Hollywood Park: All That’s Left is Nothing

Thirty-one years ago today, Hollywood Park was the center of the racing universe, the first host of the Breeders’ Cup. Breeders’ Cup officials picked the right track to kick off their ambitious series. Hollywood Park was a place where the weather would almost certainly be perfect, a place that could comfortably contain a huge crowd and a track that had the type of status and reputation that made it a deserving host for one of the most important events in racing history.

Hollywood Park and the Breeders’ Cup delivered. An on-track crowd of 64,254 witnessed a great day of racing capped by Wild Again’s upset of Slew O’ Gold and Gate Dancer in the Classic.

It would have been unimaginable that day to think that Hollywood Park wouldn’t be around last week when the Breeders’ Cup was held for the 31st time. But Hollywood held its last race on Dec. 22, 2013. With the sport not doing well in general and with the real estate market having recovered from the 2008 crash, the 238-acre plot of land had become more valuable as something other than as a racetrack.

Opened in 1938, Hollywood Park had a 75-year run.

Nearly two years after the last race was run at Hollywood Park, not much appears to be going on there. The grandstand was long ago torn down, but there are no signs of anything being built. Everywhere you look, all you can see are piles of rubble and huge mounds of dirt. The exception is the Hollywood casino. The casino was originally the Pavilion of the Stars, which cost $30 million and was the brainchild of former Hollywood Park owner Marge Everett. It was a complete boondoggle and today only half of the building is in use, with the other half living on as a seedy poker room.

When they get around to developing the property Hollywood Park will be replaced by what the developers are calling “Hollywood Park Tomorrow,” which will consist of homes, stores, office space and a park.

Click here for more photos of Hollywood Park, then and now.