Oak Tree Racing Association's autumn season will begin October 17. The 25 day session offers 16 stakes races with record purses. Several new features including Pick Six wagering will be offered.
The opening day of Oak Tree marked the introduction of satellite wagering on Santa Anita Park races at Hollywood Park and Los Alamitos. After years of resistance, Santa Anita Park has fully embraced satellite wagering in a bid to win back fans lost to the lottery and urban congestion.
Summary of the amount of money wagered during the most recent meeting. For the 24 day Oak Tree meet, $74.5 million was bet. Of that, $62.6 million was returned to bettors. The balance went back into circulation through various channels, including state and local taxes.
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.
The Oak Tree Racing Association has allocated $365,000 to the University of California, Davis, Veterinary School for the study of the heart and lungs of the thoroughbred.
Increases in total attendance and total parimutuel handle, compared to last season, and a decline in daily average were in evidence in figures released after the November 16 close of the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park.
City Council delayed action on racetrack tax. Tucker Bill provides that a city with race track be given .33 of 1% of the parimutual wagers instead of charging admission tax.
Santa Anita Park set a record for total attendance (2,690,834) and had it highest daily average attendance (31,289) since 1948, as the 1981-82 meeting closed April 21. Facts and figures about the racing season are presented.
As part of a $2.6 million capital improvements program, Santa Anita Park race track has built a 2-story addition to the east end of the club-house. The 2nd story patio will be open during the Oak Tree meet, with a third story to be constructed next year.
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.
On a 4-1 vote, Arcadia City Council gave first reading to an ordinance whereby the City elects to receive a 1/3 of 1% of parimutual wagers at Santa Anita Park Race Track. Adoption means the city will not charge an admission tax.
Air conditioning is being installed at the track as part of $3.4 million in improvements being made this summer in preparation for the first season of inter-track wagering offered at Santa Anita Park this year from July 27 to September 14.
5,133 attended the first day of inter-track wagering at Santa Anita Park where wagering was offered on racing at Del Mar. $1,069,980 was wagered on the simulcast races. Santa Anita Park is one of 10 off-track wagering satellites.
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.
A law designed to protect Arcadia's oak tree population was passed 4-0 by the City Council on Tuesday. The trees listed in the ordinance may not be cut down or excessively trimmed.