first brought him to Hollywood Park in 1938, the debut season for the venerable South Bay landmark.

And 75 years later, the 92-year-old Marina del Rey resident was there Sunday, too, for the last-ever day of racing with his daughter, Diana, and her friends at the iconic, but crumbling edifice.
A hastily scribbled sign dangling from the box on the second level of the grandstand read simply: “Rudy, 75 years at HP, #1 fan.”

Carreon saw thoroughbreds from Affirmed to Zenyatta race at the track. Read more at source

Round Table, the Shoe up, romps in Cinema Handicap at HP
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

Flamingos evade effort to remove them from Hollywood Park
The birds thwart multiple capture attempts, and will likely be the last to leave the closing Betfair Hollywood Park racetrack. A pair of flamingos might be the last to leave Betfair Hollywood Park when the Inglewood racetrack finally closes Sunday.

The bright pink birds were supposed to make the move to Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero, Calif., last week with 10 other flamingos that lived in the infield lake at the 75-year-old track.

But when a crew from Los Angeles Zoo arrived to capture them, five stealthy birds were able to flee through a hole in the mesh trap. Read more at source

Farewell, Hollywood Park! A look back at the historic track in archival photos (slideshow). Source Also includes a podcast with Steve Andersen, Southern California correspondent for Daily Racing Form, and Bill Dwyre, columnist for the L.A. Times

Hollywood Park: Bugler Jay Cohen, looks back 25 years of calling the races

Swaps 1955 at HP
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

The "Call to the Post" is the eight-second song that starts every horse race. Jay Cohen says he's played it more than 87,000 times.

For 25 years, Cohen, 57, has performed the call to the post at race tracks all over Southern California: Santa Anita, Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park. For Cohen, it's an opportunity to people watch.

"When I walk on the track, it's very interesting, because then, I watch the people walking towards the tunnel cause they want to watch the horses come out," Cohen said. Read more at source

Hollywood Park runs its last race
Betfair Hollywood Park closes for good
Fans waited in a long line to get into Betfair Hollywood Park for the last time.

The track, in Inglewood, Calif., closed for good Sunday, ending 75 years of racing that featured such thoroughbred stars as Seabiscuit, Triple Crown winners Citation, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, and superstar mare Zenyatta. The first Breeders’ Cup in 1984 was run there. The track will be turned into a residential and retail development starting next year.

For its last day, though, the track came alive again, with jammed parking lots, lines at the betting windows, and fans and employees swapping stories about the Track of the Lakes and Flowers. Read more at source

Hollywood closes its doors on 75 years of history

Woodmans Luck, who has suffered some narrow losses in his career, got up in time in a poignant Hollywood ending (Benoit Photos)

What Valley Lass started on June 10, 1938, was finished Sunday by Woodmans Luck when Hollywood Park wrapped 75 years of history with the conclusion of the 2013 autumn meet.

A two-year-old California-bred filly, Valley Lass was the first horse to win a race at Hollywood Park more than 75 1/2 years ago. Woodmans Luck, a five-year-old Lucky Pulpit gelding also bred in the state, was the last winner in the illustrious history of the legendary track, edging Depreciable by a nose after a thrilling stretch run put a cap to Sunday's farewell 11-race program. Read more at source

Photos - Through the years at Hollywood Park 1930s - 1990s

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — “And now, ladies and gentlemen, Hollywood Park belongs to you,” the race caller, Joe Hernandez, said over the public-address system on June 10, 1938. Among the 40,000 people who came for opening day at Southern California’s newest racetrack were the era’s biggest film stars, including Al Jolson, Joan Crawford, Milton Berle, Claudette Colbert, Bob Hope and Barbara Stanwyck. Read more at source

Hollywood Park Workers Look Back at History

Affirmed loved Hollywood Park
Courtesy Abigail Anderson

On the third floor of the Hollywood Park track, under two grand paintings of horse racing scenes, Nola Ferraro sets up bar. With bouncy blond hair and a warm, red-lipsticked smile, she wears her 61 years well. She hauls heavy boxes of booze out of the stockroom, and quickly places pint glasses upside-down below the counter. "I was the first woman bartender at a Southern California racetrack," she says, raising her eyebrows. "I fought coming here for years. I thought race-trackers were lowlifes." Read more at source

Hollywood Park is shutting down...will horseracing be next?
Read in-depth article

This is a comprehensive article...very interesting and informative. In spite of the convenience of having a nice target in the "developers", it really comes down to something Pogo said eons ago: "We have done met da enemy, and it's us!" Racing has shot itself in the foot, many times over...the big bad developers are just the latest in a long line of what has become an evolutionary process that is wringing the heart out of the sport. Yet, elsewhere in the world, the sport is thriving! 124,000 people watched Orfevre win his last race on Sunday, in Japan! Everywhere you look in North America, all we see is the "doom and gloom" -- Woodbine and other tracks in Canada have been on the verge of oblivian for a couple of years. Yet we see huge crowds in Australia, France, UK, Ireland, and the sport is emerging in China as we speak. While the developers don't get any sympathy from me, they are hardly the cause, merely a symptom and the result of the sport's myopic view that it exists in a vacuum and can set the rules. The sport has down-spiraled and the end doesn't seem to be in sight (or perhaps it is in sight, we just refuse to see it). There probably are as many reasons for the sport's demise in the U.S. as there are "stars" in Hollywood, but I can't help but lay part of it at the feet of those so-called horsemen who think that the U.S. somehow has a corner on what is "good" for the sport with their refusal to get their house in order with the rest of the world insofar as raceday drugs are concerned. ~Deltalady

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