JC / Railbird

No Nostalgia … No Consideration

More reaction to the Hollywood Park sale …
Inglewood city leaders are looking to the future, and they don’t necessarily see horseracing there:

“As the city evolves, we’ve got to be prepared to capitalize on every changing situation and we can’t get caught up in nostalgia,” said Assemblyman Jerome Horton … “The track’s heyday is long since gone,” said Inglewood Councilman Curren Price. “We’ll miss the horse racing, but we’re confident there’s bigger things ahead. It’s time for new uses, and that land is more valuable as a development project than as a horse racing venue at this time” (KTLA).

Price’s comments hit home — the same things can be said about Suffolk Downs and most other minor tracks in urban areas.
Horsemen at the track are peeved by the timing of the sale announcement:

“No consideration,” a veteran trainer said of the way the owners, old and new, broke the news on a day when Hollywood Park should have made headlines with the naming of the lineup for Saturday’s $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup (LA Daily News).