Hollywood Off Again

[Observer]

With 17 MTP, Hollywood announced Races 5 & 7 are off the turf. Fortunately this time around, the Pick 6 wasn't already underway.

And for the record, the sun is shining brightly at Hollywood. Race 2 was contested with 8 runners at 5 1/2 furlongs over a firm course this very afternoon.
:confused:

Just a side note .. Race 1 had a bulky field of 3 after 5 horses scratched from going 6 furlongs over a fast dirt course.
:eek:

So far, no announcement as to exactly why these races came off .. the other day they explained the decision to come off as from the jockeys.

[Tom]

Wassup at Hol? Their lawn mower broken?
Maybe they don't know how to handle grass? Seems we get tons of rain in the East and are back again pretty quickly.

[so.cal.fan]

Gee Tom, some of us are wondering the same thing......like several thousand of us here in So. Calif.
This just tells me that Hollywood Park is MOVING and sooner than later. Watch the news come out about the move to Fairplex, who is already planned to expand their track into a mile, and probably put in a turf course.
The old trailer park that's housed horsemen for 50 years.....is going.....the residents have already been given notice.
Fairplex is in Pomona, Calif. Not a high real estate value place.
The mayor of Inglewood wants Hollywood Park property to develop into shopping mall and housing. It's already happening.
Hollywood does NOTHING to keep up the plant........NOTHING.
The trainers are complaining about the main track.....nothing is being done....now it looks like their turf course is finished.
I would not be surprised if Churchill Downs doesn't run their dates at Santa Anita until the Fairplex deal is complete.
Another surprise could be Santa Anita lobbying the City of Arcadia for lighting and night racing............a strong possibility.
They are spending millions developing a large entertainment/night club like area at Santa Anita...........

[ratpack]

I thought Hollywood Park was moving to Irvine, CA on the old El Toro site.

Fairplex seems an odd choice for a major track because you would have 2 major meets within 20 miles of each other and basically the same geographic area.

Maybe they can't work out the deal in Irvine, CA

[fouroneone]

There was an article in the NY post today that there have been 10 fatal breakdowns during the meet and 5 during execise rides.

What is going on?

[so.cal.fan]

They can't move to El Toro or Los Alamitos, ratpack, because they are in Orange County. Has to be L.A. County. Pomona (Fairplex) is in L.A. County, it's land owned by the State......it may be particially sold off or leased long term by Churchill Downs. Our Gov. has expressed a willingness to sell off State land to get funds.

[RXB]

I have also heard that it's essentially a done deal. Hollywood will be gone quite soon, with a revamped Fairplex becoming the other major LA track.

[Dancer's Image]

Originally posted by so.cal.fan
They can't move to El Toro or Los Alamitos, ratpack, because they are in Orange County. Has to be L.A. County. Pomona (Fairplex) is in L.A. County, it's land owned by the State......it may be particially sold off or leased long term by Churchill Downs. Our Gov. has expressed a willingness to sell off State land to get funds.

Not doubting you, So.Cal.Fan, but I heard a similar rumor about Hollywood moving to Orange County. Why do they have to stay in LA County?

[so.cal.fan]

Don't know the legalities of it, Dancer.....but Hollywood has tried to get into Los Al more than once.......and they were also interested in that El Toro land.......they are pretty much locked into Los Angeles County........something to do with taxes (what else could it be?) I would suspect????? Really don't know....just know they can't go out of the county.

[ratpack]

If they have to stay in LA county why even start talking to Orange County. If they have to stay in LA County why not just have the Hol meet at Santa Anita.

Then you could move a few things around and have:

SA- Oak Tree then the Winter Meet
Hol-Summer meet at SA
DMR- Normal meet
Fairplex have the Reg Fair meet and then add the Hol Fall dates.

Will never happen but fun to think about.

[Dancer's Image]

Another article from TT...I would be interested in anyone's comments, especially so.cal.fan...

