Santa Anita Park will be hosting the coveted 2012 Breeders' Cup World Championships. The Stronach Group took full control of the race track from MI Developments at the end of June. The two-day event will generate some revenue for the city and bring a lot of exposure to the San Gabriel Valley.
Major traffic jams during Santa Anita Park Race Track's record breaking opening day. All parking lots were full by 12:20 PM on December 26, 2017. See also Mountain Views News, p. B1, December 30, 2017 opening day recap crowd of 40,000.
Security for Santa Anita Derby to be increased as the track continues its efforts to eradicate illegal drugs from the sport. Santa Anita Park will have security guards at the stalls of the nine entrants in the Derby, 72 hours in advance of the race.
How Santa Anita Park became one of America's most popular horse racing venues. In 1907 the original Santa Anita Race Track opened, and 27 years later, the new Santa Anita Park, in the current location, was opened. Santa Anita Park has hosted famous races Santa Anita Handicap, Breeders' Cup, the 1984 Olympics equestrian events, and famous race horses Seabiscuit, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry, and American Pharoah (Pharoah is correct spelling). (American Pharaoh).
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments, the owner of Santa Anita Park, says he is optimistic his company can work out a new deal with developer Rick Caruso to build an outdoor mall at Santa Anita Park, even though he voided a 2005 joint-venture agreement with Caruso in April to build the Shops at Santa Anita mall in the race track's parking lot.
Dennis Moore, 67 year old track superintendent since November 2014, helps Santa Anita Park race track shine, horses stay safe. He is currently maintaining the racing surfaces at Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos, and Del Mar.
Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, who is about to become the sole owner of Santa Anita Park, said he hasn't ruled out talking to developer Rick Caruso about reviving a project to build an outdoor mall in the race track's parking lot. Last week Caruso announced that he is no longer pursuing a development deal with Santa Anita Park's outgoing owner, MI Developments, Inc. (MID), for the upscale Shops at Santa Anita. Stronach is the outgoing chairman of MID.
Santa Anita Park has live-racing for the first time on the same day as Kentucky Derby. The track will be rooting for Santa Anita Derby winner California Chrome, a California-bred race horse.
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.
Trevor Denman, 63, the voice of Santa Anita Park since 1983, will retire and will not return for the 2015-2016 race meet. He has been calling races for 44 years, 33 at Santa Anita.
Santa Anita Park will reduce its work force by merging departments. More than 100 full-time and seasonal positions will be affected--including some layoffs and some full-time positions becoming part-time positions, said Greg Avioli, CEO and President of Stronach Entertainment, the track's parent company. The shift to off-track betting and account wagering has brought less revenue to the race track.
Arcadia City Council last week approved expanding the kinds of outdoor special events allowed at Santa Anita Park race track, and in the adjacent parking lot areas, including concerts, carnivals, and farmers markets. The change will allow the track to host the California Philharmonic summer concerts and possibly Cavalia, a Cirque du Soleil show. Councilman Roger Chandler said the amendments made to the city's municipal code allow a very large and underused piece of land, specifically the south parking lot, to be used and to generate additional income for the track.
Arcadia's Santa Anita Park Race Track announces racing closure following 21 horse deaths since December. Racing is suspended immediately and will return at an undetermined date. See hard copy in VF Santa Anita Park 2011-2020.
Arcadia's Santa Anita Park main track to reopen today after rash of fatalities. Nineteen horses have died at Santa Anita Park Race Track since December 2018. Track surfaces are being tested.
A drainage problem forced the cancellation of horse racing at Santa Anita Park since three inches of rain fell yesterday. The track has had to cancel racing 12 times since the synthetic track was installed two years ago. In 2006, the California Horse Racing Board banned dirt surfaces from thoroughbred tracks. Santa Anita Park has tried two synthetic tracks but the surfaces have not worked out. Officials announced they will replace the synthetic surface before the Oak Tree Meet in the fall.
Arcadia officials will meet with Santa Anita Park's majority owner Frank Stronach, to talk about the mall project that fell through with Caruso Affiliated, and to see if Stronach still envisions a high end retail project to develop on the track parking lot.