Santa Anita considering adding barns in wake of fire

Santa Anita officials are considering adding more stalls at the racetrack in the aftermath of a Dec. 7 wildfire that destroyed eight barns at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County, according to Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, the track’s parent company.

Ritvo said Wednesday that Santa Anita would add approximately 500 to 700 stalls to an area north of the racetrack currently used for parking on the most popular racing days.

“Now might be the right time to do it,” Ritvo said in a telephone interview.

Ritvo said preliminary discussions have been held about the project with officials from the city of Arcadia, where Santa Anita is located. He said no construction permits have been requested yet.

“I could see this happening in the next year or two,” he said.

Since The Stronach Group bought Santa Anita in 1998 there have been periodic talks about replacing the existing aging barns in the stable area, or building stables in the parking lot that would be used for the current proposal.

Ritvo said the expansion could include an equine sales pavilion similar to one in place at Gulfstream Park.

“We could have a sale two or three times a year,” he said. “The city could gain tax revenue from that.”

Currently, Los Alamitos is open for stabling on a year-round basis and has capacity for 900 Thoroughbreds that compete on the daytime circuit. Santa Anita’s stable area can accommodate approximately 1,900 horses and is open for approximately 10 months of the year. It is closed for about two months in the summer when Del Mar is conducting its summer meeting.

Del Mar officials opened its stable area for displaced horses from San Luis Rey Downs within hours of the fire.

Del Mar officials said earlier this week that the track will make a decision in “two or three weeks” about stabling plans, according to Josh Rubinstein, the chief operating officer.

“Hopefully, San Luis Rey Downs will be able to open with a limited footprint,” Rubinstein said. “People are anxious to get back to where they are.”

It was not clear Wednesday when San Luis Rey Downs will reopen for training.

Of the horses based at San Luis Rey Downs at the time of the fire, approximately 250 are being housed at Del Mar. The California Horse Racing Board released a statement Tuesday stating that 46 horses perished in the fire.

The Stronach Group owns San Luis Rey Downs. Ritvo said talks are under way to better understand the circumstances that led to the destruction of the barns in the fire. Ritvo said he’d like to reopen San Luis Rey Downs in “a couple of weeks” barring complications such as a delay in the removal of the destroyed barns.

“Everyone is looking at all options,” he said. “We’re asking was there anything we could have done to prevent it.

“We’re asking if there is something we can do better in the future. Maybe there is nothing.”

Ritvo said 200 stalls were not affected by the fire, but that removal of debris from stables that burned down could disrupt horses who are housed in them.

Meanwhile, donations from throughout the nation to help the people affected by the fire continue to come in. Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens said a horse van from south Florida was expected at the track late Tuesday with donated stable equipment.

“I want to emphasize the amount of support,” he said. “Items continue to pour in. The horse community has come through.”