2 Finalists Vie to Run Del Mar Track

Like a princess eyeing a list of potential suitors, a state subcommittee selected two finalists Tuesday to vie for the prize of running the Del Mar Race Track for the next two decades.

The three-member subcommittee of the state Race Track Leasing Commission favored proposals submitted by the Ogden-Nederlander group and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the track’s current operator.

A final decision on an operator will be made by the leasing commission sometime during the coming 60 days, although no date for the meeting has been set.

The subcommittee voted, 2 to 1, with Del Mar Fair Board member Jan Anton dissenting, to forward the two finalists to the six-member leasing commission, which is composed of three state officials and three Fair Board members. Anton said only a single finalist should be forwarded to the commission.

Different Proposals

While operators of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club say they want to run the track much as they have since they took over in 1970, the Ogden group has proposed adding 40 concerts a year to the current 43-day thoroughbred season.

Included in the Ogden-Nederlander proposal is a pledge to build a $72-million grandstand, to be turned over to the state at the end of the lease in 2010.

The Ogden group has come under fire, however, for its performance at the Orange County Fairgrounds, where rock concerts have engendered noise complaints from neighbors. In addition, Ogden has been criticized for a separate local proposal to operate an experimental toxic waste-burning plant on Torrey Pines Mesa near UC San Diego.

With the selection of the two finalists, four other groups competing for the track contract were left in the lurch. Those include Earl Scheib, a horse breeder and owner of a string of discount auto-painting shops; John Brunetti, owner of Florida’s Hialeah Park; Patrick Flavin, operator of the Maywood Park track and chairman of American Data Group; and a group composed of Boston CPA Arnold London and Encino dentist Dr. Leon Bloom.