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.
Arcadia considers rate tiers for water use. Santa Anita Park race track, Los Angeles County Arboretum, Westfield Shoppingtown, and the two golf courses are Arcadia's biggest users. The tiered rate structure means that users would be charged more per gallon once they cross certain thresholds.
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.
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.
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."
Helen Meredith is the founder of Pegasus Ranch in Tehachapi, CA, a place where 60 retired thoroughbreds live. She is struggling financially and estimates that the United Pegasus Foundation is $80,000 in debt. Some of the famous race horses there are Cardmania, winner of the 1993 Breeders' Cup Spring at Santa Anita Park, Music Merci (another Breeders' Cup veteran), Time to Pass, Sand Lizard, and Kingdom Found.
Two articles describe this coming weekend's Breeders' Cup race at Santa Anita Park. "Unbeaten Zenyatta already looks like a Classic choice," p. B1 and "Smart money may be on Einstein," p. B3.
This article puts the spotlight on Arcadia High School boys varsity cross country team, led by Ammar Moussa. The team has 14 members. The first seven are ranked second in the state and the CIF-Southern section. A photograph shows Zack Marriott, Esmond Wei, Nick Shar, Eric Garibay, Allen Leung, Sergio Gonzalez, William Tsai, Charlie Johansen and David Mejia.
Oak Tree Racing has begun at Santa Anita Park. Opening day drew a crowd of 17,239, a number that slightly eclipsed last year's opening day attendance, but the on-track handle of $1.88 million fell by about $315,000 compared to last year's opening day.
Celebrity and super model Tyra Banks' television show "Top Model" did a photo shoot at Santa Anita Park Race Track, using semi-nude models. Pete Siberell, Director of Community Service at Santa Anita Park, described it as "kinda sleazy."
The Thoroughbred Racing Association of California is trying to put together a bid for Santa Anita Park, with plans to run it as a nonprofit arm of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. Santa Anita Park race track was to be auctioned this week but no acceptable opening bid was made.
Bankrupt Santa Anita Park race track will not go on the auction block Tuesday as planned because no acceptable opening bid has been offered. The sale of the track has been postponed. The track has court-sanctioned access to operating funds at least until the first quarter of next year.