NEW LOOK SANTA ANITA EYES FANS, FUTURE

At Santa Anita early this year, there were enough negatives flying around to fill a dark room. All depicted one of the world's most scenic and storied race tracks as one day soon going the way of the nickel phone call, the 3-cent stamp and the penny gum ball machine.

Cliff Goodrich wasn't buying. Every chance he'd get, Santa Anita's president would champion the future of the stately Arcadia track, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary season. But Goodrich seemed to find few true believers.

If you listened hard, you could hear his voice choke when he welcomed a gathering for the Santa Anita Derby draw at Clockers' Corner. "When you look at this setting," Goodrich said wistfully, pointing his hand towards the verdant San Gabriel Mountains beyond the track's backstretch, "I'm hear to tell you we'll be racing here for a long, long time."

Thankfully, he is right. And now that Santa Anita is spending more than $10 million in renovations prior to Oak Tree's opening on Oct. 1, the doubters are silent. After all, Southern California racing without Santa Anita would be like Laurel without Hardy.

True, the old girl was starting to look a bit shabby. And perhaps Santa Anita was waiting until its merger with Meditrust became official before committing millions on overdue restoration and repairs. But presently the work is proceeding post-haste, and Santa Anita mainstays may not recognize her when they revisit.

"We're spending between $4 and $5 million in the barn area alone, and that's literally looking at every board and nail," Goodrich said. "It's costing about $2 million just to redo the barn roofs and repaint the barns. We're working on the rest rooms, and putting in a new water line that takes initial run-off when it rains and puts it into the sewer system instead of the wash. Not that the horsemen care about that, but when they come back, they're really going to appreciate all the work we've done back there. It will stand out in spades.

"In the grandstand, there's hardly any area that isn't being renovated in some way, shape or form, with redecorating or flooring. We're virtually going through the entire grandstand, including the box seat area. We're painting the underside of the roof; all the pipes and rails in the box seat area have been sandblasted; the flooring's been freshened up and repainted.

"Inside, the betting area has new carpeting and been redecorated, with more television monitors. We have individual TV's on all the turf club terrace tables, and now all the clubhouse terrace tables. That's something the fans clearly like.

"In addition to more monitors, we are close to an agreement with a firm to provide a video library. Over the years we have balked because we were never satisfied with the technology that would enable fans to call up past races to look at before they bet. Now, we're looking at a digital system we're happy with, and near a final agreement that would place 12 race replay stations throughout the plant. That would allow fans to call up past races and be a big plus."

Goodrich said the major overhaul likely would have taken place without an infusion of $383 million from Meditrust, "because that hasn't happened yet. We have some cash on hand. We have a credit line, and we certainly have Meditrust's support in this. But if the question is, 'Would this have happened if we had not had the Meditrust deal?' The answer is, 'I'm not sure.'

"While our regulars may be relatively satisfied with the condition of our facility, in this day and age, any new people attending race tracks may not, even at a track like Santa Anita. Our customers must compare us favorably to other present-day entertainment venues they visit. We're a 60-year-old facility and we were just long in the tooth in a lot of areas.

"There's another significant piece to this: it's important to current management and to Meditrust that a statement be made, and that statement is this: we're going to be around for a long time. When this merger was announced, there were doubters who said, 'Well, that's the end of Santa Anita. Why is the nursing care business concerned about the future of racing?' I don't think we'd be spending this amount of money if we didn't think we were going to be here for a long time. When they come back, this project will give horsemen, employees and, hopefully, fans alike, a feeling of security, a conviction that Santa Anita is here to stay.

"No matter what people think of Santa Anita or how it has done things in the past, it can be the stabilizing force in racing. For any major track to disappear would be a tragedy, Santa Anita in particular."

In the astute mind of Cliff Goodrich, the renovation is much more than new mortar and new monitors, new paint and new pipes.

"It should be seen as increasing the morale of many different participants in the industry," Goodrich said, "because now they realize Santa Anita is going to be around, and that's great."

CIELO SLEW -- Got rolling too late but Baffert runner looks like he can hold his own against Cal-bred non-winners of two "other than."

SWEET DREAMS -- Found level with $25,000 maidens but just missed at 5 1/2 furlongs after going wide turning for home.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Goodrich says completion is "going to be a photo finish, but I think we will make it. We're doing a whole new floor tile in the grandstand mainline, and that may not be quite done. But we should make everything else as long as we don't have any negative surprises. We must have the stable area ready, and we're shooting for Sept. 5 (three days earlier than announced). We have horsemen coming on the 8th, so that's tight." . . . Patrick Valenzuela, the clerk of scales' worst nightmare, is at it again. The 34-year-old jockey, using the familiar "overslept" excuse, failed to show for three mounts Thursday and was handed a five-day suspension. "We did test him (for substance abuse)," said steward David Samuel of the oft-troubled rider, whose career has been marked by drug abuse and missed riding assignments. "It was negative, but it is being sent to another lab for further testing." . . . Gary Mandella, trainer Richard's son and assistant, reports no concrete plans yet for Gentlemen, "but we have a lot of options. Both he and Siphon are galloping and doing good, although Siphon came out of the Pacific Classic a little foot-sore. We're shopping around for a race for Gentlemen. There's a race at Woodbine the same day as the Woodward (Sept. 18), and that race is a one-turn mile on grass. A one-turn mile would be easier than a mile-and-an-eighth (of the Woodward)." Also being considered are the Oct. 11 Goodwood and the Oct. 12 Oak Tree Turf Championship . . . Ron Ellis has multiple stakes winner Exotic Woods on the farm "to regroup and get her head straightened out. We're going to start over with her and she'll run at Oak Tree." Twice the Vice will go in the Palomar Handicap on Sept. 6. Ellis said he has "a lot of good 2-year-olds, "but probably won't start them before January."