Santa Anita Canyon Road, aka Chantry Flat Road, has been jointly owned by Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, and Los Angeles County for years. The 3-mile mountain road that leads to the Angeles National Forest will be turned over to Los Angeles County if the cities pay to fix it up. Arcadia and Sierra Madre have completed their repairs and are waiting for Monrovia to start a roughly $500,000 project.
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-born artist Quinton Bemiller is painting a mural to be displayed at The Armory Center for the Arts through March 21, 2010. This work was inspired by the natural environment of Hahamongna Watershed Park.
Three women were violently robbed in a span of a week in the 99 Ranch Market parking lot at 1300 S. Golden West Avenue. In two of the incidents, a passenger leaned out of a car to grab purses, and in the other incident, two men pushed a woman to the ground, kicked her in the face and stole her purse.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's horse Gabby's Golden Gal (owned by Arnold Zetcher) won the Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita Park. The jockey was Martin Garcia.
The City of Arcadia is using $646,000 in federal stimulus funds for repairs, repaving, re-striping and adding bicycle lanes on Santa Anita Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard. The city has received $534,000 in stimulus money to retrofit City Hall with an energy-efficient heating and cooling system and $80,000 for equipment and training for its police department. Sometime in late spring, officials plan to widen intersections along Santa Anita Avenue, adding turn lanes or through lanes at Foothill Boulevard, Live Oak Avenue and Duarte Road.
Last year it seemed Santa Anita Park might be sold in a bankruptcy auction, but it appears owner Frank Stronach will keep an interest in the track. Under a deal arranged by Stronach's bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) and its creditors in a Delaware bankruptcy court, ownership of the track would be transferred to MI Development, a real estate holding company controlled by Stronach. If a judge accepts the plan, Stronach would also retain ownership of Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, and Gulfstream Park in Florida. Also, it sets up developer Rick Caruso to proceed with building the Shops at Santa Anita mall that is proposed for the track's parking lot.
Six candidates are running for three seats on the Arcadia City Council. They are Bob Harbicht, Paul Cheng, Mickey Segal, Peter Amundson, Jason Lee, and Sho Tay. They each answer the questions, "What should be done to improve the city's fiscal situation?" and "How should the city handle the Caruso mall proposal at Santa Anita (Park)?" The election will be in April.
Santa Anita Park owner Frank Stronach is coming to town this weekend to meet with local horsemen to talk about the state of the sport. He'll also meet with an engineer to discuss the pros and cons of a proposed new racing surface consisting of dirt, sand, and a small amount of fiber. He says it is a very safe surface. The question remains, who will foot the bill for it, since Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corporation (MEC) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
Santa Anita Park owner Frank Stronach met with about a dozen horse trainers to discuss the track's racing surface. Stronach announced that he would not replace the synthetic Pro-Ride track yet, but will stick with it until he gets the ability to run the track with less state regulations. He wants free enterprise, which he may never get. In the meantime, drainage problems and injuries persist on the synthetic track. Stronach said he'd be back in April to discuss the issue more.
Art Wilson recaps the Santa Anita Handicap "Big 'Cap" race that took place yesterday. Included is a photo of race horse "Misremembered" and jockey Martin Garcia, who won the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap.
The Adams' Pack Station, owned by Deb Burgess, in the Chantry Flat area, 3 miles up a road starting from the top of Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia, fights to remain open as it faces costly upgrades required by the Los Angeles County Health Department. Forest authorities want it to remain a historic landmark, which would limit the amount and types of renovations that can be done.
Race horse "Zenyatta" carries jockey Mike Smith to victory at yesterday's Grade I $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita Park. Ann and Jerry Moss own Zenyatta.
The 134th Santa Anita Derby took place yesterday. Jockey Joseph Talamo rode race horse Sidney's Candy to victory in the Grade I $750,000 race. The runner up was Setsuko and Lookin At Lucky finished third.
Real estate developer and Arcadia resident Henry Nunez (in photo) started a hunger strike on Easter to draw attention to the importance of Arcadia's upcoming City Council elections. He is fasting and drinking only liquids and wants "a record turnout" in Tuesday's election for three city council seats and he wants people to vote for his choices--Peter Amundson, Paul Cheng and Sho Tay.