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34-593: Before 2014, the race was called the Swaps Stakes and was run at Hollywood Park Racetrack before its closure in 2013. At that point, it moved to Los Alamitos. Prior to 1973 Hollywood Park's stakes schedule included the Hollywood Derby (prior to 1959 named the Westerner), a 1 1 ⁄ 4 mile stakes run on dirt which tended to attract top 3 year olds. Horses such as Round Table , Bold Reason , and Riva Ridge won

68-601: A jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Most wins by an owner: Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California , about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the racetrack complex. Horse racing and training were shut down in December 2013 though

102-596: A 1 1 ⁄ 2 mile turf stakes through 1975, after which it was moved to earlier in the meeting to serve as a Kentucky Derby prep race at 1 1 ⁄ 8 miles on dirt. This prep would serve Affirmed well in 1978 as he would win the Hollywood Derby en route to becoming the 11th Triple Crown champion. The Hollywood Derby became a permanent turf stakes in 1981, contested first at the Hollywood Park Fall Meet, then moving to Del Mar racetrack in 2014 after

136-426: A 60-acre (24 ha) parcel of land adjacent to the track property and The Forum with the intentions of building a National Football League stadium on the land. Kroenke's 60 acres (24 ha) was not big enough for an NFL stadium and parking, but his announced partnership for the neighboring track land with Stockbridge Capital Group, would fold the stadium into the larger office/retail/residential project planned for

170-463: A comfortable and relaxing environment in which to gamble. Froehlich noted that a good racetrack design has to be "as efficient as a bank, as careful in its community relations as a department store and as comfortable as a public park." The output of Froehlich's firm ranged from the mundane (a parking structure at UCLA), to the fantastic: the animation studio for Hanna-Barbera in Hollywood. In between,

204-476: A historic agreement March 13, 2012 intended to transform the customer experience for fans at the venue as well as online and on television. Under terms of the five-year deal, Hollywood Park was renamed "Betfair Hollywood Park" in what was the first naming rights agreement for a horse racing venue in the United States. On May 9, 2013, in a letter to employees, Hollywood Park president F. Jack Liebau announced that

238-467: A resolution supporting a plan to build a $ 200 million, 65,000-seat, privately financed stadium on property owned by Hollywood Park for the Los Angeles Raiders . The deal was put together by Hubbard who envisioned a sports complex with the new stadium and the racetrack together. Raiders owner Al Davis later balked and refused the deal over a stipulation that he would have to accept a second team at

272-700: The National Football League (NFL), YouTube Theater , a 6,000-seat performance arts venue, Hollywood Park Casino, and the NFL Los Angeles building, which is home to the NFL Network , NFL RedZone , NFL.com , and the NFL app . The track was opened on June 10, 1938, by the Hollywood Turf Club the racetrack was designed by noted racetrack architect Arthur Froehlich . Its chairman was Jack L. Warner of

306-477: The Warner Bros. film studio. Prominent shareholders included Jack Warner's brother and fellow Warner Bros. executive Harry , Hollywood studio executives Walt Disney , Samuel Goldwyn , Darryl Zanuck , actors Al Jolson , Bing Crosby , Joan Blondell , George Jessel , Ronald Colman and Ralph Bellamy . In addition to being shareholders film directors Raoul Walsh and Mervyn LeRoy were also founding members of

340-470: The 2005 Autumn Meet.) Grade 1 : Grade 2 : Grade 3 : Ungraded stakes : Arthur Froehlich Arthur Froehlich (May 17, 1909 – October 3, 1985), was an American architect in Beverly Hills , California . His firm, Arthur Froehlich & Associates, is known for their mid-century commercial building designs, and thoroughbred horse racetracks . Froehlich

374-520: The Hollywood Derby after competing in the U.S. Triple Crown . When the Hollywood Derby changed to 1 1 ⁄ 2 miles on the turf in 1973, there was no 1 1 ⁄ 4 mile dirt race to attract top 3 year olds from the Triple Crown series. Management decided to add the Swaps Stakes, named in honor of the notable California -bred 1955 Kentucky Derby winner Swaps , to the 1974 July stakes schedule to fill that void. To lure top 3 year olds to enter

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408-877: The Jack Rose Building in Ventura, California , the Center 3 Theater in San Diego, California , and the Wagon Wheel Bowling Alley in Wagon Wheel Junction , Oxnard, California. One of his most lavish designs was for Hipódromo Nacional at Caracas, Venezuela (A.K.A. La Rinconada Hippodrome ) in 1959. Sports Illustrated wrote that year that his creations were as "bright and gay as a state fair." The magazine described them as colorful, spacious, and glamorous. The tracks were filled with art and lush landscaping and provided

