By Bloodhorse.com INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2012) — The $750,000-guaranteed CashCall Futurity (gr. I), an annual stop for future Triple Crown contenders, will once again be the most lucrative event on the stakes calendar for the 2012 autumn meet at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Two additions to the calendar are the $200,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-old fillies bred in California and the $200,000 King Glorious Stakes for California bred 2-year-olds. The pair of seven-furlong contests are part of the Golden State Series, a 27-race program for horses bred in the state. The Soviet Problem is scheduled for Dec. 9 while the King Glorious is the closing day feature.
A total of 18 stakes races with purses of more than $3.8 million are scheduled for the 24-day season, which begins Nov. 8 and continues through Dec. 16. The meet’s license application was approved Sept. 20 by the California Horse Racing Board.
Three other fixtures on the autumn schedule received sizable increases. The Hollywood Starlet (gr. I), which was $250,000 guaranteed in 2011, will offer a $500,000 guaranteed purse for its 32nd running Dec. 8. The Starlet is for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track.
Now sponsored by the Oak Tree Racing Association, the Native Diver Handicap (gr. III) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles over Cushion Track, has seen its purse rise to $250,000 in 2012 from $100,000 in 2011. The 34th Native Diver will be run Dec. 1.
The Bayakoa (gr. II), for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track, will also sponsored by Oak Tree. It has been bumped from $150,000 to $200,000. The Bayakoa will be contested for the 31st time Dec. 8.
A not-for-profit group of California owners and breeders, Oak Tree conducted fall meets annually from 1969-2010 with the most recent season held at Hollywood Park. The Oak Tree Racing Association has contributed well over $26 million to endeavors benefiting the racing industry and local communities.
The Futurity is in the sixth year of sponsorship by the consumer loans company founded by renowned horse owner and breeder J. Paul Reddam, who won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Preakness Stakes (both gr. I) earlier this year with I’ll Have Another. The Futurity has produced six Kentucky Derby winners and winners of 15 Triple Crown races since its inaugural running in 1981.
For 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track, the CashCall Futurity will be part of a stakes doubleheader Dec. 15. The $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup (gr. IIT) at 1 ½ miles, will also be offered.
Sharing the spotlight with the Futurity and Hollywood Starlet is the Turf Festival, which will be staged for the 19th time in 20 years over Thanksgiving weekend.
The three-day Festival consists of five graded races, including two grade I events, the $250,000 Matriarch for fillies and mares at one mile, and the $250,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 ¼ miles. Both will be run Nov. 25.
The $250,000 Citation (gr. II), at 1 1/16 miles, kicks off the Turf Festival Nov. 23. The Nov. 24 program will feature a pair of Grade III tests for 2-year-olds at one mile: the $100,000 Miesque for fillies and the $100,000 Generous.
The Autumn Meet stakes schedule, which includes 12 graded races, begins with the $100,000 Real Quiet Stakes Nov. 10. Named in honor of the winner of the 1997 Futurity as well as the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and the 1999 Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I), the Real Quiet is for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track.