HOLLYWOOD PARK: CHANGES FOR FAMED TRACK OUT OF THE GATES AT A NEW TIME.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

INGLEWOOD - Horse racing's changing times are reflected in a new daily first-post time for the Hollywood Park meet, which begins its four-month run today at the stroke of 1:20 p.m.

The odd starting time (last year it was 1:15 p.m.) fits the staggered simulcast schedule for Hollywood Park and fellow Churchill Downs-owned tracks - Miami's Calder Race Course, Chicago's Arlington Park and Louisville's Churchill Downs itself - as crosstown and interstate betting accounts for an ever-larger share of the revenue.

Gone are the quaint days when Hollywood Park experimented with different starting times to try to make life easier for local freeway commuters. Last year, on-site fans accounted for fewer than 20 cents of each dollar bet on the Inglewood track's races.

First post will be 1:20 p.m. almost every racing day except most Fridays, when the cards will start at 7:05 p.m.

Other changes will be evident at Hollywood Park's 64th spring-summer meet:

--Jockeys. Gary Stevens is the lone holdover among the four Hall of Famers who rode at the 2002 meet. Chris McCarron retired, Eddie Delahoussaye retired after an injury, and 14-time Hollywood Park champion Laffit Pincay faces a decision as early as next week on whether to quit because of the neck fractures he suffered in a March 1 accident at Santa Anita. Newcomers include Mark Johnston, Ryan Barber and David Nuesch.

--Trainers. Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas plans to skip Hollywood Park for the first time in a quarter-century, sending more horses to Arlington instead, citing the rising costs of California racing. Northern California king Jerry Hollendorfer plans to bring as many as three dozen horses here.

--Stakes. New emphasis will be placed on the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap, a turf marathon whose purse is being raised from $70,000 to $400,000 for its May 10 running. The American Oaks, the 3-year-old fillies turf race that debuted last year, is up from $500,000 to $750,000 for July 5. Undergoing purse cuts of $50,000-$150,000 are the Gamely, Shoemaker, Californian, Swaps, Hollywood Oaks, Beverly Hills and Sunset.

The biggest race remains the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 13. Track officials hope reigning Horse of the Year Azeri competes in the May 25 Milady. The first weekend is highlighted by Saturday's California Gold Rush, six stakes for state breds for more than $1 million in purses.

The meet's best-attended day, though, figures to be May 3, when no major race will be held at Hollywood Park. On the corresponding afternoon last year, 21,658 fans came to the track and 35,639 more to other Southern California sites to bet on the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

HOLLYWOOD PARK AT A GLANCE

--Sixty-five-day season runs today through July 20, with racing Wednesday through Sunday. Exceptions: Racing Monday, May 26; no racing Wednesday, May 28.

--Racing starts at 1:20 p.m. most days and 7:05 p.m. most Fridays. Exceptions: 12:30 p.m. July 5 and 1:20 p.m. Fridays, May 2 and July 4.

--Major races include $400,000 Jim Murray Memorial Handicap on turf, May 10; $350,000 Shoemaker Mile on turf, May 26; $400,000 Californian for older horses, June 14; $750,000 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf, July 5; and $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup for older horses and $400,000 Swaps Stakes for 3-year-olds, July 13.

--KDOC will show replays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and midnight Sundays. Fox Sports West 2 will carry two-hour live coverage at 3 p.m.

--Scratches and results are available at [phone] and www.hollywoodpark.com.

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HOLLYWOOD PARK AT A GLANCE (see text)