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Hollywood Park releases $8.5 million stakes schedule Hollywood Park will offer a stakes schedule worth $8.5 million during its 70th anniversary Spring/Summer meeting. A total of 55 stakes races -- including seven Grade 1 events, 11 Grade 2 races and 11 with Grade 3 status -- will be staged at the Inglewood, California, oval. There will be seven major stakes days, beginning with the $1.3 million Cal Gold Rush IX on April 27. Once again, the track's richest events will be held on back-to-back weekends. The 69th running of the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) will be run on June 28, along with the $250,000 American H. (G2), the $150,000 A Gleam H. (G2) and the $100,000 Landaluce S. On July 5, the American Oaks (G1) and CashCall Mile (G2), both $750,000 events with international appeal, will anchor a record five-race, $2.2-million graded stakes program. In last year's Gold Cup, seven-time Grade 1 hero LAVA MAN (Slew City Slew) equaled the legendary Native Diver with his third consecutive victory in the 1 1/4-mile classic. The Doug O'Neill charge, who was given a vacation after finishing sixth in the November 3 Cal Cup Classic, is aiming to return to action at Hollywood, with a fourth Gold Cup bid on the agenda. The American Oaks and CashCall Mile, which have drawn some of the world's most talented fillies and mares in recent years, will help comprise one of the richest programs in track history. The card will include two other Grade 1 races in the $300,000 Triple Bend H. and the $300,000 Vanity H., as well as the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship (G3). The Oaks, CashCall Mile and Triple Bend are invitational events. "Outside of Breeders' Cup, it is the most prize money we have offered on a single day in track history," said Martin Panza, vice president of racing. "We've already had considerable interest from Australia and we expect continued interest from Europe and Japan as well as nationwide." A trio of graded stakes is slated for May 10 -- the $250,000 Jim Murray Memorial H (G2), the $100,000 Los Angeles H. (G3) and the $100,000 Senorita S. (G3). The 65th running of the $250,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1) will take up its customary spot on Memorial Day, May 26. In last year's running of the turf event, The Tin Man equaled the great John Henry as the only nine-year-old to win a Grade 1 race at Hollywood Park. The Shoemaker will have company in the $250,000 Gamely H. (G1), a distaff turf affair which has been won by six champions. The prestigious Charles Whittingham Memorial H. (GI) will once again be presented on Belmont Stakes Day, June 7. The Whittingham, at 1 1/4 miles on the Lakeside Turf Course, will be accompanied by the $175,000 Honeymoon H. (G2), the $100,000 Ack Ack H. (G3) and the $75,000 Redondo Beach S. A new race on the schedule is the $100,000 Gallant Man, which will be staged at 1 5/8 miles on June 1. The Gallant Man could fit the agenda of horses pointing toward the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Marathon on October 25 at Oak Tree. Two graded stakes will bookend the 60-day stand, which will run from April 23 through July 13. The 47th running of the $100,000 Wilshire H. (G3) is the main attraction on opening day, while the 67th running of the $150,000 Sunset H. (G2) serves as the traditional closing day feature.
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