THOROUGHBRED RACING / BILL CHRISTINE : It Was a Year Tracks Will Easily Forget

Racing’s year ended with a seven-alarm fire in New Orleans at the Fair Grounds, the third-oldest track, and then there were a couple of media Eclipse Awards endemic of the sport: The best photograph was of Greenwood, a Toronto track that has been shuttered after 119 years; and the best local television reporting was about Longacres, a suburban Seattle track that’s also no more.

The Fair Grounds will re-open soon, but there will be more Greenwoods and Longacreses in racing’s future. Stepping into this industry chasm later this month will be a newly appointed commissioner of racetracks, who will be no more a commissioner than Fay Vincent now is. The new Thoroughbred Racing Assns. commissioner, reportedly someone with an Olympic background, will have an office in New York City. The president of the TRA has an office in Oklahoma City, Okla., and the executive vice president has an office in Elkton, Md. And if the new commissioner comes in with a three-year contract, he may spend the first two merely learning what organizations such as the HBPA, AHC, ARCI and TOBA actually are.

He will not have to research ACRS, the American Championship Racing Series, which was one of 1993’s casualties. Cause of death: bailouts by some of the biggest tracks, including Santa Anita and Oaklawn Park.

Here’s a quick look at the rest of the year that was:

January--Santa Anita had its rainiest season in 15 years, and because of an outmoded state law wound up under-promoting its races to remain in a more favorable tax bracket. . . . Steve Cauthen rejected a pay cut from the holder of his English riding contract, Sheik Mohammed, and then retired. . . . Kent Desormeaux, after suffering serious injuries in a spill at Hollywood Park six weeks before, returned to action with two victories at Santa Anita.

February--Getting 237 of 278 votes, A.P. Indy was elected horse of the year for 1992. . . . Nine days after being hospitalized with a heart attack, Gary Jones saddled Marble Maiden to win the Buena Vista Handicap at Santa Anita. . . . Bob Strub, in ill health, resigned as chief executive officer of Santa Anita and was succeeded by Stephen F. Keller. . . . The Ford Motor Co. guaranteed trainer Bill Shoemaker and his family between $1 million and $2.5 million in a settlement of a lawsuit. Shoemaker was left paralyzed from the neck down in a 1991 auto accident. . . . Dennis Hutcheson was fired as executive secretary of the California Horse Racing Board, charged with mishandling three horse-drugging cases in 1992.

March--Gilded Time was eliminated from the Kentucky Derby because of a hoof injury. . . . Sir Beaufort won the Santa Anita Handicap, giving trainer Charlie Whittingham his ninth victory in the stake. . . . Bull Inthe Heather, at 29-1, won the Florida Derby. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye rode his 5,000th career winner. . . . Hall of Fame jockey Eric Guerin died at 69. . . . River Special was taken out of the Kentucky Derby because of a leg injury.

April--Personal Hope won the Santa Anita Derby. . . . Kotashaan won the San Juan Capistrano Handicap in track-record time. . . . Charlie Whittingham turned 80 and said that he’s saving the big celebration for No. 100. . . . Prairie Bayou won the Blue Grass Stakes. . . . Rockamundo, at 108-1, won the Arkansas Derby. . . . Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, trainer Tommy Kelly and horses Alysheba, Personal Ensign and Cavalcade were elected into the Hall of Fame.

May--Sea Hero won the Kentucky Derby for owner Paul Mellon, 85, and trainer Mack Miller, 71. . . . Bob Strub, 74, died after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. . . . On the same day that Prairie Bayou won the Preakness, Genuine Risk, winner of the 1980 Kentucky Derby, delivered her first foal, a colt sired by Rahy who was named Genuine Reward . . . . Union City was destroyed after breaking down in the Preakness. . . . Maryland trainer King Leatherbury saddled his 5,000th winner.

June--Julie Krone, riding Colonial Affair, became the first female jockey to win the Belmont Stakes. . . . Prairie Bayou suffered fatal injuries in the race. . . . Strike the Gold, winner of the 1991 Kentucky Derby, was retired to stud.

July--Best Pal won the Hollywood Gold Cup. . . . Personal Hope was injured at Hollywood Park and retired. . . . Riding at Hollywood, Gary Stevens went over the $100-million mark in career purses. . . . Del Mar opened after completion of an $80-million remodeling program.

August--In $1-million races, Sea Hero won the Travers, Bertrando took the Pacific Classic and Star of Cozzene captured the Arlington Million. . . . Riding at Del Mar, Laffit Pincay notched his 8,000th career victory. . . . Julie Krone underwent surgery for a right ankle that was shattered in a spill at Saratoga.

September--Bertrando won the Woodward by 13 1/2 lengths, but Devil His Due outpointed him in the championship series, collecting $700,000 in bonuses. . . . Peteski won the Molson Export Million, beating a field that included Sea Hero and Colonial Affair.

October--Jockey Ron Hansen was missing after his abandoned car was found following an accident on the San Mateo Bridge. . . . Trainer Shug McGaughey had a record day, winning five stakes at Belmont Park, one of them with Miner’s Mark in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

November--Arcangues, the French horse at 133-1, won the Classic, and the other Breeders’ Cup winners before 55,130 at Santa Anita were Kotashaan, Lure, Hollywood Wildcat, Brocco, Phone Chatter and Cardmania. . . . Hall of Fame trainer Mesh Tenney died at 85. . . . Legacy World won the Japan Cup, with Kent Desormeaux, riding runner-up Kotashaan, misjudging the finish line.

December--Mike Smith, riding at Aqueduct, registered his 61st stakes victory, breaking Pat Day’s 1991 record. . . . Smith led the national money list with almost $14 million in purses and Bobby Frankel topped the trainers’ standings with close to $9 million. . . . Valiant Nature upset Brocco in the Hollywood Futurity. . . . Jockey Russell Baze went over the 400 mark in victories for the year. . . . Horse owners Don Ameche, 85, and Frank Whitham, 62, died . . . . Trainer Wayne Lukas’ son and assistant, Jeff, was critically injured trying to flag down a horse in the Santa Anita barn area . . . . Trainer Gary Jones received a 30-day suspension because a horse tested positive for a prohibited drug.