NEWS
Oak Tree meeting headed to Hollywood Park
Posted: Thursday, August 19, 2010 5:40 PM
by Larry Stewart
The California Horse Racing Board voted on Thursday to deny the Oak Tree Racing Association's application to run its fall meeting at Santa Anita Park, meaning in all likelihood the meet will be held at Hollywood Park rather than the Arcadia, California, racetrack, where it has been held every year since 1969.
The CHRB vote was unanimous minus a vote from board member Richard Rosenberg, who abstained. It came after two organizations, Thoroughbred Owners of California and California Thoroughbred Trainers, sought the move to the Inglewood, California, track.
The reasons for the switch were presented by Thoroughbred Owners of California Chairman Arnold Zetcher and California Thoroughbred Trainers President John Sadler and came a couple of hours after a detailed report by track expert Michael "Mick" Peterson, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Maine. The CHRB brought in Peterson to inspect the condition of the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita, which he did last week.
In his report, Peterson expressed concerns about inconsistencies of the surface and its inability to handle excessive moisture. Peterson also, in a slide presentation, showed a picture of a dozen or so small rocks he found in a 30-foot area on the track. It is believed the rocks came to the surface through a protective membrane that covers the base.
Peterson declined, however, to make a recommendation as to whether the Oak Tree meeting should or should not be run at Santa Anita.
CHRB Vice Chairman David Israel attempted to pin down Peterson.
"If you had a $3-million horse and could run him in a race with a purse of $300,000 on October 1 at Santa Anita and know he would win, would you run him?" Israel asked.
"That's a tough one," Peterson said. "I would have to defer to someone who knows the horse better than I do."
Earlier in the meeting, Oak Tree Executive Director Sherwood Chillingworth made a plea to the board to approve the application to run the meet at Santa Anita, saying among other things that contracts and financial commitments from $750,000 to $1-million already were in place.
CHRB Chairman Keith Brackpool was not swayed, telling Chillingworth safety trumped everything else, to which Chillingworth agreed.
MI Developments Inc. Chairman Frank Stronach, addressing the board, said he never again would install a synthetic surface at any of his racetracks.
"The base wasn't done right; it was done on the cheap,” Stronach said of the surface’s initial installation.
Stronach repeated what he told about 250 horsemen on Wednesday night—that he intends to replace Santa Anita's synthetic surface with a conventional dirt track. He told the board that he planned to have all permits in place and the material needed on hand to physically start work on the dirt track the day after the Oak Tree meeting ends October 31.
Stronach said he hoped to have the work completed by the first or second week of December, so trainers could resume regular activity at Santa Anita well before the start of the winter-spring meeting on December 26.
With the Oak Tree meeting apparently moving to Hollywood Park, installation could start earlier. Both Zetcher and Sadler used this point in helping to make their cases to move the meeting.
Larry Stewart is a California-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Julie, Las Vegas, NV on August 29, 2010 at 11:46 PM
The Problem is not Hollywood or Santa Anita. The Problem is the IDIOTS who now own them. The Bay Meadows Land Company who "Helped" California Horse Racing by DEMOLISHING it's oldest Racetrack can't WAIT to tear down Hollywwod Park and make a "MALL" and "Housing". Yes it's in a Delightful Neighborhood and I am sure there are PLENTY of People just chomping at the bit to go to a "City Walk" right in the heart of that area. You'll notice that Hollywood's Ownwers must now have no BACKERS as this PLAN seems to be in LIMBO. Santa Anita's ownwers seem to think they can race on dates in the future when OTHER Tracks I.E. Del Mar are racing as well. With the so called "Horse Shortage" let alone "Attendance Shortage" THAT is "Pie in the Sky" as well. The bottem line is this, you give ALL the racetracks in California Slot Machines and ALL those Owners and Horsemen AND Attendance "Troubles" will Vanish. My Example :Charlestown Races and SLOTS.
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Posted by: Fred, Encino, CA on August 24, 2010 at 08:56 PM
I agree, Santa Anita has no customer service. It's a stuck up race track. Do you know that during the Breeders Cup last year, people in wheel chairs had to have their drivers park all the way in the back packing lot. I was waiting for the bus about a hundred yards from the entrance and asked several people in wheel chairs what was going on. They said they were directed to this location to park. Santa Anita has idiots for management and deserve everything they get. Can't wait for Hollywood Park this fall, every week and to think they almost closed a year ago.
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Posted by: Handicapper, Inglewood, CA on August 20, 2010 at 09:59 PM
Great choice giving Oak Tree to Hollywood Park, it is one of the best race tracks in the country for horse racing, I look forward going to Hollywood Park for the Oak Tree meet, home of the Queen Zenyatta who will now not have to travel for her final prep for the B.C.C., her next start most likely would have been out of town due to the unsafe conditions at Santa Anita. Finally someone addressed the issues that S.A. is having and declared the track unsafe for horses. Glad to see that Oak Tree is going to a track that puts the horses before the deep pockets.
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Posted by: Eli, Arcadia, CA on August 20, 2010 at 02:27 PM
Hollywood Park has no right to have Oak Tree. i've always thought Santa Anita is a better track than Hollywood Park. Santa Anita has better racing, better atmosphere, better facility, and it's in a better area than Hollywood Park is. i've never thought Inglewood is that stable of a town to be in, especially where Hollywood Park is. If Oak Tree is not going to Santa Anita anymore, than Oak Tree should go out of business and have MID developments request racing dates for late September to early November. Oak Tree and Sherwood Chillingsworth can not get their act together. Chillingsworth is just bored and has nothing else to do. Jack Liebau can throw in the towel at any time. Hollywood Park be gone.
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Posted by: sue, fargo, ND on August 20, 2010 at 06:04 AM
This is great for Zenyatta. If she still runs in the Zenyatta Stakes (formerly LS Stakes) she won't have to travel any, she can just walk to her own back yard.........
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