Hollywood Park slates 47 stakes, eliminates Inglewood and Beverly Hills

Betfair Hollywood Park has eliminated two $100,000 turf stakes for the upcoming spring-summer meeting, the Inglewood and Beverly Hills handicaps.

The meeting runs from April 25 through July 14 and has 47 stakes, two fewer than during the 2012 meeting. The richest races of the meeting will be the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 6 and the $350,000 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf July 13.

The purse for the Grade 1 American Oaks was cut by $50,000 from the 2012 season, but the purse will still be $100,000 higher than the 2010 and 2011 runnings. The race once carried a purse of $750,000.

Several other races have had purse or distance changes for 2013. The Melair Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies has been cut by $50,000, to $250,000, and the distance reduced from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/16 miles. The Fran’s Valentine Stakes for California-bred females on turf has been increased by $30,000, to $100,000.

The Laz Barrera Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds, which had a purse of $100,000 in 2012, has been eliminated and replaced by the $70,000 Came Home Stakes on May 11. The Railbird Stakes for 3-year-old fillies has been cut by $30,000, to $70,000. The Came Home and Railbird will be run over seven furlongs.

The Charles Whittingham Stakes was a Grade 1 worth $250,000 in 2012, but will be a Grade 2 worth $200,000 on June 8. The distance remains 1 1/4 miles on turf.

The Inglewood was a prep for the Whittingham. In 2012, the Inglewood was run over 1 1/8 miles. The Beverly Hills was run over 1 1/4 miles on turf for fillies and mares.