Hollywood Park boosts Starlet purse to $500,000

The Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Hollywood Park on Dec. 8 will be worth $500,000-guaranteed, the track announced on Thursday.

In past years, the Starlet, run over 1 1/16 miles, had a purse of $200,000-added. The 2010 race, won by Turbulent Descent, was worth $409,250. The 2011 Starlet, won by Killer Graces, was worth $402,000.

Outstandingly won the richest running of the race, worth $752,500, in 1984.

Fillies are made eligible for the Starlet through a series of nominating payments. The first payment of $250 is due on May 18. The track’s richest race for 2-year-olds, the $750,000 CashCall Futurity, will be run on Dec. 18 and has a first nominating payment on May 18.

An increased purse for the Starlet is a continuation of the track’s effort to improve purses for juvenile stakes this year.

The Hollywood Juvenile Championship and the Landaluce Stakes for fillies, both run over six furlongs for 2-year-olds on July 14, will be worth $200,000 this year, an increase of $100,000 from 2011. Prep races at 5 1/2 furlongs on June 16, the Willard Proctor Memorial and the Cinderella Stakes for fillies, have been increased from $70,000 in 2011 to $100,000 this year.

The track’s spring-summer meeting runs from April 26 to July 15.