GOLDEN GLIMPSES #130

September 1, 1998

By ED GOLDEN

Santa Anita is here to stay. For now, through the millenium and beyond.

Its savior was not Meditrust, which last year infused $386 million into the coffers of the lush and historic Arcadia race track nestled majestically in the San Gabriel mountains. The liberation of California racing has come in the form of Senate Bill 27, which was signed into law Aug. 21 by Gov. Pete Wilson and will take effect Jan. 1, 1999.

"There is frustration over these rumors about Santa Anita’s demise, and they have no factual basis whatsoever," said Santa Anita president Cliff Goodrich, who has been down this road before. "I guess I want the racing community to know that Santa Anita is going to be here for a long time.

"Nobody can say that any business is going to be around forever. But when they start writing that fans better enjoy Santa Anita while they can, that’s an overbite beyond belief. We are going to be here a long time. We’re excited about the future and we’ve just got the most historic piece of legislation signed in the history of California racing. We’ve got the NTRA (National Thoroughbred Racing Association). There are many reasons for tremendous optimism, so Santa Anita’s doomsayers need to take another look."

The passage of SB 27 opens up a new world to racing in the Golden State. John Van de Kamp, president and general counsel of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, projects the following:

"Over $16.1 million in new money will be available for purses, $13.8 million for track commissions, $1.7 million for simulcast commission/expenses (money which when unspent is split evenly between tracks and owners), over $1 million for stabling and vanning, $2.2 million for breeders and owner awards, with local governments getting $300,000. The gist of the bill is a reduction in state license fees (taxes) for wagers on thoroughbred racing at live race meetings and at satellite facilities. Horse racing’s taxes will be cut nearly 50 percent.

"The state’s simulcasting program will also be dramatically changed. Limited full-card simulcasting will be permitted before 7 p.m. During the day, thoroughbred tracks and satellites can bring in full cards from anywhere in the country provided (1) the number of races imported does not exceed 20 races per day when live racing is conducted, and (2) overall that wagers on live or simulcast races may not be accepted which exceed the total number of thoroughbred races on which wagers were accepted in 1998.

"The industry consensus is that the simulcasting changes alone could raise handle between 5 and 15 percent--leading to increases in owners’ purses accounts and track commissions. When combined with the tax relief, owners’ purse money could swell by $20 million, or close to 16 percent."

Fair enough, but what will all that mean to the bettor, the lifeblood of the sport?

"I think it will offer more options to the bettor and hopefully a better quality product," said Goodrich. "Clearly, purses will go up in certain categories, although I’m not sure it will be across the board. We’ll have to get together with the horsemen and try to do what’s best for the business by putting the money where it makes the most sense, to increase the quality of racing. Bettors will have options they didn’t have before, and with the purse increases, I would hope over time, they are going to see a better product.

"The TOC figures are ballpark numbers," Goodrich points out. "No one knows for sure until we learn how much additional simulcasts will increase business, how much it will diminish live-track wagering or how much it will add to the total wagering. It’s very confusing, but those are good ballpark numbers and they’re obviously significant. Our purses are going to look very impressive and I assume that’s going to be a factor in whether out-of-state horsemen decide to race in California or not."

Improvement could be noticed as early as Santa Anita’s long winter/spring meet late this year.

"It really will start Dec. 26, because we’ll have a fairly consistent purse structure throughout the meeting," Goodrich said. "The question is, at what purse structure will barns from out of state start to race in California instead of elsewhere? That’s why this purse structure is so important. We have not yet had discussions with the TOC. We will and I don’t know where that will sort out, but there’s only an upside of more horses racing in Southern California because of the passage of SB 27."

Notes Van de Kamp: "California’s taxes on horsemen will now be at a level equivalent to the other major horse racing states. Winners and losers? Everyone won. A win-win situation. The best kind of victory."

THE HOMESTRETCH: Goodrich on Santa Anita’s position on the new racing surface installed at Hollywood Park prior to its last meeting: "Hollywood and Bay Meadows put in the turf grids and we continue to monitor that. From a standpoint of track safety, Santa Anita had the best meet we’ve ever had. In theory, it would be great if we could ever get all three track surfaces the same. That would be ideal. But I don’t know if that will ever be possible, because there are different climatic conditions at Santa Anita, Hollywood and Del Mar." Meanwhile, the latest count on fatal breakdowns is nine at Del Mar, where the track surface has come under its heaviest fire ever . . . Lori Petty, the urchin who utters "go baby go" in the NTRA’s radio and TV ads, is the same Lori Petty who played Geena Davis’ whiney kid sister in the 1992 movie, "A League of Their Own." Only difference is, Petty seems 20 pounds lighter now, her hair is darker and boyishly short and her eye shadow went from All-American blue to malnourished-looking black. If I’d have suggested "go baby go" at the NTRA’s brainstorming session, I suspect I’d have been laughed out of the meeting. In my years at the races, I’ve heard hooks such as, "go on with him, jock," and "how sweet it is," but never such a bland, generic expression as "go baby go." And despite what appears to be a unified front by the NTRA, trust me, there is dissension among the ranks. I, for one, have never seen nor heard a public relations arm such as the NTRA so prominent in ad copy. NTRA mention should be subliminal, not self-promoting. Its focus should be on the industry it is paid to champion -- the horses, the jockeys, the trainers. There is no need to draw disproportionate attention to the NTRA in newspaper, radio and TV spots in which the purity and personality of the sport should be the focal point. A PR firm shouldn’t be paid by its customer to draw recognition to and promote itself. It is not necessary for the NTRA to feed its apparently insecure ego, especially at the expense of its client . . . Coronado’s Quest, who defeated Victory Gallop again on Saturday, this time at 1 1/4 miles in the Travers, needs only to win the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 27 before winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 to wrap of Horse of the Year honors, as I predicted he would in the July 14-20 editions of Gaming Today . . . Eddie Musselman, the Howard Stern of racing writers, is at it again. Musselman, who distributes a tasteless, rabblerousing rip-off of the National Enquirer called "Indian Charlie," referred to the Daily Racing Form’s new editor and publisher Steve Crist as "Steve Crist and his army of creeps," adding "they might want to consider keeping Steve Crist’s mug shot off the front page, as he is just as hideous in color as he was in black and white." Musselman would call that freedom of speech. I call it freedom of sleaze.

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