Hollywood Park Is Awarded 1997 Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup announced Wednesday that its 1997 races will be run at Hollywood Park, which will host the series for the first time in 10 years.

Meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., the Breeders’ Cup board chose Hollywood Park over Santa Anita, which had also applied for the 1997 event. The seven Breeders’ Cup races, worth $10 million in purses, will be run at Hollywood on Nov. 8, 1997.

Cliff Goodrich, president of Santa Anita, had said before Wednesday’s vote that he thought Hollywood Park would get the 1997 date simply because the Inglewood track hadn’t had the Breeders’ Cup since 1987. The Oak Tree Racing Assn., which conducts a fall meet at Santa Anita, has been the host for the Breeders’ Cup twice, most recently in 1993.

Some Breeders’ Cup directors were said to have been uncomfortable with the status of Santa Anita’s turf course. The course was rebuilt last year, but it has been unsatisfactory and has been criticized by many trainers and jockeys. Two of the seven Breeders’ Cup races are run on grass.

“We all congratulate Hollywood Park in getting the Breeders’ Cup again,” said Clement Hirsch, president of Oak Tree. “They are most deserving hosts, and we’re extremely pleased that the Breeders’ Cup is coming to California again. It was an honor for Oak Tree to be considered this time, and we look forward to being considered in the future.”

The first Breeders’ Cup, in 1984, was run at Hollywood Park, and the Inglewood track will become only the second track to be a three-time host for the series. Three Breeders’ Cups have been run at Churchill Downs, which twice has drawn crowds of more than 71,000, records for the series. This year’s races will be run outside the United States for the first time, when Woodbine in suburban Toronto is the host on Oct. 26.

Because of contractual commitments to the Breeders’ Cup, the day is not a big moneymaker for the host track, but R.D. Hubbard, who replaced Marje Everett as chairman at Hollywood Park in 1991, was fervid about having the races for the first time. Late last year, Hubbard did the politically correct thing, rejoining the Thoroughbred Racing Assns., a trade group with members in the United States and Canada. Earlier, Hollywood Park had dropped out of the TRA, at an annual saving to the track of an estimated $500,000. A non-TRA track has not hosted a Breeders’ Cup since 1988.

“We’re very excited about getting the Breeders’ Cup,” Hubbard said. “We thought we had a good chance, but you never know about these things.

“I think we’ll put on the best Breeders’ Cup they’ve ever had. We have a new barn area, the best quarantine facility and the best turf course in the country. There’s more time to talk about when the post time for the first Breeders’ Cup race will be, but I think it might be 11:30 a.m.”

Last year, when the Breeders’ Cup was held at Belmont Park, the on-track attendance on a wet, chilly day was 37,247, the lowest ever, and overall betting was down about 19% from the previous year. With the races being held this year in Canada, the Breeders’ Cup was eager to return to a warm-weather site in ’97. Hollywood Park drew an on-track crowd of 64,254 in 1984 and the attendance was 57,734 there in 1987. It is likely that the Breeders’ Cup will return to Churchill Downs in 1998.