At Opening Day, Santa Anita’s New Restaurant Is Off and Running

He’s been called a tyrant, a maverick and a genius--no one disputes his success. Frank Stronach, Santa Anita’s new owner, pegs himself “Mr. Average Guy” (more than $250-million worth, if you please). No matter how you describe him, he’s definitely put a twist in the knickers of thoroughbred racing’s Old Guard.

Sunday, Stronach held court in the Arcadia park’s awesome new restaurant, the FrontRunner.

“People want to be entertained.” he said. “Even I get bored watching nine races.” That’s why the new eatery--longer than a football field--is the first addition in his ambitious blueprint to “seduce the public” with a major entertainment center attached to a world-class racetrack. The food was tasty; the shakedown cruise slow and rocky. (We ordered the crab cakes and lamb chops--and finally got cold crab salad and grilled ono. Oh, well.)

This year’s opening day drew more than 500 invited guests, mostly local politicians, racing industry officials and a few television personalities for a touch of glamour. But there was a paucity of Blue Book Brahmins. Betty Strub, Santa Anita’s queen mother, was on hand, however. Strub, widow of former Santa Anita President Robert Strub, whose father co-founded the racetrack, smiled bravely as she surveyed the scene.

“You can’t look back,” she said. “You must go forward.”

The scene included Mary (Strub) and Arthur Crowe, Audrey (Skirball) and Charles Kenis, Debby and Terry Lanni, Andrea and John Van de Kamp, Beverly and Bob Lewis, Bill Shoemaker, Terry Wells, owner of Love That Red, winner of the Malibu Stakes, and Richard Mandella, trainer of Desert Hero, which sadly would be the last ride of my favorite jockey, Gary Stevens (an announcement in the horse-racing world comparable to Michael Jordan’s retirement from basketball).

Most toffs ignored the “casual attire” prescription on the FrontRunner invitations, and “dressed” for the occasion. Tricia Berlin, Natalie Valpredo, Elyse Del Francia and Penny Grund arrived in Ascot-style chapeaux.

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and his wife, Karen, were in the crowd; so was actor Jerry Mathers. (Leave it to the Beave--he tipped me on my only winner.)

Stronach’s family remained in Colorado. His daughter, Belinda, will wed Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, there next weekend.

The august Directors Room remained closed for this year’s opener. Either its usual denizens didn’t make the cut . . . or elected to stay home and organize their sock drawers. And on the subject of socks, dear hearts, we know bare legs are au courant. But there’s already more than enough exposed horseflesh on the track, thank you.

Since Stronach’s arrival, the track has seen other changes.

After 40 years in black tie, Tom Edwards, the Turf Club’s elegant host, inspected his new duds--business suit and colorful “jockey-cap” tie. “I’m bearing up,” he said in his stiff-upper-lip British accent.

And Art South, major domo of Santa Anita’s parking jockeys for half a century, was equally circumspect about the new regime’s alterations of entrances and opening time--only 90 minutes instead of three hours before the first post. “Today was a disaster, but we got it done,” he sighed as the last Rolls-Royce rolled away into the sunset.