Keep Santa Anita Open

Voices, from the shrill PETA to the softer timbre of the Los Angeles Times, have called for the suspension of racing at Santa Anita.  The pouring rains brought an outpouring of horror as over 20 beautiful animals died in races and in training.

But the sun is shining, and all has returned to normal.  Closing the track to determine the cause of the deaths is unnecessary and harmful.  Harmful because over a thousand people depend on Santa Anita for their livelihood, from ticket takers, to concession workers.

Unnecessary my dear Watson, because the cause of the deaths is obvious.  The only variable that changed from an historically safe racing surface was the historic rainfall.  To wring out the water the track is packed down, which is called sealing the track.  Neither a sloppy wet track, nor an overly hard sealed track are ideal.  Of the two the sealed may be worse.  More investigation should be made with regard to sealed tracks, but that is not a reason to halt racing during the dry season.

A smaller part of the problem is the shortage of horses.  Horse owners are squeezed.  Costs have risen with normal inflation.  The increased cost of basics, such as hay and oats, are passed through to owners.  But purses have stayed the same or declined.  Attendance and betting are down.  So there are fewer owners, and those owners, often have fewer horses than in better times.

Bigger fields increase the amount of betting.  So notwithstanding the shortage of horses, track ownership tries to get races with 8 to 12 horses.  Trainers are pressured to run their horses more often.  
In response to the deaths, the track is not pushing as hard.

Increased attendance would solve this later problem.  With the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, Santa Anita is one of the most beautiful ovals in the world.  Come out and spend a day at the track.