Los Alamitos : Rule Aims at Children Who Live at Track

Because of a state rule barring children from race tracks during late-night hours, families living in the barn areas of Los Alamitos Race Course are being urged to move out, track residents and officials said Sunday.

However, while officials of the Cypress track said they plan to enforce the often-neglected rule for safety reasons, they also said they have no plans to evict up to 100 children from the track today, despite news reports to the contrary.

“Some citations have been issued” when violations of the California Horse Racing Board rule have been found, according to Jerry Wilcox, a spokesman for the track management. “We’ve been issuing them at the insistence of the board,” because failure to comply “could result in the loss of the track’s racing license,” he said.

Children Near Horses

Wilcox said the enforcement has been sparked by complaints received by the board of “children running around and playing near horses.”

The actual number of children living at the track could not be determined Sunday. No races were run, and visitors were barred from the stable area by security guards.

Jim Berg, a horse groomer who lives in Fullerton but works at the track, said a “minimum of 100 kids are affected.” Other grooms and published reports also said there were “up to 100 children” involved.

But one security officer placed the number at “under 20 kids,” while Wilcox said the figure is “probably around 42.”

To solve the problem, the track’s management is “trying to encourage relocation,” Wilcox said. “They don’t want to throw people out on the streets.”

If the problem worsens and the low-paid seasonal workers are barred from living at the track and cannot find off-track residences, “it’s an issue we’ll have to take up with the Horse Racing Board,” Wilcox said.

Say Rule Makes Sense

Some track workers said it makes sense to prohibit children from living at Los Alamitos. Although parents of the children said the youngsters are well-supervised, other observers disagreed. Some said it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs.

“I think it’s a good idea (to ban children),” said Russell Harris, a horse trainer at the track. “If the children were really supervised, it would be different, but a lot of times, they just can’t be.”

Citing “good business and common sense,” Harris said he and many other trainers don’t permit families with children to live in the barns they supervise.

“It’s unsafe as the devil,” he said. “Horses--when they get ready to race--can get pretty high and if they get loose can run wild. It’s an everyday occurrence and one of the risks of the business.

“A horse could get loose and run down through the barn area and then anything could happen,” he said.

Made Into Living Quarters

Harris also said the track’s management has previously advised employees of the rule prohibiting children from Los Alamitos at night. “They put out notices on two or three occasions. The last time I remember was April of last year,” he said.

Security Officer Matt Bragg said the state rule prohibits minors from the track between midnight and 6 a.m. He said Los Alamitos has about 40 barns, each with four to eight adjoining “tack” rooms--12-foot-square equipment rooms that are often converted into living quarters.

The tack rooms can make comfortable residences for single adults but are too small for families, several workers said. In addition, community bathing and toilet facilities are geared to adult living, without such amenities as bathtubs.

Several employees said harness racing brings many more workers with children to the tracks than thoroughbred or quarter-horse racing. Los Alamitos features harness racing from January to May, so the problem reportedly is now at its peak.

Berg, the 30-year-old groom and father of a 2 1/2-year-old daughter, said it is only because his wife, Cheryl, also works at the track that they are able to afford off-track housing.

Couple Earn $400 a Week

“I don’t know what I’d do. I’m just glad I’m not in that predicament (of having to house his family at the track),” he said. Berg said he lives in Fullerton because of its proximity to the Los Alamitos and Pomona race tracks. He and his wife move from track to track, and together earn about $400 a week, he said.

The itinerant workers--whom one trainer likened to Gypsies--earn the equivalent of the minimum wage and “don’t know the luxury of a motel room,” Berg said. He estimated that 600 to 700 workers live in Los Alamitos’ tack rooms.

But Harris said wages have no place in the picture. “Regardless of what they’re making, the track is no place for children,” he said.