Racing! A deconstruct of Santa Anita’s opening day

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we look back at what you thought of opening day.

I wrote some nice things about Santa Anita’s opener, especially the great card, and, as is often the case, got hit with emails about how bad the experience turned out to be for some. (Isn’t the worst day at the race track better than the best day in the office?)

So, first let’s go to the electronic mailbag and then get a response from Santa Anita. (As always, notes are edited for brevity, craziness, meanness and to keep us from getting sued.)

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“It was apparent that it was a good crowd, but there was one glaring issue: people had trouble getting bets in, not just because there weren’t enough tellers, but that one couldn’t utilize voucher machines because they weren’t working in multiple locations. I tried five different machines and used good, clean bills, and they were rejected. These were in the grandstand, the clubhouse, and the infield.

“When I decided to bet via teller, I was shut out, which is probably one of the most unpleasant experiences at a race track. I’m sure many others had the same experience.

“If Santa Anita wants new customers, it cannot let that kind of experience be the norm. Unfortunately, I fear the damage has been done. I will continue to attend, albeit less often, but I doubt there will be many new faces.”

Paul Watson

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“The new management has massive improvements ahead of them still. I witnessed countless blunders on part of the employees and management. To start, upon entering the parking area there were lines (six to my count) of cars merging into three different pay booths.

“One poor employee was trying to block the wide-open gap to the right of these booths in which cars were driving in for free. He then proceeded to hand select cars to go through (all of which appeared to be cars of higher luxury). After seeing this, multiple cars drove through and paid nothing.

“After parking you proceed to the massive lines just to enter. Now this is a very simple process and lines should be short. The problem is not all the booths are open. This is the exact same case when you get inside of the track. I can not even imagine how many thousands of dollars extra could be in the wagering pool each race if not for the simple fact that many, many guests are unable to place a wager since the lines take quite some time to move through.

“I normally place bets from my CPU to avoid the lines and was incapable of doing so due to poor internet service on such busy days. I saw lines for sandwiches and beer that were literally 30-40 people long.

“I am an avid horseplayer and racing fan who calls Santa Anita his home track. I was absolutely embarrassed and angered by the Santa Anita opener. If I had never been to the race track before I would definitely not return after witnessing such atrocities. I love the sport and the track but unfortunately it still has a very long road ahead to reach the glory it previous acquired.”

Timothy Burgess

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“Just want to pass this onto about opening day at SA. We arrived around 12:10 p.m., missed the first race. There were lines of over 25-plus people waiting to get in at the clubhouse, where there were just four turnstiles open (they have as many 10) and it took 10 minutes to get in. Over at the general admission there were four turnstiles open and the lines were even longer (we checked both).

“Needless to say many people were not happy about this and were unhappy about missing races to bet. Now think about how much money was lost at the turnstiles for race one and possibly race two. Granted racing fans should get to the track earlier, but, still there is no reason to ‘get cheap’ and not have enough turnstiles open at least through the second race on opening day.”

Chas Glazer

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“Is Santa Anita going to address the parking problems they had opening day? I got there early enough to miss the traffic back-up(s), but many of the people I talked to were complaining about the long wait and the missed betting opportunities (sometimes two or three races).

“One other problem that seemed to be consistent throughout the track — too many customers being shut out because of long betting lines. It would seem that both these problems could/did impact the handle and maybe even the attendance (I wonder how many just turned around and went home?).

Fred Hoyt

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It’s me again. Upon hearing your thoughts, I talked to Santa Anita to find out what happened. Tim Ritvo, the new boss, was intently interested and even welcomed specific observations from newsletter readers about opening day. (You can send any additional ones to me and I’ll forward.)

Believe me, folks, when I say he wants to fix the place, I firmly believe it. He did a deconstruct with staff on Thursday morning and found operational issues that need to be addressed.

The biggest one was the lack of mutuel clerks. Randy Hartzell, the mutuel manager, said he requested 230 clerks and got 181. He also requested an additional 40 permits (apprentice clerks who haven’t qualified for the union) and got 15. So, that means an ask of 270 and only 196 came to the track. That’s about 27% fewer clerks than they thought they needed.

Now, could Santa Anita be more vigilant in the days leading up to the meeting? Could the union have done a better job finding clerks? Or is there just a workforce shortage in a job that is becoming more obsolete because of technology?

As further explanation, an apprentice or permit employee has to work 15 days over a two-year period in order to join the union. If there aren’t enough big days where they need extra clerks, that can be a tough number to hit. And, without a lot of work, you could see how many would give up the idea that this is a viable job.

