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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).

Posted in Track Notes on July 8, 2005

Hollywood Park Sold

The Bay Meadows Land Company bought Hollywood Park for $260 million from Churchill Downs yesterday (Daily Racing Form). Racing will continue for at least three years. What happens after may depend on whether changes are made to California’s racing law allowing other forms of gambling at tracks (read: slots). Without such, Hollywood’s acreage could be developed for commercial or residential purposes, said Bay Meadows president Terry Francher. “The land is attractive land and we’re prepared to go down either path” (LA Times).
More: “In Bay Meadows, we selected a buyer who not only recognized the value of Hollywood Park, but also is committed to continuing racing there and motivated to improve the California racing environment,” said Churchill CEO Tom Meeker, speaking of the deal (Blood-Horse) … “California horse racing announced Wednesday that it had had enough. It had sat quietly at the dinner table for too long. It was time to pound its fists and knock over the salad … What happened Wednesday was gutsy, brilliant and also somewhat desperate” (LA Times).

Posted in Track Notes on July 7, 2005

Hollywood Deal

The Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that the owners of Bay Meadows put in the leading bid of $275 million to buy Hollywood Park. Stockbridge Capital Partners entered the bidding process late and submitted a bid that was 10% higher than any others; it also agreed to hire Hollywood’s current owners, Churchill Downs, to manage the track for another three years, giving Hollywood Park a temporary reprieve from becoming a condo development.

Posted in Track Notes on June 21, 2005

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