hollywood ponies

It's been a long time I shouldn't have left you

without a strong blog to step to

think of how many weak blogs you slept through?

Thanks to Eric B and Rakim for the appropriate intro. That’s right kids, and just like Arnold,  I am back! I do apologize for the little over a year absence but, well I had to rebuild my machine and as they said about the Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin, and no not the wrestler. We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster. And I must say I have something that is just short of Skynet over here, and trust me stopping just short was a good thing. I mean after all who wants to sit around scratching “no fate” into a wooden table.

            So aside from building a new machine there was a rather small task of moving a lot of files over from the the old machine to the new machine. It was long, tedious, and quite messy. There were so many files across way to many drives.

Plus there was also this little announcement about a small film coming out, you may have missed it. So in case you were unaware this film is called, “Star Wars Episode VII” and lets be honest here for all you blog addicts that follow me, you know I am a huge Star Wars fan and I have a propensity for slipping in as many references to it as possible in my blog. So once that announcement hit I was, let’s say happy, kind of like the Ewoks after they defeated the Empire on Endor, which got me a little distracted and I forgot to get back to the old blog and chain.

But here we are, all back together again. Think of all that time I was away as if it was a summer vacation and now you are back in school, and for today’s lesson we will learn once again “what makes me click”. So for today I have prepared a lesson for you set not too far in the past, and as always we need to take a look backwards to see what I have been up to. However there is no need for time travel today we just need to look to Inglewood, Los Angeles 2013 to see one of my more recent photographic journeys.

On May 31, 2015, just 3 short months ago the famed race track that stood for 75 years came crashing down in an effort to bring about revitalization to the Inglewood area and possibly a new NFL stadium.

Hollywood Park opened on June 10, 1938 when Jockey Silvio Coucoi rode Valley Lass to a modest four-length victory over Kenty Miss, paying $4.60 to win in the track’s first-ever race. Hollywood Park concluded with a final race on December 22, 2013 at 6:11 pm. Jockey Cory Nakatani was the rider to record the last win in the parks history with Woodsman Luck, and a final payout of $13.60 to anyone to put two dollars on the nose. Woodsman Luck got the win appropriately by a nose, closing from off the pace to give the fans one last memorable race. Depreciable finished in second place and Danderek in third place.

Hollywood Park was the brain child of Hollywood’s biggest names in the film industry. Jack Warner of Warner Bros. Studios was the chairman, while other high profile executives such as Walt Disney, and Samuel Goldwyn, along with notable actors Al Jolson, and Bing Crosby were share holders. Hollywood Park was the fashionable place to be for the people in the film industry.

While the parks racing history is so rich and filled with names that anyone who is a long time follower of the ponies will know, I will take a moment to highlight a few of the key pieces of the tracks history that you can use to impress all your friends with.

1. The tracks signature race, the Hollywood Gold Cup, now known as just the Gold Cup was won by the great Seabiscuit, who won the inaugural running in 1938.

2. In 1984 Hollywood Park was selected to host the inaugural running of the Breeders Cup. The race was viewed by 50 million people and drew a crown of over 64 thousand people.

3. Laffit Pincay Jr. became the all time leading rider at Hollywood Park on Dec. 10, 1999, while riding Irish Nip to victory in the sixth race. The victory gave Pincay 8,834 career wins, surpassing the great Bill Shoemaker, who retired with 8,883 wins in 1990.

5. A couple of the most popular bets in horse racing started out as experiments at Hollywood Park. The Exacta and the high paying potential of the Pick Six both have their roots at Hollywood Park. So next time you hit a big ticket, look north and tip your hat to the genius of the experimental bets that all started in Hollywood.

6. A large number of amazing horses have run at Hollywood Park, starting with the aforementioned Seabiscuit to Citation, the first horse to win a million dollars. Affirmed, Seattle Slew, and Cigar all raced there. I’ll Have Another, a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, was based at Hollywood, as was 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta.

However, the number of legendary horses that brought the sound of thundering hooves down the stretch to the roar of the crowd and the list of historic feats that happened at Hollywood Park is too long for this blog, so I must now delve into my thoughts of Hollywood Park and the images that I have selected from the archives.

