Stakes announced for final Hollywood meet

The Grade 1, $750,000 CashCall Futurity, an annual stop for future Triple Crown contenders, will once again be the most lucrative event on the stakes calendar for the final Autumn meet at Hollywood Park.

A total of 21 stakes races worth $4 million are scheduled for the 29-day season, which begins November 7 and continues through December 22. Racing will completely cease at the 75-year-old Inglewood, California, plant following the conclusion of the meet.

In its seventh year of sponsorship by the consumer loans company founded by renowned horse owner-owner breeder J. Paul Reddam, who won the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with I'll Have Another, the Futurity has produced the winners of six Kentucky Derbies and 15 Triple Crown races since its inaugural running in 1981.

The 33rd CashCall Futurity -- for two-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track -- will be part of a stakes tripleheader Dec. 14. The $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, a Grade 2 at 1 1/2 miles and the $100,000 Native Diver, a Grade 3 for older horses at 1 1/8 miles over Cushion Track, will also be offered.

"We are very grateful for Mr. Reddam and CashCall's sponsorship through the years and believe the Futurity will again be an important step on the road to the Triple Crown," said Martin Panza, Hollywood Park's vice president-racing and racing secretary. "We're looking forward to an exciting final season."

The Futurity isn't the only Grade 1 for two-year-olds. The $500,000 Hollywood Starlet for fillies will be run for the 33rd time December 7, a card that will also include the Grade 2, $150,000 Bayakoa for older fillies and mares. Both the Starlet and Bayakoa will be run at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track.

Sharing the spotlight with the CashCall Futurity and Hollywood Starlet is the Turf Festival, which will be staged for the 20th time in 21 years over Thanksgiving weekend.

The three-day Festival consists of five graded races, including two Grade 1 events -- the $250,000 Matriarch for fillies and mares at one mile and the $250,000 Hollywood Derby for three-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles. Both will be run December 1.

The $250,000 Citation, a Grade 2 at 1 1/16 miles, kicks off the Festival November 29. The November 30 program will feature a pair of Grade 3s for two-year-olds at one mile -- the $100,000 Miesque, for fillies, and the $100,000 Generous.

Returning to the calendar for the first time since 2008 is the $100,000 Hollywood Turf Express. The six-furlong race for older horses will be run December 8.

Two other stakes are also back. The $100,000 Playa Del Rey, a six-furlong event for older fillies and mares which was last run in 2010, returns December 15, while the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes for two-year-old fillies returns November 9 after a one-year absence. The Moccasin is run at seven furlongs.

Additionally, the calendar includes the $200,000 Soviet Problem for two-year-old fillies bred or sired in California and $200,000 King Glorious for California-bred or -sired two-year-olds. Both races are seven furlongs.

The two events, which were run for the first time in 2012, are part of the Golden State Series, a year-long program for horses bred or sired in the state. The Soviet Problem is scheduled for December 21 while the King Glorious is the closing day feature.