Hollywood stakes schedule worth $3.8 million

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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 2012 Autumn meet at Hollywood Park.

A total of 18 stakes races with purses of more than $3.8 million are scheduled for the 24-day season, which begins November 8 and continues through December 16.

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

The 32nd Futurity -- for two-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track -- will be part of a stakes doubleheader December 15. The $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, a Grade 2 at 1 1/2 miles, will also be offered.

Three other fixtures on the Autumn schedule received sizable increases. The Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet, which was $250,000 in 2011, will offer a $500,000 purse for its 32nd running December 8. The Starlet is for two-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track.

Now sponsored by the Oak Tree Racing Association, the Native Diver Handicap, a Grade 3 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 December 1.

A Grade 2 for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track, the Bayakoa -- also sponsored by the Oak Tree Racing Association -- has been bumped from $150,000 to $200,000. The Bayakoa will be contested for the 31st time December 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.

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 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 November 25.

The $250,000 Citation, a Grade 2 at 1 1/16 miles, kicks off the Festival November 23. The November 24 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.

Two additions to the calendar are the $200,000 Soviet Problem for two-year-old fillies bred in California and the $200,000 King Glorious for California bred two-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 December 9 while the King Glorious is the closing day feature.

The Autumn Meet stakes schedule, which includes 12 graded races, begins with the $100,000 Real Quiet, for two-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over Cushion Track, on November 10.

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