Westfield Santa Anita mall, Santa Anita Park race track, and other businesses cope with power outages and wind damage. Westfield Santa Anita mall was unable to open due to a widespread power outage although power was restored to the center's east end by 4:30 PM yesterday. Santa Anita Park was closed yesterday due to a power outage. The race track also sustained wind-related damage to the roof in its stable area and also had several uprooted trees. Huge, old trees were blown down in Arcadia.
Over the two days of the Breeders' Cup this year, there were 95,000 in attendance, at Santa Anita Park. It was a 5 percent increase over the last two year's two-day crowds.
Santa Anita Park names Dennis Moore, 63, as track superintendent, effective immediately. Moore has built and maintained track surfaces the world over for the past 40 years.
Twenty-fifth horse euthanized at Santa Anita Park since December 26, 2018. The gelding Spectacular Music, that appeared to have suffered a pelvis injury, was euthanized.
George Haines leaving as President of Santa Anita Park to head Southern California Off Track Wagering, Incorporated. Tom Ludt has been appointed the new President, effective April 7, 2014. Ludt was hired a year ago as Senior Vice President, Racing and Gaming-Stronach Group. See hard copy in VF Santa Anita Park 2011-2020.
HRTV (Horse Racing Television) has reached agreement with independent Los Angeles broadcaster KVMD to give Southern California horse racing fans live racing television access to the upcoming Santa Anita Park winter/spring meeting.
Santa Anita Park debuts animal welfare technology as a safety measure. PET Scanner will aid in detection of pre-existing conditions in race horses. Santa Anita Park has installed cutting edge Longmile Positron Emission Tomography (MILE-PET) Scan machine to provide imaging of the fetlock (ankle) joint. In January, Santa Anita Park is expecting to install Standing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
At least 300 tons of sand were added to the new all-dirt main track at Santa Anita Park, to correct the imbalance of sand to clay after 14.5 inches of rain fell over a 10-day period.
Horses at Santa Anita Park suffered fatal racing injuries at more than twice the rate of horses competing at California's other 3 major thoroughbred tracks over the last fiscal year, according to statistics. The fatality rate spiked at Santa Anita Park after the switch from a synthetic running surface back to a dirt track in 2010. There were 12 fatalities, or 3.7 per 1,000 starts, at Santa Anita Park in the last fiscal year.
Santa Anita Park horse deaths initiate congressional, district attorney investigations. Santa Anita Park hopes to return to live racing March 29. D.A. Venusse D. Navid has investigators working with California Horse Racing Board.
Actor and activist George Takei, 75, famous for his portrayal of Sulu on television series Star Trek, will talk about gay rights and a childhood spent in internment camps at Santa Anita Park (assembly center), Tule Lake and Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II. He will be speaking at Cal Poly Pomona on Tuesday.
Arcadia City Council gives Westfield Santa Anita mall the okay to host dance studios, car washes, auto detailers, and chair massages, in an effort to attract new tenants and customers. Council members also indicated that they support the concept of a medical office building on Santa Anita Park property.
Santa Anita Park's Derby Day 5K race brings out over 5,500 runners, the largest turnout in the race's 20-year history. The 5K is a fundraiser, with approximately $10,000 raised for Arcadia Historical Museum, Arcadia High School and CARMA, an organization devoted to caring for retired horses.
Paul Graf, 90, of New Albany, Indiana, came back to Arcadia to see Santa Anita Park again. He had been based there as a United States Army staff sergeant during World War II, when the track was turned over to the Army Ordnance Corps for training purposes and was officially renamed Camp Santa Anita. Graf said he used to run for exercise on the Anita Chiquita training track, which was eliminated when the Santa Anita Fashion Park was built in the 1970s. Graf had arrived at Camp Santa Anita around November 1942, after the site had already been used as the Japanese Assembly Center. Photo shows Graf holding an issue of Man O' War, a newspaper issued by army personnel at Camp Santa Anita.
Interview on the 20th anniversary of Santa Anita Derby Day 5k, with Santa Anita Park Directory of Special Projects Pete Siberell (photo). See hard copy in VF Santa Anita Park 2011-2020.
Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita Park race track, which is in bankruptcy reorganization hearings, filed a plan that would cancel its 2005 agreement with Rick Caruso to develop the 830,000 square feet Shops at Santa Anita on the race track's south parking lot. Caruso filed an objection to the move in bankruptcy court, citing "substantial economic harm" to Santa Anita Associates, LLC, the legal entity that was going to develop the project. Santa Anita LLC has so far invested over $25 million to the project's development. Caruso is committed to developing the project in Arcadia. If the contract is indeed terminated between the parties, Magna would have to start from scratch with new plans, new environmental impact reports, and new hearings to propose another development.