{"id":315311,"date":"2024-03-25T17:25:25","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T22:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=315311"},"modified":"2024-03-26T12:19:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T17:19:40","slug":"stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/","title":{"rendered":"Stronach Group Threat to Close Down Santa Anita Blows Up in its Face"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, the owner of Southern California\u2019s Santa Anita Racetrack<\/a> threatened to close the famous venue if the state Horse Racing Board<\/a> (CHRB) voted to grant racing dates for a meeting in Northern California.<\/p>\n

\"Santa
The Stronach Group threatened to \u201crepurpose\u201d Santa Anita, above, unless horse racing stays out of Northern California. But was the company being serious? (Image: Thoroughbred Daily News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Friday, the CHRB went ahead and approved the dates anyway.<\/p>\n

It was a \u201cstunning rebuke\u201d to Santa Anita\u2019s owner, the Stronach Group<\/a>, according to the Los Angeles Times<\/em>, which first reported on the story.<\/p>\n

North vs. South<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the letter dated March 19, Craig Fravel, executive vice-chairman of 1\/ST Racing & Gaming, told the CHRB in no uncertain terms that their decision would have serious repercussions on racing in California.<\/p>\n

An analysis of alternative uses for Santa Anita and San Luis Rey will be undertaken in short order [if racing is allocated to the north],\u201d<\/strong> Fravel wrote. \u201cThe current financial model and required capital expense make no sense and the consolidation of operations as discussed last year and at the January Board meeting is the only alternative that has been presented.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The letter was worded so strongly because a bill working its way through the state legislature would divert simulcast money from Northern California to Southern California in the event there is no racing in the North.<\/p>\n

The Stronach Group intends to contribute to the paucity of racing in Northern California by closing down its Bay Area racetrack, Golden Gate Fields, in June.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether Stronach was serious about closing down Santa Anita, or was employing some strategic brinksmanship. Either way, the strategy blew up in its face.<\/p>\n

Landslide Decision <\/strong><\/h2>\n

A vote that was by no means assured to go against its interests \u2013 to grant racing dates for a 10-week meeting at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton this fall \u2013 ultimately became a unanimous decision in favor of Northern California.<\/p>\n

It seems the CHRB isn’t to be threatened, as its six board members let Fravel know during Friday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Thomas Hudnut complained Fravel was unfairly trying to set up the CHRB as \u201cdeterminant for [Santa Anita] to go out of business.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause if you go out of business, it\u2019s because of mismanagement, not because of this board,\u201d he emphasized, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commissioner Damascus Castellanos said the letter \u201cbothered him\u201d and was \u201cnot cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have the north against the south, and I received a lot of calls,\u201d Castellanos said. \u201cI\u2019m not upset because of the calls. I\u2019m upset because I don\u2019t do well with bullies \u2026 The bottom line is we need to work together. We need to figure out how to keep racing in California. Not just Northern, not just Southern, but in California.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, the owner of Southern California\u2019s Santa Anita Racetrack threatened to close the famous venue if the state Horse Racing Board (CHRB) voted to grant racing dates for a meeting in Northern California. On Friday, the CHRB went ahead and approved the dates anyway. It was a \u201cstunning rebuke\u201d to Santa Anita\u2019s owner, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":315313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,61,13592,86433],"tags":[90329,90331,90330,90327,90328],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStronach Group Threat to Close Down Santa Anita Blows Up<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stronach Group subsidiary 1\/ST Racing & Gaming\u2019s Santa Anita threat fails to have desired effect on California Horse Racing Board.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stronach Group Threat to Close Down Santa Anita Blows Up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stronach Group subsidiary 1\/ST Racing & Gaming\u2019s Santa Anita threat fails to have desired effect on California Horse Racing Board.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-25T22:25:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-26T17:19:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Santa-Anita.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1155\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/\",\"name\":\"Stronach Group Threat to Close Down Santa Anita Blows Up\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Santa-Anita.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-25T22:25:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-26T17:19:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Stronach Group subsidiary 1\/ST Racing & Gaming\u2019s Santa Anita threat fails to have desired effect on California Horse Racing Board.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/stronach-group-threat-to-close-down-santa-anita-blows-up-in-face\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Santa-Anita.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Santa-Anita.jpg\",\"width\":1155,\"height\":840,\"caption\":\"The Stronach Group threatened to \u201crepurpose\u201d Santa Anita, above, unless horse racing stays out of Northern California, but was the company being serious? 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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