Santa Anita hopes to be right on the money

The snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains will provide a picturesque backdrop as usual, and the new Pro-Ride synthetic surface seems less vulnerable to the flooding that plagued Santa Anita’s winter meeting amid heavy rains in 2007-08.

The Arcadia track opens its 84-day post Christmas meeting today with jockey Rafael Bejarano seeking to continue a virtually unmatched streak of riding dominance and trainer Bobby Frankel continuing an assault on Charlie Whittingham’s remarkable record for Santa Anita stakes wins. Frankel says the synthetic surface is “the best I’ve ever seen, although let’s not get too high until we’ve gone through the whole meeting.”

With three stakes races on the opening card, Santa Anita’s holiday meeting -- this is the 72nd -- has always enjoyed a special spot on Southern California’s sports calendar.

But in contrast with the rain that canceled 11 racing dates during the 71st meeting and forced the track to shut down for seven weeks in midsummer while the Pro-Ride surface was being installed (at a price still being negotiated), the concern now involves the nation’s economic recession.

Hollywood Park’s 40-day autumn meeting that ended Sunday provides a yardstick.

On-track attendance was down 12% and on-track mutuel handle fell 21.6%.

Santa Anita has already cut purses 10% in the opening conditioning book, fearing a similar decline.

“We’ll have a pretty good indication of how it’s going to be after the first two weeks, but we’re very concerned about the economic factor,” track President Ron Charles said. “I was in Las Vegas a few days ago and I’ve never seen it so quiet. It’s not just racing, it’s every industry.

“That being said, it’s up to Santa Anita to try to reverse the downward trend, in racing both nationally and locally.”

Charles cited two approaches.

“First of all,” he said, “in times like these, and we’ve never seen times like these, the tendency is to cut back on marketing and promotions. We’re going to be even more aggressive in marketing and promotions. We need to get our message out.

“Secondly, with the size of our fields and the quality of the racing and wagering, I feel confident we can make a dent in the trend.”

Hollywood Park’s handle during its recent meeting was handicapped by a 17-day dispute over Internet fees that prevented out-of-state wagering. When that dispute was settled, the daily handle increased but was still down significantly. Charles was hopeful that higher rates being charged the Internet’s four major deposit wagering outlets would help offset any drop in on-track attendance or handle during the Santa Anita meet.

Discounting rain possibly affecting late scratches, the opening nine-race card had 103 entries, an average of more than 11 per race, with the larger fields enhancing wagering.

The opening-day feature is again the seven-furlong, Grade I Malibu Stakes, being run for the 57th time. The $250,000 race has drawn seven 3-year-olds, including WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, winner of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga and $1.4 million but sprinting for the first time since breaking his maiden in October 2007. Colonel John finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita while ridden by Edgar Prado. Trainer Eoin Harty has switched for the Malibu to jockey Garrett Gomez, who leads the nation in 2008 earnings at $23 million.

Despite Gomez’s annual success, he will have a tough time unseating Bejarano for the riding title. The Peruvian Bejarano won all five major meet riding titles in Southern California this year, an accomplishment achieved only by Chris McCarron in 1983 and Patrick Valenzuela in 2003.

Equally interesting will be the battle for the trainer’s title, with a high quantity and quality of horses and stakes winners stabled in Arcadia. For Hall of Fame trainer Frankel, whose record 899 victories at Santa Anita have already surpassed the legendary Whittingham, the next objective is Whittingham’s record of 204 stakes wins. Frankel is second at a distant 137 but has an array of stakes winners in his barn, although in partnership with Joe Torre, the Dodgers’ manager, and Louis Lazzinnaro, Frankel decided in November to sell the 2-year-old Vineyard Haven to Dubai’s relentless Godolphin Stable for a reported $12 million.

As a winner of the Champagne and Hopeful stakes, Vineyard Haven was among the early Kentucky Derby favorites for 2009, and Frankel had rejected the first Godolphin offer before it was raised to a level that the partnership couldn’t refuse.

“I still have some remorse,” Frankel said on the eve of the Santa Anita opener. “That horse is a serious Triple Crown threat, but we were simply offered too much security to turn down, although I still tend to think about it almost every day.”

At least Vineyard Haven is stabled right now in Dubai and Frankel doesn’t have to bump into him every day.

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Newhan is a special correspondent.

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The meeting

SANTA ANITA WINTER-SPRING FACTS

Dates: Today through April 19, 84 race days.

Racing: Wednesdays through Sundays (special Monday programs on Dec. 29, Jan. 19 and Feb. 16).

Major events: Jan. 24 -- Sunshine Millions; Feb. 7 -- Strub Stakes; March 7 -- Santa Anita Handicap; April 4 -- Santa Anita Derby.

Post time: Noon today; 12:30 p.m. on holidays and weekends; 1 p.m. on weekdays. Earlier on special-event days.

Website: santaanita.com.