Businessman Scheib Expected to Apply for Lease to Operate Del Mar in 1990

Earl Scheib, who has been in the horse business as an owner and breeder for about 30 years, is expected to apply this week for the lease to operate Del Mar when the lease of the current operating group expires at the end of 1989.

Del Mar has been operated since 1970 by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, a non-dividend-paying corporation made up of several California owners and breeders. The current lease is with the 22nd District Agricultural Assn., which acts as a landlord for the state-owned fairgrounds in Del Mar.

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Scheib and possibly three other groups will submit proposals Thursday in Sacramento to the State Race Track Leasing Board. The board, which consists of six members, including three from the 22nd District’s board, has indicated that it will award a new 20-year lease in five months.

One of the other new applicants may be a group that includes Neil Papiano, a lawyer who until recently was closely associated with Hollywood Park.

At one time, the Ladbroke Racing Corp. of England was interested in operating Del Mar. A Ladbroke official said, however, that his company will not apply. Ladbroke reportedly is close to signing an agreement to buy the Golden Gate Fields track near San Francisco.

The 80-year-old Scheib, a Beverly Hills resident who heads an automobile-painting company that does business in about 40 states, unsuccessfully applied for the license to conduct the fall race meet at Santa Anita in the late l970s.

When the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club first started operating Del Mar, daily attendance averaged 9,600 and the average handle was under $1 million. Last year, the daily averages for the seven-week season were 19,600 and $3.8 million.

The current lease at Del Mar requires that 75% of the profits after expenses go to the state for improvements of the race track and fairgrounds. More than $28 million has been spent on improvements since 1970.