Santa Anita: Lakow hired as racing director

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mike Lakow, a former director of racing at the New York Racing Association, has been hired as racing director at Santa Anita, the track announced Friday.

Lakow, 57, will begin working at Santa Anita on March 24 and will assist Santa Anita racing secretary Rick Hammerle, the track said. Lakow currently works as a steward at Calder Race Course in Miami.

Aside from NYRA, Lakow has worked at tracks in Delaware, Dubai, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He spent 12 years with NYRA as director of racing.

“Mike brings a breadth of experience and close personal relationships with horsemen nationwide that will serve us well as we move forward into this era of expanded dates and opportunities here at Santa Anita,” Santa Anita chairman Keith Brackpool said in a statement.

Santa Anita added a spring-summer meeting to its schedule this year following the closure of Hollywood Park at the end of 2013. In the past, Santa Anita ended its winter-spring meeting in mid-April, but will race through June 29 this year. The track has an autumn meeting that will include the Breeders’ Cup for the third consecutive year on Oct. 31 and Nov.1.

Lakow left NYRA in 2005. He later worked as general manager of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Kentucky and led the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., before joining Calder in April 2013.