Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 19, 2011

17

SPORTS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, February 19, 2011 


Santa Anita wins back fall racing

By Scott Hettrick, Arcadia’s Best

 Fall horse racing will return to Santa Anita Park this year.

At the February 17th meeting of the California Horse Racing Board, Santa Anita Park won 
unanimously on both counts it had applied for, the return of racing to the historic park after 
a 1-year absence due to safety concerns regarding a state-mandated synthetic turf that has 
since been replaced with real dirt, and complete control of those fall dates during which the 
track had been leased to the non-profit Oak Tree Racing every year since 1969.

 The return of racing comes at a great time for the City of Arcadia since the meet usually 
generates more than $200,000 during the period, including about $185,000 for the City’s 
cut of bets placed, and the rest from additional sales taxes from increased spending at local 
businesses.

 Breeders’ Cup was run during Oak Tree Racing at Santa Anita two consecutive years in 
2008-09 for the first and only time in the history of the Breeders’ Cup.

 Last year’s decision by the CHRB forced Oak Tree to move to Hollywood Park for one 
season and Southern California lost a return of Breeders’ Cup. Hollywood Park has been 
clinging to dwindling race crowds and purses each year as the owners await a rebound in 
the housing market to convert the property into a residential development.

Oak Tree Racing has been one of the top contributors to local charities, donating more than 
$400,000 each year, according to Oak Tree executive director Sherwood Chillingworth. But 
much of that was cut back last year when it was forced to leave Santa Anita, and all of it is 
presently on hold.

By a 6-0 vote before about 100 people at Santa Anita, the board opted to transfer the dates, 
Sept. 28 to Nov. 6, back to Santa Anita instead of returning to Hollywood Park for 2011, 
according to BloodhorseRacing.com.

But hold your horses before getting too excited; chairman Keith Brackpool emphasized that 
the decision only applies this year for now, and Santa Anita must do a little legal jockeying 
to comply with state rules governing the number of race dates that can be run. Rather than 
Santa Anita’s Los Angeles Turf Club managing the fall dates, the fall meet will be operated 
by the Pacific Racing Association, which just happens to be a subsidiary of Santa Anita parent 
company MI Developments.

And Santa Anita must finalize a financial payment to Oak Tree as compensation for some 
dates and events to which it holds rights. Chillingworth told ArcadiasBest.com this afternoon 
that even though Oak Tree will no longer be managing the event, it will still be associated 
with it and remain headquartered at Santa Anita for now. In a nutshell, the relationship 
between Santa Anita and Oak Tree has been reversed, he said. Instead of Oak Tree running 
the event and paying Santa Anita a fee and a percentage of earnings, which usually came to 
between $4 mil. – $5 mil., Pacific Racing will run the event and Oak Tree will get paid a fee.

Given the circumstances, Chillingworth said he is satisfied with what Oak Tree came away 
with.

Meanwhile, CHRB plans to create a new permanent state racing dates calendar for all of 
2012. Frank Stronach of MI Developments has been lobbying for year-round horse racing, 
running only 3 or 4 days each week instead of divvying up the year so that only one track 
has exclusive horse racing within its competitive region for several months each year.

“This is great news for Santa Anita and for the California horse racing industry,” Santa Anita 
President George Haines said in a statement. “This means so much to so many people. 
From all of our employees and the people who work within the industry, to our fans and to 
the entire business community here in the San Gabriel Valley, this means jobs, revenue and 
the opportunity to remain viable and to grow our business into the future.”

“Obviously, this is very welcome news, on several fronts,” said Arcadia City Manager Don 
Penman. “Not just from the standpoint of providing fans with the opportunity to visit what 
we believe is the most beautiful racing facility in the world, but having live racing back here 
in the fall is a great opportunity for our hotels, restaurants and other businesses in this very 
tough economy.”

– By Scott Hettrick

SPRING BASEBALL 2011

Opening Day for Spring Baseball is right around the corner. 
Join us on Saturday, February 26th at 8:00 AM in at Taylor’s 
Meat Market - Baldwin and Sierra Madre Blvd., for our 
Opening Day Parade. All players assemble at Taylor’s Meat 
Market and ride, Parade-style, banners, whistles and all, to 
the Opening Ceremonies at Heasley Field. 

Ceremonies 
include the 
parade, diner 
opening, and 
good carnival 
fun.

For additional 
information 
on Sierra 
Madre Little 
League, 
please see our 
website: www.
smll.org.

Contact 
information 
or questions: 
Steve Tanner, 
626-355-1249, 
stanner@
arguscg.com 
or Brenda 
Wendt, 626-355-6027, brendaawendt@aol.com. 


TIME FOR SOME B-BALL!

Santa Anita Park Jockeys and Holy Angels Cagers meet for the 44th Annual 
Game to Benefit Youth, Disabled Jockeys 

By Richard Garcia

 Before the Big Dance (March Madness), the big basketball game is coming up this Thursday 
at Pasadena’s La Salle High School

 There are some new wrinkles in the 44th Annual Holy Angels/Santa Anita Jockeys Charity 
Basketball game this year.

