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Speaking before the state horse racing board, they say the races would work better at Los Alamitos, but some board members are skeptical. A vote could happen this month.
While it’s not yet official, Fairplex in Pomona may have seen its last thoroughbred horse race.
Fairplex officials last month told the California Racing Board that they want to move the annual meeting, held during the Los Angeles County Fair, to the Cypress-based Los Alamitos Race Course in Orange County.
James Henwood, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Fair Association, told the board April 25 that the fair racetrack, Fairplex Park, lacks the facilities to be a major player in Southern California horse racing.
Better to transfer the races to a more modern operation like Los Alamitos – which recently underwent a major upgrade that included enlarging its track to one mile – even though it would mean that Pomona be without thoroughbred horse racing for the first time in 70 years, Henwood said.
“It’s a major league market, let’s face it, and if you’re going to be in a major league market you have to play at a major league level,” Henwood told the board. “Fairplex [Park] does not provide all of the things that people want to experience when they go to the racetrack.”
Fairplex is owned by Los Angeles County, but it’s managed by the non-profit fair association, which also administers its lease.
Like a lot of horse racing venues in the United States, Fairplex Park is struggling to survive. It’s been plagued by a drop in attendance and, for the last seven years, a decline in the amount of money being bet on races there. That trend has made it all but impossible to invest money back into the racetrack.
Fairplex is also considering moving its horse sales to Del Mar, Henwood said.
Horse racing in Southern California took a hit last December, when Hollywood Park in Inglewood closed after 75 years in business. That leaves Los Alamitos, along with Santa Anita and Del Mar, as one of three racetracks in Southern California that is able to attract A-list horses, according to Henwood.
“The stars are the horses,” Henwood said. “If you get high-end horses, then you get people interested in coming to the racetrack.”
The proposed arrangement between Fairplex and Los Alamitos, which was announced last month, is not a sale but instead is an arrangement between both parties to transfer race dates, Henwood said.
“This is strictly a market decision,” Henwood said. “It’s the Los Angeles County Fair Association saying it would be better to run the races at Los Alamitos. Our job is to grow the thoroughbred horse racing industry in Southern California, and we believe the best way to do that is to move the races to Los Alamitos.”
Board members took no action following the one-hour discussion; the session was for information only. Instead, it referred the proposal to the board’s Legislation, Regulatory and Legal Committee for review, with a possible vote later this month or at the board’s June meeting.
Henwood and Mike Seder, Fairplex’s vice president and chief financial officer, both told the board that Fairplex hopes to have the race dates transferred to Los Alamitos in time for this year’s fair, which is to be held Aug. 29 to Sept. 28.
Several board members expressed skepticism about the proposal, even though the races would still be part of the fair.
Board Chairman Chuck Winner wondered if moving the Los Angeles County Fair’s race dates to Orange County makes sense, and whether special legislation would have to be written to make that happen.
If Fairplex doesn’t want the race dates, maybe it should give them back to the state and let it decide what do with them, Winner said.
“I understand that they’re the race dates for the Los Angeles County Fair, but if you make a deal to give them to another venue, maybe they’re no longer your dates,” Winner said. “I’m not opposed moving the race dates, but moving the races to another county raises some questions. We should know why race dates that belong to the state of California should be transferred between two private parties.”
After Henwood told the board that approximately 1.5 million people attend the Los Angeles County Fair every year, one board member commented that it might be better for the sport if the races stay in Pomona, regardless of a how much better the facilities are at Los Alamitos.
“That’s a lot of people who are exposed to horse racing who otherwise never see it,” board member Steve Beneto said. “Some of those people go into the grandstand and place a $2 bet.”
Pomona officials have mixed feelings about shifting horse racing away from the fair, and some of them were surprised when they learned of the proposal, said Raymond Fong, the city’s deputy city manager.
“Horse racing has been part of the fair for a long time, and it brings people in, so from that perspective I don’t think the city would like to see it go away,” said Fong, who emphasized that the city has no say in the issue. “It would be interesting to see how much not having it would affect attendance.”
Moving the race dates into Orange County might not be an issue.
“I think they can take them anyplace that allows horse racing,” Fong said.
