The 75th anniversary of Santa Anita Park was celebrated with festivities including a parade of Budweiser Clydesdales and the unveiling of sculptor Nina Kaiser's life-size bronze statue of the race horse John Henry. The article includes a list of people in attendance at the party in the Directors' Room.
Santa Anita Park race track will unveil a 1000-pound bronze statue of popular race horse John Henry and a historical marker covering 75 years of the race track's history, as part of its 75th anniversary this Saturday. The bronze statue cost more than $100,000. The marker was done by the Arcadia Historical Society.
Measure R, by which voters approved a half-cent sales tax last November, was to fund dozens of new transportation projects across Los Angeles County. However, rather than launch new projects, several San Gabriel Valley cities plan to use the windfall to keep municipal bus routes and Dial-a-Ride shuttles in operation. Arcadia may store up some of the funding it is due to receive, 290,000 this year and $496,000 next year, for a larger project down the line, said Transportation Services Manager Linda Hui. Possible projects include funding part of a grade separation at a future Gold Line station in Arcadia, or funding other Gold Line station enhancements, such as shuttle services. Street improvements are also a possibility for Arcadia.
In William Cottrell's trial, the jury never got to hear evidence about his Asperger's Syndrome. Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled that Asperger's could not be introduced at trial as a legal defense. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Klausner's ruling was a mistake and tossed out Cottrell's arson convictions, leaving only the conspiracy count. Last week Cottrell was re-sentenced to the original 100-month term for the conspiracy conviction, after prosecutors declined to retry the arson counts. One reason federal officials declined was because they did not want Asperger's Syndrome established as a viable legal defense.
Arcadia officials project a $1.2 million budget deficit and have approved a combination of using reserve funds, hiring freezes, and other budget mechanisms to offset it. In order to avoid deep cuts in city services, the City Council has approved a plan to defer the city's slurry sealing program (street surface maintenance) for one year.
A new exhibit at the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum is about the Santa Anita Assembly Center, a temporary facility at Santa Anita Park that held Japanese Americans before they were sent to more permanent internment camps during World War II. The opening reception will feature speakers Osamu Miyamoto, Akkiko Nomura and others. Dana Dunn is the curator.
Two articles describe the Breeders' Cup XXVI, 2009, and the race horse Zenyatta. The Breeders' Cup drew a 2-day total of 96,496 attendees, but the 41st Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park showed significant declines in attendance and handle when its 31 days of racing ended yesterday.
Zenyatta, a filly and the kind of sensational race horse that comes along only once in a generation, scored perhaps the greatest victory in the history of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. With jockey Mike Smith (in photo), Zenyatta wins the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic by one length. Other winners are listed.
Kevin Modesti writes about the race horse Zenyatta, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. Zenyatta stunned the world's fastest thoroughbreds with a last-to-first rally in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. Zenyatta is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss. Jerry Moss is the co-founder of A & M Records (with Herb Alpert) and was named after an album by 1980s rock group The Police.
The Breeders' Cup, known as the world championship of horse racing, was held at Santa Anita Park last Friday and Saturday. The event has helped the local economy in Arcadia, with an estimated $50 million spent on restaurants, hotels, wagering, taxis, etc.
Life is Sweet (race horse) was the winner of the Grade I $2 million Ladies' Classic at the Breeders' Cup XXVI. Rider Garrett Gomez and Life is Sweet are shown in a photo. More recap and news is in an accompanying article "Europeans seek another Classic performance."
Natalie Innocenzi, 17, of Arcadia, and student at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, was crowned the 92nd Rose Queen, by 17-year-old Dominic DiSano, son of the late Gary DiSano, the recently deceased President of the Tournament of Roses.