Once Hollywood Park was sold by Churchill to Bay Meadows Development Corporation there were serious questions about how committed the new owners were to racing.

Racing dates are not owned by the tracks. They are assigned by the state. Hollywood Park's dates are desired by Magna (who owns Santa Anita), the Los Angeles County Racing Association (who runs the Fairplex meet at Pomona and wants to expand that track if HP closes), and a private group that wants to expand Los Alimito's racetrack south of Los Angeles to accomadate more t-bred racing (also if HP closes).

The current owners of HP saw that the state would likely mandate synthetic surfaces. They were the first in line for a synthetic surface because they could see the writing on the wall. Unless they wanted to risk losing racing dates to a potential competitor, they would need to show their committment to racing by installing the synthetic surface.

The good news (at least if you want to see racing continue at HP) is that Bay Meadows Developement is commited enough to continued racing to make the investment.