Posted: 12/18/2004 5:39:00 PM ET

Potential conflict of interests rife among many CHRB members, critics say

Reported conflicts of interest amongst several members of the California Horse Racing Board has prompted critics to question the board’s integrity and the effectiveness of its decision-making.
Five of the seven board members of the CHRB actively own or breed racehorses within the state and at least six more acknowledge they gamble at the track, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
"To stack the board with representatives of the industry that’s being regulated, it is a clear conflict," Tracy Westen, chief executive officer of the watchdog Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angles, told the newspaper. "It’s like appointing only broadcasters to the [Federal Communications Commission]. You’re going to lose. If you’re not going to lose the impartiality, you’re at least going to lose the appearance of impartiality."
CHRB Chairman John Harris owns and operates Harris Farms in Coalinga, California, which contributed more than $16,000 starting in 2001 to former Governor Gray Davis—who appointed Harris to the CHRB—and has given $35,000 to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger since 2003.
Prior to his appointment to the board, one of Harris’s horses trained by Carla Gaines tested positive for the then-prohibited substance of clenbuterol in November 2000. After Harris was appointed to the board, clenbuterol was added to the list of medications for which trace levels are permitted and a proposed 30-day suspension for Gaines was dismissed.
Former Chairman Roger Licht, whose term recently expired, at one time served as an attorney for troubled jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who was suspended by Del Mar stewards for the remainder of the 2004 season due to his failure to submit to a hair follicle test for drugs on July 2.
Licht said he offered to recuse himself each time Valenzuela’s drug-related issues came up while he was on the board, but was turned down. He would not say how he voted in each of those cases.
In a move that drew criticism from several jockeys, Harris granted Valenzuela a temporary stay of a suspension he received by Santa Anita Park stewards on April 2 for violating terms of his conditional riding license. Valenzuela also rode on several occasions for Harris, according to the newspaper.
Norman Towne, a prominent industry lobbyist, said adding outsiders to the board would help eliminate the conflict of interest problem, but steward Pam Berg, a CHRB appointee, takes a harsher stance against the organization.
"The board might as well be abolished," Berg told the Union-Tribune. "The way it’s functioning or not functioning right now, it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars.
"It’s no longer a regulatory agency; it’s a [public relations] agency," she said.
CHRB members are required to disclose publicly all their potential conflicts and holdings in the business. California puts few restrictions on board members, but does prohibit them from having a financial interest in tracks and pari-mutuel wagering facilities.
While Licht stated he feels there is nothing wrong with board members wagering on races, other states like New York bar its racing commissioners from betting so as not to give off the appearance of impropriety.
"New York feels its would be a direct conflict of interest that those in charge of regulating the industry also are wagering on it," said Stacy Clifford, spokesperson for the New York Racing Board.
Roy Wood, who is retiring as the CHRB’s executive director at the end of the year, reportedly attracted much criticism of the board.
"No single individual in the history of California horse racing has done more harm to California horse racing then Roy C. Wood Jr.," Steve Schwartz, Gaines’s attorney told the Union-Tribune. "His penchant for secrecy, the perception of unequal enforcement, lax enforcement of medication rules, are all attributable to his policies."
The complete story can be accessed at http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20041218-9999-1n18chrb.html

[Speed Figure]

I was happy they took it off. The 10 was a easy single. Thanks letting me $ave some money!

[kenwoodallpromos]

Pick board members at random from the public and you can expect to see get the short end every time.
We need people on the board who values and protects all aspects of Ca racing.

[Dancer's Image]

Originally posted by kenwoodallpromos
Pick board members at random from the public and you can expect to see get the short end every time.
We need people on the board who values and protects all aspects of Ca racing.

Ken,
Did you forget an object in your first sentence? Or whom can we expect to see get the short end every time? and no one argues that we need people on the board who value and protect all aspects of CA racing, but the question is do you think that the present composition of the board, what with 5 of 7 owning horses and 6 of 7 wagering on the races, does that constitute a conflict of interest?

[ratpack]

Originally posted by Dancer's Image
Ken,
Did you forget an object in your first sentence? Or whom can we expect to see get the short end every time? and no one argues that we need people on the board who value and protect all aspects of CA racing, but the question is do you think that the present composition of the board, what with 5 of 7 owning horses and 6 of 7 wagering on the races, does that constitute a conflict of interest?

I think its a big problem that you own horses or breeding farms and then you are assigned to regulate that industry. I am not sure that even putting your holdings in a blind trust would help.

I don't have that much of a problem with them betting the races after all they are not like the stewards who can have a direct affect on a race being called official.

[so.cal.fan]

"If they have to stay in LA county why even start talking to Orange County. If they have to stay in LA County why not just have the Hol meet at Santa Anita".


Ratpack?
I wish you were in charge of racing in California......most of us would really be up for your idea!

[cj]

Here is the DRF Article, Jocks Refuse to Ride

http://www.drf.com/news/article/61553.html