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MI Developments tells Oak Tree
not to plan Santa Anita meet

Posted: Friday, June 04, 2010 5:01 PM

by Larry Stewart

It appears that the Oak Tree Racing Association 2010 meeting will almost surely be moving away from Santa Anita to Hollywood Park, or possibly Del Mar.

Oak Tree, which has held its fall meet at Santa Anita since 1969, had given MI Developments Inc., which now owns the Arcadia, California, racetrack, a deadline of noon Friday for agreeing to terms on a new lease after MI Developments had voided its contract with Oak Tree when it took control of Santa Anita from bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp.

Dennis Mills, chief executive of MI Developments, told THOROUGHBRED TIMES that he called Oak Tree Executive Vice President Sherwood “Chilly” Chillingworth on Friday and told him that MI Developments could not make a decision on Oak Tree’s lease until MI Developments Chairman Frank Stronach addressed the California Horse Racing Board on June 22 at Hollywood Park.

“I told Chilly he could start working on Plan B or Plan C,” Mills said. “I guess Plan B would be doing to Hollywood Park and Plan C would be going to Del Mar.”

Chillingworth said he has had conversations with officials at both Hollywood Park and Del Mar but no deal is yet in place. He would not speculate as to which track is a more likely site. Chillingworth said Oak Tree set the deadline because “we were running out of time to do things we need to do to get a meet started."

Added Chillingworth: "Dennis told us to go ahead with our other plans, and that’s what we are doing. We’re singing the same song.”

Hollywood’s future is nearly as uncertain as Oak Tree’s is considering Hollywood’s property in Inglewood is scheduled for development by Bay Meadows Land Co., which bought the track from Churchill Downs Inc.

“If Oak Tree has to move its meet to Hollywood Park, it will be a knife in the heart (for Oak Tree),” said trainer Jim Cassidy, a former president of California Thoroughbred Trainers. “The problem in horse racing is too many people are only concerned about their own agenda. There needs to be one agenda, and that is to improve horse racing for all concerned.”

Del Mar has also offered the Oak Tree association its track rent-free as well.

At its meeting on May 20, the California Horse Racing Board authorized Oak Tree to conduct its meet at another site if need be, and approved meeting dates of September 29-October 31.

Chillingworth said Oak Tree’s lease with Magna had required that Oak Tree pay 75% of its profit to Santa Anita, which has amounted to about $4-million most years. Chillingworth also said that Oak Tree contributed $3-million toward the installation of a synthetic surface at Santa Anita three years ago.

The Oak Tree issue is germane to more than just Southern California racing, however, given that many thought it could be a future permanent or at least semi-permanent site of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Larry Stewart is a California correspondent of Thoroughbred Times

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READER COMMENTS

Posted by: John Chambers, Lansdowne, PA on June 06, 2010 at 09:26 PM

i was a stockholder in 3 of the Californis racetracks when they were publicly traded companies. They had people who cared about racing and puting on a good show. Then came the time when the so called management experts came in to maximise shareholder value. I guess I should be happy since every one of them bought out my ionvestment at a good profit. However since the new owners took over Bay Mesdows is gone, Hollywookd Park is most likely next and who knows what will happen to Santa Anita if the new managment team doesent't get their way. The state should remind the licence holders that the state owns the rights to racing, not the track operators. It is like a public utility, you get an exclusive franchise to a certain area and in the case of racing a certin times to run. It is up to the management to put on the best show possible and if they can't maybe the state should award the dates to someone who will look out for all the interests in racing, like Del Mar and Oak Tree. The track owners have the right to do whatever they want to do with their property but they don't have the right to expect the state to necessarly see racing is run the way they would like to run it.

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Posted by: Mark, Moorpark, CA on June 06, 2010 at 05:44 PM

why would anyone be surprised at this latest antic of Stronach?? He is a bully and has no regard for anything/anyone except himself. Does anyone wonder why the list of his officers gets longer by the month?? He is an egomaniac that throws a tantrum when things don't his way. Too bad the guy managed to keep Santa Anita or any of his tracks in light of the way he manipulates or bullies people. Men like this need to go away and let REAL racetrackers in. Sell the place Frank and do us ALL good.

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Posted by: Albert, Camarillo, CA on June 06, 2010 at 12:44 AM

Ok. Let me get this straight. You have a company that's supposed to make money for their shareholders, so they pass on an easy $4MIL from a long-standing tenant that over the years have established itself as a Southern California Tradition as well as a benefactor to the the California Racing community. Yeah, this Stronach/Mills team really know how to run a business.

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Posted by: LaurieK, Fullerton, CA on June 05, 2010 at 07:13 PM

You'd think being an actual success as a racetrack owner would be a minmum requirement for the megalomania Stronach is demonstrating.

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Posted by: Don, Hayward, CA on June 05, 2010 at 12:39 PM

This makes little sense. Does MID think they will get more dates by stiffing Oak Tree? Are they trading two Breeders Cup days for Oak Tree? I can't wait to hear what Stronach has to say.

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