Now, and this is just me talking, if I know I’m going to come up short of clerks, I’m sending a nice bus down Del Mar way to pick up tellers that may normally work only in the summer. Throw in a food voucher, too. Just be more proactive.

To close this out, I know I’ve been shut out a few times in my life and pretty much without exception, I would have lost that bet. Very infrequently did I get shut out of a winning bet. And, you know, I’m guessing a lot of you are just like me. You saved money. So, how’s that for a glass-half-full thought? (Please, no emails from those of you who were going to win a gazillion bucks if you could have only got the bet down.)

Santa Anita preview

Friday’s eight-race card doesn’t have the firepower of Tuesday’s opener — it does have a $95,855 pick six carryover — but it has a race named after one of the often overlooked but beloved track figures.

The fifth race is the $75,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for 2-year-olds going a mile on the turf. Eddie ran the shoeshine stand at Santa Anita from its opening day on Dec. 25, 1934 through New Year’s Day in 2009. He died on Jan. 31, 2009 at age 98. His nickname was “Footman.”

This was originally a race thought of for the newsletter’s favorite horse, Brave Helios, owned in part by Eric “Manny” Sondheimer, my most capable reliever. But, alas, they are looking at a 6½ furlong Cal-bred turf race on Jan. 5.

Now, for horses that are running. The favorite, at 9/5, is Pubilius Syrus. I know, you’re thinking why you didn’t come up with that name. Just rolls off the tongue. Anyway, he was a Roman writer in the BC times. He’s got some really good quotes. Honest. Take a look here.

Sy is one for one on the Santa Anita turf course and finished second in the Grade 3 Cecile B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar. He keeps Kent Desormeaux as the jockey. The second favorite is Inscom at 7-2. He’s got a first and second over the SA grass.

Friday has eight races starting at 12:30 with three of them on the turf. Three are for 2-year-olds, hoping to get in one last race before their birthday on Monday.

Bob Ike’s SA play of the day

THIRD RACE: No. 11 Cascade Rock (6-1)

Sophomore maiden from Neil Drysdale barn is starting to run out of chances but let's give him one more try on the cut back in distance, which is a strong angle over this downhill turf course. He's drawn well outside and comes off a couple of solid two-turn efforts after blinkers were removed.

Tuesday Results: Holiday Stone faded badly when it counted in the sixth race.

Bob Ike is a Partner/VP of Horsebills.com and the proprietor of BobIkePicks.com (full-card picks, 3 Best Plays and betting strategy).

Los Alamitos QH preview

I’ve decided to leave this weekly segment in the hands of Orlando Gutierrez, marketing and media maven at Los Al. So, take it away, Orlando.

“The 68^th quarter-horse racing season at Los Alamitos Race Course gets underway on Friday night with an eight-race card. First post is 7 p.m. with a pair of allowance races as the co-features. The yearlong meet continues on Saturday night with a nine-race program, but there will be no racing at Los Alamitos on Sunday, New Year’s Eve.

“The most popular wagers are the early and late pick fours with pools for each often exceeding $120,000 a night. Friday’s early pick four starts in the first race and will feature 30 horses in the four-race sequence. The late pick four features races five through eight with 29 horses scheduled to run.

“Friday’s feature is the seventh race — an $11,325 allowance for 2-year-olds at 350 yards. The field will be headed by Ron Hartley’s Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity finalist Black Fryday, who looks to make amends after finishing out of the money in his trial to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Nov. 26.

“Recapping last quarter-horse season, Ed Allred was the meet’s leading owner with 45 victories. Paul Jones was the meet’s leading trainer for the 19th time in 20 years with 87 winners. Jaime Gomez was the leading trainer in money earned with more than $2.8 million with $1,430,411 coming from three-time futurity winner J Fire Up. Jesus Rios Ayala earned his first riding title with 113 winners in 514 starters. The leading rider in money earned was J Fire Up’s jockey Jose Nicasio with $1,902,799.”

Ed Burgart L.A. play of the day

EIGHT RACE: No. 1 Warhock (5-2)

He looked strong in last win from an outside post and gets a positive class hike by high-percentage trainer Lindolfo Diaz, who won with 15 of 56 starters at the recently concluded 2017 Los Alamitos season. In addition, gelding retains last meet’s leading quarter-horse rider Ayala.

Final thought

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And now, the star of the show, Friday’s entries.