Santa Anita in early discussions to allow fans at track

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita executives have held preliminary discussions with Los Angeles County officials about reopening the track to customers this spring.

Nate Newby, Santa Anita’s senior vice president and general manager, said over the weekend that no plans have been finalized and that the presence of paying customers is contingent on a continued decline in the level of COVID-19 positives in Southern California.

Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers have asked state and county health officials for the ability to host a limited number of fans beginning with team’s home opener on April 9. Disneyland, and other amusement parks in the region, have lobbied government officials to reopen their facilities in the near future, according to news reports.

Newby said that pandemic statistics need to show continued improvement to meet state and county health measurements to reopen. Newby said he was encouraged that the Dodgers are speaking with government officials.

“We’re in the same category, and it helps us more that everyone else is lobbying,” Newby said. “If the Dodgers get 10 or 20 percent, we would hope to get the same.”

“Every day the numbers improve in L.A. county.”

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Currently, Los Angeles County, where Santa Anita is located, is rated as having widespread COVID-19 cases and is in the most restrictive tier for businesses. The widespread, or purple, tier is the most stringent of the state’s four tiers allowing businesses to operate. When pandemic conditions improve, counties are rated to have substantial (red), moderate (orange), or minimal (yellow) cases, allowing additional operations for businesses.

Most counties in California are currently in the restrictive tier. When counties reach the moderate or minimal levels, racetracks and other outdoor stadiums can operate at up to 25 percent capacity.

For Santa Anita, which hosted 67,811 on the Saturday program of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup, classification in the moderate or minimal tiers would allow for a sizable audience.

“Until the tiers change, there is not much of a push,” Newby said. “We have a big outdoor venue.”

Asked if Santa Anita could host some customers before the end of the current meeting on June 21, Newby was optimistic.

“I think we have a shot,” he said. “We’re staying open to that possibility.”

Since late July, Del Mar and Santa Anita have held racing with attendance from a small number of owners with horses participating on a given day. Attendance has frequently ranged from 100 to 200 people.

On the weekend of March 6-8, 2020, a Friday through Sunday, Santa Anita had ontrack audiences of 3,398, 15,256, and 5,169 in the days before the pandemic put a stop to audiences at sport events.

By the following weekend, Santa Anita raced without an ontrack audience, and only with track officials and stable staff in attendance.