Santa Anita race date decision could end Oak Tree's 41-year run
By Steve Andersen
ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita Park was awarded the 2011 autumn racing dates historically operated by the Oak Tree Racing Association at a California Horse Racing Board meeting on Thursday, ending, at least temporarily, Oak Tree’s 41-year direct involvement in the management of a Southern California race meeting. In a widely predicted decision, the racing board voted to award racing dates from Sept. 28 to Nov. 6 to Pacific Racing Association, a subsidiary of Santa Anita’s parent company, MI Developments. Oak Tree had sought to operate a fall meeting at Hollywood Park, comparable to the 2010 schedule, but the board voted 6-0 to run the dates at Santa Anita.
Santa Anita requested to run its meeting through its PRA subsidiary, which also operates race meetings at Golden Gate Fields, another MI Developments track in California. At Thursday’s meeting, Santa Anita officials indicated that it will work with Oak Tree on a financial arrangement that would allow Oak Tree, a not-for-profit organization, to continue making contributions to various organizations affiliated with the sport despite not managing a race meeting. The proposed arrangement would include consideration that would allow Santa Anita to run the well-known Breeders’ Cup stakes preps typically run during the Oak Tree meeting.