Hollywood Park begins its Autumn Meet on Wednesday. For the first two weeks,
the track will conduct racing Wednesdays through Sundays, then revert to a
Thursday through Sunday schedule for the remainder of the 27-day meet, which
will conclude with a special Monday program on December 19.
Hollywood Park has dropped the last four Wednesday programs of the meet due
to the cancellation of turf racing. The Southern California track was
dissatisfied with its newly installed turf course, and the 11 stakes races
scheduled for the turf course — including the six Turf Festival races held over
Thanksgiving Weekend — will not be run.
As a result, the track has reached an agreement with the Thoroughbred Owners
of California to increase overnight purses by 14 percent. Additionally, Golden
Gate Fields will be provided with $166,000 to supplement purses for
selected turf races at the Northern California track.
“The money will raise the Golden Gate purses to the level of the originally
announced Hollywood Park purses, providing Southern California horsemen the
opportunity to run for the same money up north,” Hollywood Park General Manager
Eual G. Wyatt Jr. said. “The agreement was reached in a series of meetings. Both
sides concluded this is the best solution to a set of extraordinary
circumstances.”
Shipping costs will be paid for horses that ship from Southern California to
Northern California to participate in the selected turf races.
A pair of 1 1/16-mile, $100,000 stakes races for two-year-olds have been added to
the Hollywood Park stakes schedule. The Real Quiet will be run on November 26,
and its filly counterpart, the Sharp Cat, will be decided on the following day.
The races will serve as preps for the track’s only two Grade 1 stakes — the $250,000 Hollywood Futurity on December 17 and the $250,000 Hollywood
Starlet on December 18 — which will be held on the closing weekend.
Other highlights include the $100,000 Hollywood Prevue S. (G3) on November
19, the $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood S. (G3) on December 3, the $100,000 Native
Diver H. (G3) on December 10, and the $150,000 Bayakoa H. (G2) on December 11.
Every day during the meet, Hollywood Park will offer a guaranteed Pick 4 pool
on the final four races on the card. On weekdays, the pool minimum is $150,000, and
the guarantee doubles to $300,000 on weekends.