Santa Anita Awaits Health Department Decision on Racing

Weeks into a COVID-19 shutdown of spectatorless racing at Santa Anita Park by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, track executives are hopeful of receiving a response early next week to its request to resume racing.

Aidan Butler, the acting executive director of California operations for The Stronach Group, said he and other TSG executives, including chair and president Belinda Stronach, met with Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and other health officials by video conference April 16. They later submitted a written proposal outlining their rationale for racing, which was ceased by the health department March 27.

"They were very accommodating and listened, asked some very good questions, and we walked them through what we're doing, why it makes absolute sense to do it, and how it would not be logical to not do it. It is an absolute no-brainer," Butler said. "We walked them through some of the issues the industry faces for the people on the backside and how that could go."

Santa Anita, like TSG-owned Golden Gate Fields in Northern California, is temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a business deemed nonessential. TSG had maintained, initially successfully to state officials, that racetracks warranted being one of those exceptions because it provided animal care and that racing required fewer participants than morning training, which has continued without interruption.

Racing is ongoing at a handful of U.S. tracks, including TSG-owned Gulfstream Park in Florida, under protocols that limit attendance to horsemen and essential staff.

The written proposal emphasized that Santa Anita is largely a self-contained community, but that it would be willing to relocate jockeys, starting-gate crews, and racing officials to on-site housing. Without the economic engine of racing, the track argued, 750 backstretch personnel could be jeopardized. 

"Going forward, I have engaged an infectious disease doctor, and he is more than willing to speak to the medical professionals over there," Butler said. "At any point, if there is something we need to tweak, I can tweak."

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 40 new deaths and 567 new cases of COVID-19 on April 17, representing a decline in deaths from 55 Thursday but an increase from 399 cases. On April 13, the Los Angeles health department extended an order until May 15 that closed beaches, hiking trails, and most nonessential businesses. Some facilities, such as the outdoor grounds at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden located near Santa Anita, remain open.

Golden Gate, located in Alameda County, was closed by its health department April 2. 

"From what I can gather, they are still in an open dialogue, " Butler said.

If Santa Anita is successful in its bid to resume racing, Butler said he thinks that might clear the way for reopening Golden Gate.

"I'm hopeful that a plan, a very thoughtful plan, if accepted, would be quite easy to replicate across other tracks," Butler said.