Mostly Positives for Santa Anita Meet

On another beautiful, sunny day in Arcadia, horse racing at came to a close on Sunday, and, looking on the bright side, the 75th winter/spring meet overall was a success.

The final day was highlighted by a thrilling feature race, won by Bourbon Bay. And with I’ll Have Another, winner of the on April 7, being named horse of the meet, there were plenty of reasons for Santa Anita officials to raise a glass and celebrating the meet.

For one thing, Bourbon Bay’s victory over Eagle Poise in the $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Stakes in front of a crowd of 16,034 couldn’t have been more exciting. It took six minutes to review the finish-line photo to determine Bourbon Bay’s nose crossed the finish line first.

But more importantly, the meet showed slight increases in wagering and attendance. On-track wagering was up 1 percent over 2011, and the 580,000 total attendance for the 72-day meet also represented a 1 percent increase.

In this economy, and with horse racing in general being in a declining mode in recent years, any kind of increase is good news.

Racing returns to Santa Anita in late September with the Autumn meet. Officials have not yet set a date for opening day, but the meet will be highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 2-3.

The highlight of the just-concluded meet was I’ll Have Another’s upset victory over Creative Cause in the Santa Anita Derby. Attendance that day hit 33,166, with $3,765,846 being bet at the track.

Those numbers had to be a bit disappointing, considering a media blitz orchestrated by , and financially supported by friends Paul Reddam, the owner of I’ll Have Another and the CashCall loan company, and Glenn Sorenstein, another horse owner who owns Whilshire Coin.

Verge took over his new post on March 17, in reflecting back on the entire meet, which began Dec. 26, sees only positive signs.

“We promoted very aggressively and it paid off,” he said. “Our initial goal was to showcase our five big days and make them bigger, and we did that.

“We had 44,579 here on opening day, which was a 10 percent increase over the previous year and the first time we’ve had more than 40,000 people out for opening day since 1999.”

on Jan. 28 drew a crowd of 30,514 — by far the largest horse racing crowd at any track in the country that day.

“Strub Stakes Day [Feb. 4] was a home run as well,” Verge said. “Our all-sources handle was $15 million, which was a 3 percent increase over last year. Attendance for the Santa Anita Handicap [March 3] was up 10 percent. Santa Anita Derby Day was outstanding and people were impressed with the energy and excitement we had throughout the track.”

Verge, a high-energy person who always seems to be on the go, isn't about to slow down now that the meet is over. On Monday night, he was at the Riviera Country Club near his home in Pacific Palisades for a Lakers Foundation fundraiser. He and trainer Doug O'Neill donated a quarter-interest in a horse they own together and Verge donated a party for 30 at Santa Anita this fall.

As for the meet that just ended, jockey Joel Rosario won his second consecutive Santa Anita riding title with 89 wins, 17 more than runner-up Rafael Rosario. Mike Smith had the most stakes wins with 11.

It was not a good meet for highly regarded jockey Garrett Gomez, who suffered a heel injury on Jan. 8 when he was thrown from a horse prior to a race. At the time, Gomez had won six stakes in the first 10 days of the meet.  He tried to come back on March 10 but was still in pain. He is now fully recovered and is scheduled to ride Daddy Nose Best in on the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

It was certainly another good meet for , who was the leading trainer for a record 10th time. His horses won 46 races, seven more than runner-up John Sadler.

On Sunday, two $10,000 first prizes were awarded to the winners of the first “A Day at the Races” film festival, which drew 25 five-minute submissions and generated more than 77,000 on-line votes. Also, a lucky member of Santa Anita’s Thoroughbred Club, Eddie Garcia of La Puente, won $10,000 in a Mystery Mutuel Voucher promotion.

There were eight reported horse fatalities during the meet, down from 18 a year ago. Several trainers attributed the decline to an improved clay and sand racing surface.

The improved racing surface is just one of the many positives to this meet. And when things are going well at Santa Anita, that is good news for the city of Arcadia and its economy.