r.i.p. hollywood park
 

i'll now officially withdraw my prediction that hollypark would survive until the economy improves.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,3367660.story

I don't know who I love more.

Politicians or developers.

well...we sure need more office buildings and another damn school.

but if god says holly won't remain, who's to argue?

Charlie Hayward was quoted not too long ago about how the major players in horse racing are key and vital to the overall success of the game.

Interestingly, Belmont's handle did not see a big increase last Wednesday despite these larger tracks bailing on the day. When the big guys don't run, people don't think about horse racing, they don't go to the track and bet on horse racing... it's a long, scary trickle effect.

Maybe Jess Jackson..can ride in and save the day !!!! Since he cares sooo
oooooooooooooooooooooo much about horse racing !

True, that Inglewood community is just overflowing with people who want to work and go to school.:)

Who wants to hang out in Inglewood anyways?

Nobody wanted to hang out in downtown LA either. But they built the Staples Center, the Nokia Theatre, ESPN moved there, there are restaurants, a new Marriott. To quote Field of Dreams, "if you build it, they will come."

i found Inglewood quite nice when i was down there last month. Had a lovely breakfast at the IHOP there

I used to hang out in Inglewood a fair amount.

I loved Mr. Jims BBQ.

You need no teeth to eat our beef!

A city is judged based upon the quality of its IHOP.

hence why i never go to Schroon Lake NY or Bossier City

Should let people in free (not charge $8 minimum to get in to give up %.) I don't think it's a dump, but it's pretty close to being that (close enough.)

Off topic but speaking of tracks that I've never heard anything positive about that was actually rather enjoyable- I spent last Saturday afternoon at Pimlico and quite enjoyed it. Nothing like sitting outside on a beautiful day with a nice breeze with 2000 of your closest friends.

NT

What a bummer...
 

The first track I ever went to, roughly 1956-57... I was probably 6 years old and was dragged there before dawn by a nere do well, slightly estranged grand dad.... we watched the workouts in the cool dawn. He had a stop watch, and I remember distinctly, a horse turning for home and really working and he tapped me on the shoulder and said..."watch this one... a stakes horse"

I/L

Could Santa Anita be next? Arcadia is one the countries most expensive properties

I also heard that with California in such bad shape money wise that Del Mar might be up for sale. hope its a rumor.

There's an IHOP here in Bossier City... I had the big steak omelet there on Wednesday.

i recommend avoiding the IHOP in monroe la. it's my understanding that the health dept found some significant violations.

Hmm, maybe i'll make the trip then!! We should do an announcer swap this winter, you fly to PM and call a day here, i'll go there and do the Q's!!

not a rumor, but not a done deal either. the gov recommended selling several california properties, with del mar being one of them. but del mar is a money maker, whereas some other locales may not be. i wouldn't worry about it just yet.

I also heard that there are some people trying to get S.A designated a historical landmark , I dont know if its true but it would be nice if it was.
The problem with bulldozing S.A. is that the L.A. arboretum is right across the street , that is why they say they cant build new barns because the old one's are all full of asbestos and that it would create a big mess for the enviroment. Del-Mar is in a flood plane so I dont know exactly what they think they can do with that property but who knows. I also heard that the Cali Fairs are in trouble as well , I would think the fairs would be a pretty big money generator for the state but I could be wrong.

No one here is "down" with Inglewood?? There's nothing like a cool, refreshing walk to your car in the HP parking lot on a Friday night. ;)

l.a. conservancy has been working on this ever since magna marred the facade by installing the elevator shafts to frontrunner's. they're the big green boxes you see glued to the old facade.

besides the racing history, it was an internment camp during ww2.

i know it's a laugh to folks on the east coast and even more to those in europe but out here, that's historically significant architecture.

seriously.

Being in Kentucky, I am keeping up with the "crisis" here more than anywhere else. Just to help put it into perspective for me, how does the trouble in Cali compare?

There is alot of original architecture left inside the building ......

This is too much racing, and there has been for a long time. Some tracks have to go away. Right now tracks and breeders are being subsidized to prop up this excess racing, but on any sane economic analysis, there needs to be a retrenchment.

