Hollywood Park got its start in 1938 when members of the showbiz elite, led by Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner, decided that Santa Anita Park across town could stand some competition. But this was more than a business venture, for at the time horse racing was still the sport of kings and celebrities.
The day after its opening, one newspaper headline blared: “Film Stars Attend Races: Hollywood Turns Out En Masse for Opening of New Turf Club.”
Those early years provided daily star-sightings, with Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Raoul Walsh, Jack Benny, Irene Dunne and Ronald Colman among the regulars. Columnist Hedda Hopper claimed she was visiting the track in search of gossip almost as often as she was going to the studios. In those days, it was just a 20-minute drive from Hollywood.
Warner, a longtime horse racing enthusiast, enlisted his celebrity friends and rival studio chiefs to help bankroll the venture. All told, there were around 600 shareholders who invested in what had been a muddy patch of land in the small community of Inglewood, best known for its commercial chinchilla farms (and Mines Field, which had been turned over to the city of Los Angeles for what would eventually become Los Angeles International Airport).
From the start, there was no question that the track was named Hollywood Park for a reason. “Like motion pictures,” Mervyn LeRoy noted, “racing is amusement and in the amusement field the public will patronize only the best.”
Beyond being a showbiz hangout, the track also became recognized for its Hollywood Gold Cup, a high-stakes centerpiece race for older horses that was designed to draw talent from other parts of the country. Seabiscuit, the horse immortalized in numerous books and a movie starring Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, won the inaugural Hollywood Gold Cup.
Racing at Hollywood Park was suspended with the outbreak of World War II, except for a brief run to benefit the war effort (the grounds were used as a storage facility). Racing resumed after the war, and Hollywood Park continued to attract top contenders.
Three years later, a fire incinerated the racetrack’s grandstand and clubhouse, which pushed the season to rival Santa Anita. The facilities were quickly rebuilt for the following season.
Hollywood Park made headlines in 1951 when the Gold Cup made Citation horse racing’s first million-dollar earner. But by the 1970s, track attendance was on the decline and Hollywood Park wasn’t immune.
Owners tried to drum up interest with expansions and improvements doubling the size of the turf club, adding the Winner’s Circle Dinning Room and renovating the stables.
As attendance continued to slide, the track focused more on gambling and promotions to draw large crowds. In 1973, it became the first track in the country to begin Sunday racing.
“Going to the races used to be a social event,” said Rick Baedeker, president of Hollywood Park. “Honestly, now there is more focus on the gambling part of the sport because you’ve got our live races but also 30 other races imported into Hollywood Park on any given day.”
After decades of being the premier destination for racing, Hollywood Park now draws the third-largest attendance in Southern California, after Santa Anita and Del Mar.
