Trial Move From Fairplex Is Sought

The men who will argue today to move the 17-day Los Angeles County Fair horse racing meet from Pomona’s Fairplex Park to Arcadia’s Santa Anita Park say it’s a gamble every handicapper craves: a sure thing.

Santa Anita President Jack Liebau and Los Angeles County Fair Assn. President/Chief Executive James Henwood will request that the lease agreement be approved on a one-year trial basis. If the seven-member California Horse Racing Board approves, horse racing at Fairplex Park will be halted after 63 seasons.

“We’ve proposed the pilot plan for two reasons: No one can tell us why this move will hurt them; and if you’re so convinced this is a bad idea, then pass it for a year and let it prove us wrong,” Liebau said.

The one-year pilot suggestion is a response to the board’s June 6 meeting, when it voted, 3-3, on a motion to reject the move. Member Marie Moretti abstained.

The split vote was followed by an agreement to conduct today’s special meeting.

The fair meet is scheduled for Sept. 13-29.

Racing boards and executives from Hollywood Park and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, along with Oak Tree Racing Assn., which conducts its fall meet at Santa Anita, are opposed to the move--so are the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers.

In a letter to the CHRB dated June 19, Thoroughbred Owners President John Van de Kamp said his group supports the idea of reallocating Fairplex horse racing dates among Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Santa Anita.

Elio Amato, president of the Fairplex Owners and Trainers Assn., said his group opposes the move because Henwood has not provided assurances that he will fight to reinstate year-round training at Fairplex and the uncertain outcome of Henwood’s negotiations to purchase the Barretts Equine Sales at Fairplex from Barretts Equine Limited.