Ex-Calder Racing Secretary Headed to Hialeah
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Former Calder Casino & Race Course racing secretary Mike Anifantis will join Hialeah Park next month as assistant racing secretary for its upcoming Quarter Horse meet.
"I expect to return to South Florida right after the Churchill meet ends and start at Hialeah around Dec. 19," Anifantis said Nov. 19.
After being part of a massive layoff at Calder last summer, Anifantis is a placing judge at the Churchill Downs race meet that will end Nov. 30. Calder, in Miami Gardens, Fla., and Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky., are both owned by Churchill Downs Inc.
Hialeah Park will hold its sixth consecutive season of Quarter Horse racing between Dec. 26 and March 1, 2015. It is in Hialeah, Fla., about 11 miles south of Calder.
"Mike did a great job at Calder, and we are glad that he will be back home in South Florida and with us," said Randy Soth, Hialeah's general manager.
Calder's racing secretary since 2006, Anifantis was among approximately 200 Calder employees whose jobs were eliminated by CDI after the July 1 signing of a racing dates agreement by Calder and Gulfstream Park. The two South Florida tracks ended their 12 months of head-to-head racing, and Gulfstream took control of Calder's racing operations, limited to two months each year through 2020.
At Calder, Gulfstream is holding its inaugural Gulfstream Park West meet through Nov. 29.
Anifantis stayed at Calder until early August.
Matt Crawford is Hialeah's racing secretary. He previously was assistant racing secretary at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La., and at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex.
After Hialeah's meet ends, Anifantis will be able to pursue another permanent position in Thoroughbred racing, where he held management jobs since the 1980s.
At Calder, Anifantis was highly respected and well-liked by horsemen.
"My door was always open, and everyone knew that I would take what they said into consideration (in writing conditions for races)," he said.
He maintained that working relationship amid constant disputes between CDI and the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
Anifantis said one of his proudest accomplishments was "being able to keep (Calder) going and have enough horses" for race cards while running head-to-head against Gulfstream, which was offering significantly higher purses.
"I am delighted to hear this good news about Mike and Hialeah," said veteran South Florida trainer Larry Bates. "I've been in this game over 30 years, and Mike is as fair as any racing secretary I have worked with.
"I can't say enough about him and his staff. They did a tremendous job under very difficult circumstances."
Anifantis said that Sean Perl, who was the assistant racing secretary at Calder, has become a bloodstock agent and is under consideration for racing office jobs at several Thoroughbred tracks.