442-501: The Swaps Stakes, at base a $ 100,000 added event, provisions were included to increase the purse substantially if one or more Triple Crown race winners participated. This came into play the following year when Belmont Stakes winner Avatar entered which triggered an increase of added purse money to $ 200,000. In 1977 a $ 300,000 purse attracted Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew , who suffered the first loss of his career when he ran fourth to winner J O Tobin . The Hollywood Derby continued as

476-484: The West Coast’s largest and most popular racetracks." Thoroughbred racing took place until July (post time 2 p.m, Wednesday through Sunday), harness racing began in late August. In 1984, the racetrack was extended from one mile (1.6 km) around to 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles (1.8 km) around prior to the first Breeders’ Cup race. By the late 1980s the racetrack Hollywood Park, though frequented by celebrities,

510-551: The casino operations continued until a new state of the art casino building, the new Hollywood Park Casino , opened in October 2016. The track was demolished in stages from 2014 until 2016 and the area is now the site of a master-planned neighborhood in development named Hollywood Park after the former track. The most prominent parts of the development are SoFi Stadium , home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of

544-485: The casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment in 1998. Hollywood Park was purchased by Churchill Downs Incorporated on September 10, 1999 for $ 140 million. Churchill Downs acquired Hollywood Park-Casino in the process, which was in turn leased by Hollywood Park Inc. (later named Pinnacle Entertainment ). The previous owners of the track renamed their company Pinnacle Entertainment to concentrate on its gambling interests. In July 2005, Churchill Downs Incorporated sold

578-470: The casino would be renovated. On December 22, 2013, at 6:11pm the final race was run with Woodsman Luck taking first place, Depreciable in second place and Danderek in third place, concluding 75 years of near-continuous racing in Southern California . The complex was demolished in 2014 to make way for a new residential complex. In 2014, Stan Kroenke , owner of the NFL's St. Louis Rams , purchased

612-437: The closing of Hollywood Park. Although the inaugural running of the Swaps Stakes was ungraded, it would be contested as a Grade I event from 1975 through 1988. The race was downgraded to a Grade II event in 1989. It regained Grade I in 1999, but this was short-lived as it became a Grade II again in 2002. In 2017, the race was downgraded once more to a Grade III level. Downgraded to Listed in 2022. Speed record: Most wins by

646-577: The company's stock in late 1990. He was assisted in the ouster of Marje Everett by company shareholder Tom Gamel and sports businessman Harry Ornest . In 1991, $ 20 million was spent improving the racetrack. That year the park earned its first profit in five years, and despite rioting in nearby Los Angeles in 1992 , annual profits that year increased to $ 5.4 million. By 1993, the Los Angeles Times wrote that "shareholders at Hollywood Park... are enjoying substantial investment gains." A card club casino

680-539: The conclusion of Hollywood's spring-summer meet in 2006, it was announced that a second chute would be built inside the turf course to accommodate sprint races at six furlongs. This followed a similar move by Monmouth Park to build a turf chute for sprint races. In 2010, Hollywood Park played host for the first time to Oak Tree. The Hollywood Park Racing Association and Betfair US, the Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Betfair that also owns TVG Network , completed

714-607: The existing dirt, making Hollywood Park the first track in California to meet the California Horse Racing Board's guideline that all tracks in the state replace dirt surfaces with a safer artificial surface by the end of 2007. These races were the graded stakes races run at Hollywood Park. Most of the races were moved to Santa Anita Park , Los Alamitos Race Course , and Del Mar Racetrack after Hollywood Park closed. (All turf stakes listed below were put on hiatus during

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748-399: The grandstand and clubhouse were destroyed by fire. The rebuilt facility reopened in 1950. Both Thoroughbred racing and harness racing took place at the venue. Marje Everett, who sold Arlington Park to Gulf & Western in 1968, became part-owner of Hollywood Park. Everett became director in 1972 and CEO in 1985. Circa 1979, the Los Angeles Times said Hollywood Park was "one of

782-487: The new development or in a new location. Several 13-foot (4.0 m) ficus trees were saved from the former track property and re-planted within the new development around SoFi Stadium. The track had a 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 -mile (1.8 km) dirt oval, plus a 1-mile 145 foot (1.654 km) turf oval. The track regularly seated 10,000 people. A new Cushion Track racing surface was installed in September, 2006 to replace

