On DVD or VHS: A Timeless classic chronicling the rich history of Hollywood Park and the legends who passed through the storied track.

 

A feature which recaptures the great moments of more than a half-a-century of Thoroughbred racing at Hollywood Park - a California showcase. Famous Thoroughbreds and talented horsemen were on display from the onset and an exceptional number of them have since been voted into the racing Hall of Fame. It soon became a regular summer home for the best horses and jockeys in the land. 39 members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame; horses, trainers and jockeys are seen in action as they were at their greatest!

From SEABISCUIT winning the first Hollywood Gold Cup in 1938 under his Hall of Fame rider, GEORGE WOOLF, through CITATION, SWAPS, DETERMINE, SILKY SULLIVAN, ROUND TABLE, GALLANT MAN, TOMY LEE, SOCIAL OUTCAST, FLEET NASRULLAH, NATIVE DIVER, ACK ACK, DR. FAGER, FORT MARCY, PRETENSE, QUICKEN TREE, AMERIGO, FIDDLE ISLE, COUGAR II, QUACK, KENNEDY ROAD, ANCIENT TITLE, BRIARCTIC, RIVA RIDGE, AFFIRMED, JOHN HENRY and others, we re-live great races with official calls.

The story behind the story shows the celebrities, the training, the glamour, and the excitement of the sport; interviews of PENNY TWEEDY and LUCIEN LAURIN; and GREER GARSON expresses how it felt to have the privilege in being ACK ACK's custodian; horses ship in by train and plane to win great stakes. We see how the SWAPS Statue was cast to commemorate the most honored California-bred ever and rare footage of him as stud is also shown.

No horse earned more fan appreciation than NATIVE DIVER - that bundle of nervous energy just waiting to explode! He responded to all the attention by winning 37 races - 34 of them stakes. Seldom touched by a whip, "THE DIVER" for all his racing life ran as fast as he could for as long as he could. See the humorous 1967 Hollywood Gold Cup in which O'HARA, the rider-less horse, runs loose and beats NATIVE DIVER to the wire and how the NATIVE DIVER Memorial was designed and produced in honor of his three straight Hollywood Gold Cup victories from 1965-1967 and of his untimely death due to illness.

LAFFIT PINCAY, JR., in 1968, his first year at Hollywood Park, wins six races on one card but BILLY SHOEMAKER does it twice; CHARLIE WHITTINGHAM saddles first, second and third in the Hollywood Gold Cup and JIM MALONEY does the same in the Vanity Handicap. CITATION becomes the first Thoroughbred millionaire after winning the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup; SWAPS retires holding the largest collection of world speed records in history from one mile to 1-5/8 miles; and don't forget those great mares AGLEAM, SILVER SPOON, GAMELY, PRINCESSNESIAN, SUSAN'S GIRL and DAHLIA; ARCARO, LONGDEN, PINCAY and McCARRON and other great riders; watch JOHN HENRY win the Invitational at nine-years- old!

The stands at Hollywood Park have witnessed great and thrilling moments; remarkable careers beginning and honorable careers ending - talented horsemen spending a lifetime perfecting their trades. Hollywood Park has provided a fitting stage for great events - in short, a glorious 50 years of our Thoroughbred heritage preserved.

An exhilarating, tour-de-force for anyone who appreciates racing at its best! A most welcome addition for any historic horse racing fan's collection.
 

  

 

60 Minutes.

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