Lawsuit, Rejection of Sale Proposal Mark Battle for Hollywood Park

The battle for control of Hollywood Park was active on two fronts Wednesday:

--The track’s realty board rejected a proposal by the operating company to put the track up for sale.

--Earlier in the day, the operating company filed a lawsuit against three of the track’s largest shareholders, accusing them of conspiring to take over control.

The realty company’s rejection of the sale proposal, by a 7-0 vote, was not surprising, because Warren Williamson, chairman of realty, had questioned the timing of a sale in an interview last week, and because the realty board appears to be controlled by R.D. Hubbard, catalyst in the attempt to unseat Marje Everett as Hollywood Park’s chief executive officer.

Hollywood Park Realty controls the 347-acre Inglewood site where the track is located, and leases it to the Hollywood Park Operating Co.

The operating company’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court’s Central District of California, names as defendants Hubbard, Tom Gamel and Harry Ornest. The suit charges that they violated numerous federal laws and acted together to take control of the track.