Horse Racing Problems in California to Impact the Industry Nationwide

As wildfires devastated parts of the state, Santa Anita Park stepped up to serve the community. A week after the fires, it canceled races and opened its facility as a center for collecting and distributing donations. The horse racing facility also served as a staging ground for utility vehicles fighting the fire and housed large animals that couldn’t fit in animal shelters. However, it contributed to horse racing problems in California that could impact the industry nationwide.

According to online racebook operators, the air quality and the track were well within safe racing ranges, untouched by the flames. After the largest fire tragedy in Los Angeles history, Santa Anita made the right decision for the people of Arcadia, Altadena, Pasadena, and other nearby towns.

Santa Anita has shown her mettle before. It donated its land at Huntington and Baldwin to the fire department. In addition, it ceded the property that houses Arcadia City Hall and the police station, which is located near the track.

Horse Racing Problems in California

However, carrying out these acts of charity is becoming more complex. Spectators attempting to enter the Santa Anita parking lot would see automobiles backing up along Baldwin Avenue as they exited the 210 freeway decades ago due to the sport. Nationally, horsemen no longer feel obligated to attend the Santa Anita Handicap. Due to the absence of a supplementary revenue stream, like gambling in casinos, competitive purses have vanished. Wagering is severely limited because of the highly tiny field sizes. Plus, the turnout is far lower than it was in previous years.

The unthinkable possibility that the track may be sold or closed down soon is getting closer by the day. The Stronach Group—which owns Florida’s Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park—has appointed Keith Brackpool—a former TSG executive and chairman of the California Horse Racing Board—to investigate the possibility of selling the company’s 1/ST Racing division and the tracks.

Despite their public denials, two individuals familiar with the matter who were not permitted to discuss it publicly said that Brackpool had discussions on the sale with at least one investor. Assuming everything goes according to plan, whoever purchases the track will keep racing for now, based on a guide to pay per head racebooks.

Threat to Racing in California

Racing in California faces an existential danger. Also, this isn’t only a California issue; eliminating racing from the state would solve it. Despite the inherent territoriality of racing organizations, the many divisions of the sport are intricately linked on a national level. Part of the four-legged stool that is racing includes the following states: Kentucky, New York, tracks that host boutique meets like Keeneland in Kentucky and Oaklawn in Arkansas, as well as the winter meets at Gulfstream and Tampa Bay in Florida, and lastly, California.

The stakes are pretty high if racing becomes a three-legged stool. When times were tough, Santa Anita was ready to lend a hand. Unfortunately, the track is currently in need of assistance. American horse racing, by implication, does as well.

In December, The Times spent multiple days at the 50th Global Symposium on Racing in Tucson, Ariz., to learn what racing executives thought about the future of racing in California and the United States. The optimistic image depicted by around twenty industry insiders is contingent upon California’s ability to get Historical Horse Racing (HHR), an electronic gaming product, to augment purses. Nobody can imagine a world without it. Since resolving would likely need a consensus among Native American tribes, who oversee non-pari-mutuel gambling in California, the tracks have provided no public proof of their progress toward this goal. They blocked other parties who wanted to learn how to be a bookie in the state.