 For the first time, proceeds will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) 
along with the Holy Angels athletic department. Santa Anita jockey David Flores mentioned 
how significant PDJF is to the horse racing industry. 

 “We want to do all that we can to try and help all of these people who have been hurt so 
badly. Just the fact that we are helping to draw attention to their situation is very important. 
We hope that everyone coming to the game this year will do what they can to help us help 
all of these jockeys who will never be able to ride again.”

 The PDJF, which was founded in 2006, provides financial assistance to professional jockeys 
(both Thoroughbred and quarterhorse) who have sustained serious injuries such as paralysis 
and brain trauma, which often result in permanent disabilities.

 For this year’s game, HRTV’s Kurt Hoover and coach of the jockey’s squad has some 
insight on who is going to win.

 “If we can field a full-squad and pressure Holy Angels from the half court line, I think 
we’ve got a good shot,” said Hoover. “If we can rotate a steady supply of fresh horses, we can 
keep it close and I think we’ll have a good shot to win it. We’ve got some really good athletes 
and even though Holy Angels is quite a bit bigger, we should be able to make up for it with 
good defense and intensity.”

 This year’s Santa Anita jockey squad figures to include: Captain David Flores, Pedro 
Arambula, Paul Atkinson, Rafael Bejarano, Alex Bisono, Brice Blanc, Antonio Castanon, 
Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia, Kerwin John, Edwin Maldonado, Corey Nakatani, Iggy 
Puglisi, Alonso Quinonez, Joel Rosario, Christian Santiago Reyes, Chantal Sutherland, Mike 
Smith, Kayla Stra, Joe Talamo, Patrick Valenzuela and perhaps others.

 The 44th annual Holy Angels/Santa Anita Jockeys Charity Basketball Game will take place 
Thursday, Feb. 24, at La Salle High School in Pasadena. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

 La Salle High School is located at the southwest corner of Michillinda Ave. and Sierra 
Madre Blvd. in Pasadena, approximately four miles from Santa Anita. Admission is $5. 

Live from Burger Continental, Pasadena

The Harvey Hyde Show

535 So. Lake Ave. Pasadena (626) 792 - 6634

Every Thursday 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Hard-hitting, High impact Sports Talk Radio

KSHP Las Vegas - 1400 AM


2011 Adult Men’s Winter Basketball League!

The City of Arcadia Recreation and Community Services Department is offering an Adult Men’s 
Basketball League in 2011. Get in shape and sharpen your skills at the same time! Teams are divided 
into leagues based on their skill level and play 10 games in the brand new Dana Gym, located at 1401 
S. First Avenue, Arcadia. The fee for adult basketball is $475.00 per team (due upon registration), 
and includes officials, scorekeepers and awards. A separate $40 forfeit fee is also due at the time of 
registration. Teams will be accepted into the league on a first-come, first-serve basis. Just go on-line 
to the City of Arcadia’s website: www.ci.arcadia.ca.us, to download the registration form or stop by 
the office, 375 Campus Drive in Arcadia. For more information please call 626.574.5113!

GOLF SWING ADVICE: 

USE YOUR WRISTS FOR MORE POWER 

I am going to give you some great golf swing advice. If you want to hit the golf ball further, 
you are going to have to use your wrists. Before you run out to the practice facility, I have 
to tell you exactly “how” to use your wrist to benefit your golf swing.

Let’s start at the address position. When you 
grip the golf club your wrist are unhinged. 
As you start the club back the toe begins to 
roll open and so do your wrists. When you 
reach the 9:00 o’clock position the back of 
the left hand should be parallel to your target 
line.

This is where you have to pay close attention 
to your wrists. From this position to 
the top of the backswing the wrists have to 
start (folding, breaking or unhinging) call it 
what you want, they have to have some play 
in them. By the time you reach the top of 
the backswing the shaft has to be parallel to 
the ground.

I know some of you struggle with arthritis, 
stiffness or the inability to turn like you use 
to. When you reach the top of the backswing 
and your shaft is pointing to the sky, you are 
going to loose a lot of yardage. The key here is to make sure you soften up the wrists and let 
them fold. Do not keep them in the same position as they were in at address. You are going 
to need as much sling in the downswing as you can muster up.

The best tip I can give you so you know for 
sure that you are folding your wrists at the 
top of the backswing is called the thumb pad 
drill. When you address the golf ball your left 
thumb is on the top of the golf club. When 
you reach the 9:00 o’clock position your left 
thumb is still on top of the golf club. As you 
continue to turn your right shoulder out of the 
way and swing the club to the top of the backswing, 
your thumb pad is now UNDER the 
golf club. In other words your left thumb pad 
is supporting the club at the top of the backswing. 
That is how you can tell if you used 
your wrist.

I know this golf swing advice will help you hit 
longer shots the next time you tee it up.

About the Author: Bobby Eldridge is the head pro at 
PurePoint Golf and has given over 70,000 golf lessons. 
With his in depth expert knowledge he has released a number hugely popular Golf Instructional 
DVDs. His teachings cover everything from improving your drive, your short game, your putting and a 
lot more. If any part of your game needs some fixing you should go to www.igolffixes.com