Hollywood Park

If Hollywood is having trouble filling fields now... what does that say for California racing? I, for one, will miss Hollywood when it is gone...

Good start to the Hollywood Park fall meet. Father Grumpy was a prominent throughout winner and paid $11.20, but no luck in my suggested trifectas as it was bombs away underneath!

Since Hollywood cut the meet by almost 10 days... it would be really scary if they can't get fields to fill... Hollywood Park could be dead before it's closed.

Not sure this article is right... last we read it sounded like 2010 was a possibility... either way will be sad to see Hollywood go...

Would hate to see Hollywood go by the wayside... it's an important piece of the racing calendar...

Handle down $200m in June is a steep decline... but if you cancel 4 cards at Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park, Golden Gate... that is about $100m right there... plus run one less race a day at several tracks... and what do you expect???

This goes to show that if there is good racing, and stuff to bet on it, the players will fire through...

It's a real shame if Hollywood goes by the wayside without a fight. Hollywood is a huge asset to the industry and everyone loses if it goes away. Just consider:
- Every track and OTB loses handle and customer trips without HOL
- Every ADW is worse off
- TVG suffers without a premier track in their backyard
- Even the off-shore rebaters lose
- DRF and information providers lose
- Customers lose
- The track itself draws it's share of celebrities and exposure for racing... other than Derby probably more than the rest of racing put together.


But stay tuned. $2bn is a monumental amount to finance today. More than likely, this company is simply trying to get this passed now when the Inglewood city council is willing, but then they will take years to sell the $2bn in financing...

This is really scary. Ellis Park running less days is one thing. Same with Gulfstream and Del Mar cutting out Mondays.

But Bay Meadows closing, and now Churchill and Hollywood cutting dates... this is downright scary. Is anyone else concerned that racing is imploding?

What a huge mess this industry is in. If the major tracks like Churchill and Hollywood can't make a 5-day week work, then we've just contracted our business by 20%. This is serious. Remember, that every track is also an OTB. So this means that every track, OTB, ADW, whatever... will lose simulcasting business. It shows that this industry is all tied together.

Slots and marginal racing states are doing nothing but hurting racing. Slots tracks like Presque Isle and Indiana Downs, that don't need to exist, are doing much more damage than good. And that's not to say that Charles Town and Prairie Meadows need to exist either. All this is serving to do is damage once solid racing centers of Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and other states.

Those that have whined for slots in MD, KY and OH are nothing but greedy tracks and horsemen that want slots, too... but now it is all coming to fruition.

They found enough horses to fill eight races, and they are running during the day on Friday because of Oaks Day. And they have 4 races with more than 7 horses...wow. They have much better field sizes over the weekend.