BREEDER’S CUP : Mixed Reviews for Host : Many Santa Anita Regulars Feel Inconvenienced by the Crowd of 55,130, but the Tourists Manage to Have a Great Time

Dressed in hats and silk or in scruffy T-shirts and shorts, the Santa Anita crowd of 55,130 could be divided more easily between locals and tourists than between the well-dressed and the casual.

The out-of-towners loved the weather, the mountains, the great racing. The locals loved the racing too, especially the hometown winners--but make no mistake, they wanted their track back, their race caller, their usual first post and shorter mutuel lines.

Regular race caller Trevor Denman, serving as a television commentator, was greeted warmly everywhere he went. Shouts of “We want Trevor!” rang out from the side of the paddock while Denman waited his cue for the first Breeders’ Cup race.

When the South African announcer moved to the broadcast stand by the winner’s circle, competing Denman impressions could be heard from the apron.

The length of the apron housed a confusion of lawn chairs and picnic blankets overflowing with families. Simply getting to the windows or concession stands was tough enough, and the situation grew worse in the moments before each race.

The seats of choice were clearly on the temporary bleachers added for the Breeders’ Cup. Up the steps and a security guard away from the general admission crowd on the blacktop, men in suits and women in flowered hats sat comfortably eating their box lunches and ordering drinks from the roaming staff. The area was spacious and the view unimpeded.

Mutuel lines on the mezzanine level, where the fans in the box seats and the temporary bleachers wagered, moved more smoothly.

The first waves of fans arrived before the gates opened at 7:30 a.m. Including the satellite locations, total attendance reached 87,674. First post, a non-Breeders’ Cup race, was set at 10:10 a.m. to accommodate television.

“People were lined up outside. They were yelling ‘Let us in’ and banging on the gates,” said Charise Phillips, who helped handle admissions at the south gate. “They wanted in.”

The regular racetrack parking filled early and drivers were rerouted to a few other lots in the area. Shuttles were used to transport fans from the auxiliary lots to the gates.

Bill Watanabe, a Santa Anita regular, pulled in between 7:30 and 8 a.m. With his wife and friends, he set down chairs, coolers and a television in the infield. Sitting in the shade and surrounded by other lawn chairs and picnickers on all sides, they were content with only a minor view of the track.

“I got in line (to bet) at 9:15. I was the last one to bet. I didn’t even get to make all my bets and guys behind me got shut out.

“They opened the gates at 7:30 but didn’t open the windows until 9,” Watanabe said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Santa Anita spokesperson Jane Goldstein explained that select windows opened at 8. The racetrack also replaced automated tellers at some locations with pari-mutuel clerks for greater efficiency.

But in the grandstand, the mutuel lines were as daunting as those in the infield. Bettors were lined up 20 deep before the windows even opened and others, who tried to catch a glimpse of their horse in the paddock, were turned away. But the tourists didn’t mind.

Michael Crutchfield, who drove from the Fresno area for the day, was happy enough to run to the window immediately after each race.

“This is the greatest,” Crutchfield said from him chair nearest the wire on the rail. “Everyone’s real nice. The guard is giving me horses to bet on and he’s a pretty good handicapper.”