Less racing might just mean better racing--when there was no winter racing up north, there was superior racing from a far hardier breed of animal. So, less racing could be an opportunity to improve quality all around. But given the historical record of the racing biz, they will eff this up, too.

I agree there should be less tracks and less racing but dont go out and close one of the best race tracks in the country in Hollywood park. There are plenty of tracks that are junk and should get rid of it.

Maybe it shouldn't go--but why shouldn't the market determine that?

our country's founders set up a representative government to avoid what we have here in california. we have direct democracy through the initiative process which means that idiots get to vote for whatever fantasy exists in their mind.

i'm currently circulating a petition for no taxes, free beer, and vagina trees.

everyone votes yes on things they like and no on taxes. it's an ungovernable mess.

we have a lower credit rating than louisiana which last i checked was 1/2 under water and completely corrupt.

so you tell me. how does it compare?

This really pisses me off. The fairest playing fake dirt track in the country and one of the best turf courses.

If (when) hollywood park closes will any of the other So. Cal tracks pick up the dates?

not sure how much longer Turf Paradise will last. no slots,property has alot of value and everyone hates the owner. time will tell.

I hate to see Hollywood go, but maybe this can help California racing in the long run. Instead of having NorCal and SoCal racing they could combine the two and run a circuit that consist of Santa Anita, Golden Gate, and Del Mar. It would lead to bigger fields and I would think an increase in handle. The fair circuit could still run each summer and Fairplex could become part of the NorCal fair circuit. Los Alamitos could even get in the mix by carding more Thoroughbred races to accommodate some of the lower level claiming horses that run in NorCal now.
Of course it will never happen, I'm sure getting the two circuits to work together will be next to impossible.

Not sure this would work. One thing that makes the So Cal circuit work is that the two LA tracks act as training centers for the others as each one has racing. Horses ship from Hollywood to race at SA, and vice versa. No Cal racing ain't just an hour or two down the road; it's a full day's drive. Okay for occasional races, but not on a daily basis.

I'm so old I remember when Oak Tree was brand new and was dedicated to younger horses and turf racing. Any horses who had aspirations to national championships went east after Del Mar (or even before) to run in the Woodward and JC Gold Cup, the Spinster and the Ladies H. And the only horses running at Hollywood in the fall pulled sulkies. The horses who got a late start on the year went up to Bay Meadows, until Santa Anita opened. The others got a rest. Seemed like we got some good racing out of that schedule. Sorry, old people ramble.

$2 billion renovation of Hollywood Park may add up to more racing at Santa Anita and Pomona

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_12486189

When the track is torn down, its absence will significantly alter the racing landscape in Southern California.

Hollywood Park's 100-or-so days of racing would be split up between Fairplex in Pomona, Santa Anita in Arcadia and Del Mar in San Diego, officials said.

About 1,500 horses stabled in Inglewood would be moved to barns in Pomona and San Luis Rey Downs near Bonsall in San Diego County.

"It would change the racing calendar in Southern California," said Ron Charles, the president of Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. "More than likely, that change would allow Santa Anita and Del Mar to have more racing dates. The Santa Anita meet would go longer and later in the year, Del Mar would add some dates in the summer. There's a possibility that there might be a short fall meet in Del Mar and another short meet at Fairplex before the Santa Anita annual opening."

This whole thing will be a huge logistical nightmare for horsemen. Right now there are about 1,500 horses stabled at Santa Anita and 1,500 stabled at Hollywood Park. If they close HP, where are those 1500 horses going to go? Right now, most trainers with decent sized barns have horses at both tracks. HP and SA are only about 30 miles apart so it's not that big of a deal. Many trainers switch off every other day. They will go to HP one day and SA the next.

If HP closes, guys are going to have to keep some horses at either Pomona or San Luis Rey. SLR is over 100 miles away. Pomona is only about 20-25 miles from SA but Pomona is only a 6 furlong track. I don't think too many guys are going to be comfortable training a good horse on that track. Not only that, I don't think they have enough stalls at Pomona. I don't think they have more than 600 stalls or so but they do have plenty of room out there. They could probably add more stalls.

Thanks Steve for the info.

I hope fairplex re-innovates its track to suit a mile oval and a turf course because Pomona racing isnt really enticing to me otherwise.