Hollywood Park to me was like that rare treat that you only get once a year, so my few trips up there did hold some nice memories for me. As my friend and I walked around the track that day I couldn’t help but notice the crowd was extremely sparse that day, especially for being less than 5 days before the track would close for good. I was expecting a larger crowd of people looking to spend one last day before it closed down and at the same time trying to avoid the huge crowd that would descend on the track on its final day.

I remembered a few times where my friends and I would pull what we called the “daily double” a horse wagering term that we applied to our activities. Basically for us it meant, hitting the track and then following it up with a sporting event in the area, maybe a hockey game or a basketball game, since the Staples Center wasn’t too far away. I also recalled when two of use decided that a day at Hollywood wasn’t enough for us, so after the final race we hopped in the car and hit up the track in Los Alamitos for night racing. Yeah I know a what a bunch of losers is what you are saying but I look it more of a great day filled with friends and laughter doing something we enjoyed, plus we only did that “daily double” once so no judging or assuming that I have a gambling problem. In fact I bet you right now you are saying “sure you don’t have a problem”.  But you would be wrong, so pay up, you lost the bet.

In a way it was nice to be able to walk around without people running into you as they rushed to the betting window trying to get their last minute wager in before the horses would spring from the gates and begin the fastest two minutes in sports. I would have loved to have had the same freedom and liberty that I had here at Hollywood Park in say,  old Yankee Stadium or Tiger Stadium before they were brought down to make way for their new and improved namesakes.

However even for a basically empty race track the large halls did echo, but not with the roar of the crowds trying to will their horse to wire and collect on their bets. Instead they echoed with the occasional squeak of a shoe as a patron made their way to the betting window, the racing call on a television from a track on the East Coast bounced off the walls, and even the sound of the track announcer barking out a change to the racing card could be heard up and down the hallowed halls. On a normal day with a normal crowd all these sounds would have been indistinguishable and would have blended into a single constant hum if you will.

But today, Hollywood Park was on life support and the few who showed up were more like family members who came to pay their final respects to a beloved. Business was conducted as usual, the true track aficionados poured over the racing forms, looking at all the numbers trying to deduce the next winner, bet machines and tellers handed out tickets, and the paddock was as full as it could be with the sparse crowd studying the majestic horses as they prepped for the next race. 

The horses confidently walked through the paddock area on their way to getting saddled and then on to the gate for the next race on the card. As I stood there looking over the paddock I saw many of the old timers looking around, glancing at the horse and then the program but mostly I what I saw was people taking in the venue. Sure they were there to make bets and were asking the racing gods to help them walk away with a winning day, but they were also there to experience this track one last time. As the horses left the paddock I saw many people linger on the rail and gaze over the grounds, or as they walked back into the halls and towards the betting windows, I noticed people affix their gaze upwards to the outer wall that displayed the colors of all the racing stables and the history that took place here. I saw hand shakes to long time employees as people passed by them, but what stood out the most was the silence. The people who where in attendance were quietly saying goodbye each in their own way, but it was clear that each person was taking a moment to etch this day into their memories.

Below is a selection of images from one of the last days of Hollywood Park. I hope they covey what I saw and just how far the once playground of the rich and famous had fallen, please enjoy. I am off to line up for Star Wars now.

Just kidding. Or am I?

A racing fan buys a selection card to help him pick the winners at Hollywood Park.

A sparse crowd fills the betting windows on one of the last racing days at Hollywood Park.

Two long time racing fans have a final drink at Whittingham's Pub.

The cavernous halls of Hollywood Park now sit empty with only a few racing days left.

A old racing form and program sit on an empty bench at Hollywood Park.

A sparse crowd waits to cheer their horse on at Hollywood Park.

A lone fan hangs on the rail to watch the final stretch run at Hollywood Park.

Plaques for the silks of the stables that have raced at Hollywood Park over look the paddock.

A horse is lead off the track by a stable hand after one of the last races to be held at Hollywood Park.

Horses duel for the lead on the final stretch to the wire and the winners circle at Hollywood Park.

A horses waits in the paddock for the jockey and for one last race at Hollywood Park.

Racing fans take a slow walk to the parking lot as they say goodnight and goodbye to Hollywood Park.