816-418: The new stadium and redevelopment of the former track site began in earnest. The graves of horses buried at the track such as Native Diver , Landaluce , and Great Communicator and their monuments were moved to other tracks in the area or to the horses' breeding grounds. The statue of Swaps and Bill Shoemaker that stood at the clubhouse entrance gardens was placed into storage and will be placed either at

850-759: The stadium. After the deal fell through the Raiders returned to Oakland, California . While the stadium plan was never realized, the site became a focus of plans by the National Football League to bring the league back to the Los Angeles Area. Hollywood Park Inc. suffered losses in 1995, though at the end of 1996, Hollywood Park bought Boomtown, Inc. for $ 188 million. Boomtown was headquartered in Reno , Nevada, and operated and owned casinos in several other cities such as Las Vegas and New Orleans . Boomtown merged with

884-508: The track site by master planner Hart Howerton. On February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved a plan to build a 70,000-seat football stadium on the site in anticipation of the St. Louis Rams moving back to Los Angeles (which was the team's previous home from 1946 until 1994). On May 31, 2015, with Inglewood mayor James T. Butts Jr. on hand sporting a Rams cap, the grandstand

918-587: The track to the Bay Meadows Land Company which was owned by Stockbridge Capital Group for $ 260 million in cash. Under the terms of the deal, the company, which at the time also operated Bay Meadows in San Mateo , was to continue thoroughbred racing at Hollywood Park for at least three years. According to Bay Meadows officials, the continuation of Hollywood Park as a racing venue after that depended on California allowing more gambling, like slot machines, to

952-473: The track would be closing at the end of their fall racing season in 2013. In the letter, Liebau stated that the 260 acres (110 ha) on which the track sits "now simply has a higher and better use", and that "in the absence of a favorable change in racing's business model, the ultimate development of the Hollywood property was inevitable". It was expected that the track would be demolished and replaced by housing units, park land and an entertainment complex, while

986-590: The track's Board of Directors with Jack and Harry Warner and Al Jolson. Hollywood Park closed from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II , where it was used as a storage facility for North American Aviation . In 1944, the California Horse Racing Board permitted Hollywood Park to hold a new charitable season. The board approved an “extensive war relief program” for both 1944 and 1945 and Hollywood Park raised more than $ 1 million for charities and schools. In 1949, shortly after $ 1 million in upgrades were made,

1020-605: The track. Some of the Hollywood Park land was sold to real estate developers to build a new housing community called the Inglewood Renaissance. Development began in 2005. New grass was planted on the turf course after Hollywood Park's spring-summer meet in 2005. Due to safety concerns, however, turf racing was not conducted for that year's autumn meet. As a result, several major stakes races that comprised Hollywood's Autumn Turf Festival were cancelled that year. After

1054-523: Was added to the complex in 1994, as Hollywood Park underwent a $ 100 million expansion into Hollywood Park Casino, which opened in the summer of 1994. Also in 1994, Hollywood Park Inc. purchased the Arizona -based Turf Paradise Race Track for $ 34 million in stock. In May 1995 after the departure of the Rams for St. Louis , the owners of the National Football League teams approved with a 27–1 vote with two abstentions,

Los Alamitos Derby - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-1111: Was born in Los Angeles to a cattle and dairy farmer. He attended Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles and studied at UCLA. One of his first jobs was drafting plans for Santa Anita racetrack , which opened in 1934. He began his own firm in 1938, and became well known for his design of Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. Froehlich's firm designed Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California; Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky; and Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park , both in New York. He also designed tracks in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Panama, France and Trinidad. His firm also designed Roosevelt Raceway in Roosevelt Field, New York , Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, New Jersey ,

1122-450: Was near the point of bankruptcy. In 1989, a group of investors was working to buy Los Alamitos Racetrack in California for $ 68 million. Los Alamitos, owned by Hollywood Park, was still under its original ownership as of 1991, though a significant portion of the stock had been bought by external investors. RD Hubbard became CEO of Hollywood Park in April 1991, after having purchased a portion of

1156-524: Was reduced to rubble in a flurry of timed explosions. On January 12, 2016, the NFL voted to move the Rams back to Los Angeles by a vote of 30–2, a move of the Chargers would soon follow next year after a failed attempt at getting a new stadium built in downtown San Diego. In October 2016, the last part of the former track, the Casino, was demolished and a new Hollywood Park Casino was opened next door. Construction of

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