By Daniel Ross | theguardian.com
Hollywood Park is preparing to close, while Santa Anita’s opening weekend attendances fell again. Can horse racing survive in the Great Race State?
On the surface at least, the Saturday of opening weekend at Santa Anita racetrack in Los Angeles was a success. More than 12,000 race goers filed through the gates lured by the twin promise of a host of top-class races against the panoramic movie scene backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains.
For anyone savoring their first taste of racing in California, the sport would have appeared in good shape, still able to hold its own against a slew of competing attractions. Saturday’s figure was a marked increase upon Friday’s opening day attendance of 4,537. But for anyone savvy with developments in the state’s racing industry – and anyone whose gray matter recalls opening day attendances at Santa Anita of 60,000 – they would have recognized it as another grey day for a sport enduring an altogether bleak winter of discontent.
Statement by Rose Law Group equine attorney Adam Trank: Perhaps if regulations were revised to ensure the health and proper performance of race horses, the sport would be able to capture wider appeal. Unfortunately with so much bad press about horses breaking down, it is hard not to understand why audiences have dropped. I believe that overhauling racing regulations to ensure reasonably humane practices together with the development of racinos will help the sport nationwide.
