The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

American

thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000.

History

Early beginnings

The race inaugurated in 1938 at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

as the Hollywood Gold Cup. Hollywood Park Racetrack opened its doors on June 10, 1938, and

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse ...

, under jockey

George Woolf George Monroe Woolf (May 31, 1910 – January 4, 1946), nicknamed "The Iceman", was a Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey. An annual jockey's award given by the United States Jockeys' Guild is named in his honor. He became known for riding ...

, won the $50,000 added race's inaugural running on July 16. The race was not run in 1942 or 1943, due to Hollywood Park being closed and used as an airplane parts storage depot during World War II.

Post World War II

In 1949, the Hollywood Gold Cup, as well as the entire 1949 meeting, was held at Santa Anita Park, due to a devastating fire at Hollywood Park on the night of May 5, 1949. Solidarity won the 1949 running on July 16. The Hollywood Park grandstand was rebuilt and the facility reopened in time for a two-part split 1950 season. The 1950 Hollywood Gold Cup, won by Noor, was held in the second part or Fall–Winter part of the split, on December 9, 1950. The following summer, the race returned to its usual mid-July running and

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

, in his final race, won the Hollywood Gold Cup on July 14, 1951, becoming the first thoroughbred racehorse to hit the career earnings mark of one million dollars.

Modern Era

In 1980, Mary Lou Tuck became the first woman trainer to win the Hollywood Gold Cup with Go West Young Man. In 1999, the

Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

was published, and fourteen horses on the list had won the Hollywood Gold Cup: Citation,

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known for his famous rivalry with Alydar, whom he met ten times, includi ...

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

, Swaps,

Skip Away Skip Away (April 4, 1993 – May 14, 2010), was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1998 Horse of the Year, 1996 Champion Three-Year-Old, and 1997 and 1998 Champion Handicap Horse. He won 10 Grade One races for $9,616,360 in ...

Gallant Man Gallant Man (March 20, 1954 – September 7, 1988) was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie. He was one of the most successful racehorses foaled outside the United States with his near miss in the 1957 Kentuck ...

Challedon Challedon (1936–1958) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Maryland by William L. Brann and Robert S. Castle, he raced under the colors of their Branncastle Farm. Two-year-old-season Racing at age two, Chall ...

, Ack Ack,

Native Diver Native Diver (April 16, 1959 – September 13, 1967) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Native Diver's nicknames included "the Diver," "The California Comet" and "The Black Horse." He compiled 34 stakes wins throughout his career, but never ...

, Noor,

Two Lea {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Two Lea , image = , caption = , sire = Bull Lea , grandsire = Bull Dog , dam = Two Bob , damsire = The Porter , sex = Filly , foaled = 1946 , country = USA , colour = Bay , breeder = Calumet Fa ...

and

Exceller Exceller (May 12, 1973 – April 7, 1997) is widely considered one of the best horses to race in the United States not to win a year-end championship. Despite his exemplary achievements as a racehorse, and his unique accomplishment in being the ...

. In the 73rd running of the Hollywood Gold Cup in 2012, Chantal Sutherland, aboard

Game On Dude Game On Dude (foaled April 26, 2007 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse gelding. He won fourteen graded stakes races, including eight Grade I stakes: the Santa Anita Handicap in 2011, 2013, and 2014 the only horse to have wo ...

, became the first female jockey to win the race. Game On Dude had also been Sutherland's mount in the previous year's running, finishing second by a nose to

First Dude First Dude may refer to: * First Dude (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * First Gentleman First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarch ...

. The ride had given Sutherland the distinction of being the first female jockey to have a mount in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

Fillies or Mare winners

Only three

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

s have ever won the (Hollywood) Gold Cup. Happy Issue was the first in 1944, followed by

in 1952 and

Princessnesian Princessnesian (foaled in 1964 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Background Princessnesian was a bay mare bred and raced by William Haggin Perry. Racing career In 1968 the four-year-old mare became only the third female to wi ...

in 1968.

Change of venue

Following the closure of Hollywood Park, the race moved to

in 2014 (where the race was run in 1949 because of a fire at Hollywood Park) and renamed the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes. The event is a

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

"Win and You're In" qualifier. The event is one of the premier distance races on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

, along with the

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

from

, and the Pacific Classic Stakes at

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is a event venue in Del Mar, California. The annual San Diego County Fair is held here, which was called the Del Mar Fair from 1984 to 2001. In 1936, the Del Mar Racetrack was built by the Thoroughbred Club with foundin ...

. In 2020 the name of the event reverted to the Hollywood Gold Cup.

Race conditions

It was run as a handicap race until 1997, when it was switched to

weight-for-age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rous ...

conditions. In 2005, the Gold Cup returned to the original handicap format.

Records

Time record: * 1:58.20 –

Quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack (b ...

(1972) (on natural dirt) (New track record, equaled world record) * 2:00.75 –

Rail Trip Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

(2009) (on Cushion Track) Most wins: * 3 –

(1965, 1966, 1967) * 3 – Lava Man (2005, 2006, 2007) Most wins by an owner: * 3 –

Charles S. Howard Charles Stewart Howard (February 28, 1877 – June 6, 1950) was an American businessman. He made his fortune as an automobile dealer and became a prominent thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse owner. Biography Howard was dubbed one of the most s ...

(1938, 1939, 1950) * 3 – Calumet Farm (1951, 1952, 1990) * 3 – Louis K. Shapiro (1965, 1966, 1967) * 3 – STD Racing Stable/Jason Wood (2005, 2006, 2007) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 9 – Laffit Pincay Jr. (1970, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2002) Most wins by a trainer: * 8 – Charles E. Whittingham (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1987) * 8 –

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...

(1999, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2021)

Winners

''Legend:''

''Notes:''
† Futural won the race but was disqualified for interference
§ Ran as part of an entry
° Caterman was first past the post but was disqualified and placed second
∞ Filly or Mare

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Santa Anita Media Guide for 2019 Winter Meet

Ten Things You Should Know About the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hello Race Fans
Horse races in California Hollywood Park Racetrack Santa Anita Park Grade 1 stakes races in the United States Open middle distance horse races 1938 establishments in California Recurring sporting events established in 1938