The 6th annual fall racing meeting closed November 3 and the directors of the Oak Tree Racing Association held a celebration. Vice President and General Manager Ray Rogers is pictured.
Chic Anderson, one of the finest thoroughbred racing announcers known for his work at the Kentucky Derby and other major races, has been named to be the announcer at Santa Anita Park for 1975.
Bill Quiggle, who has been Santa Anita Park track superintendent since 1949, retired at the end of the 1977 racing season. The track and all plantings were his domain.
Karen Garr is one of 400 pari-mutual clerks behind the betting windows at Arcadia's Santa Anita Park. The 44 year old Arcadia resident has been close to the race track since 1969, when she started as a "pony girl" in the back stretch of Santa Anita Park.
Honorary service awards were given by the PTA Council to Ray Rogers, VP and General Manager of Santa Anita Park race track; Jeanne Saunders, currently serving on the Library Board; and Dr. Edward Ryan, Superintendent of Schools. Biographic sketches of each included.
Photo and caption. Arcadia Chamber of Commerce member Mike Saleo and president Kelvin Mason admire the jewels shown by R.G. Fergoda, manager of the new J. Herbert Hall Jewelry Co. in Fashion Park, as Stephanie Gates and Mike Vitro, assistant manager, look on.
If the lottery initiative on the November ballot passes, Santa Anita Park race track could go out of business, dragging down with it reserves that the city of Arcadia obtains from the track's handle, according to Robert Sweeney, executive vice president and general manager of the California Thoroughbred Association.
If Santa Anita Park race track and other tracks cannot successfully compete with the just instituted state lottery that results from the passage of Proposition 37, the horse racing industry may go to Sacramento to seek tax relief, according to Robert Strub, president of the Los Angeles Turf Club.
Santa Anita Park completed its most successful season ever with $445 million wagered. Total attendance was also an all-time high. The admission tax netted the city $1.1 million. The Park's other contributions to the city are discussed.
A $3 million building project to increase stable capacity by 150 stalls is underway at Santa Anita Park. Completion, which is planned before the start of the Oak Tree meeting, will bring the total number of stalls to 2,100. The project is discussed in detail.
A spokesperson for Santa Anita Consolidated has indicated that there is no intention of moving the Santa Anita Park race track to the $100 million sports complex proposed for the City of Los Angeles by Hollywood Park, Inc.