Santa Anita repairs are on track for today

After today’s nine-race card at Santa Anita, which begins at 11 a.m. to finish before the Super Bowl kickoff, will be a race of a different kind -- a race against time.

Crews will begin working on the troubled synthetic track almost immediately after the races today and work well into the night in what is hoped will be only a five-day project.

“Our deadline is Thursday night,” said Ian Pearse, the Australian who will oversee the application of material designed to fix the track’s drainage problem. Sana Anita has purchased extra lights so work can be done at night.

There is a time limit because the Arcadia track has already lost seven race days because of a drainage problem and heavy rain. Two more race days will be lost this week, and possibly more if Thursday’s deadline isn’t met.

Racing scheduled for Monday and Thursday has already been canceled. There is no live racing Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Fixing the track will involve about 125,000 gallons of a polymer binder and about 480 tons of fiber, according to Pearse, whose Australian company, Pro-Ride, was initially in the running to install the synthetic track that went in last summer. Santa Anita instead selected Cushion Track, an English company.

Paul Harper, the founder of Cushion Track, has said that silt in the Cushion Track surface resulted in the drainage problem.

Pearse arrived on the scene Jan. 10 and began working with USC professor Jean-Pierre Bardet, chairman of the school’s civil and environmental engineering department.

With the help of other scientists, they developed a binder and fiber that allowed the track to drain properly.

“Our target is to have a surface that drains at least four to five inches an hour,” Pearse said.

There is a 60% chance of rain today, but Pearse said a light rain would not cause the project to be postponed.

The project was already pushed back a week because of a rain-saturated track.

“We just want him to hurry up and get this done,” said Santa Anita President Ron Charles.

Pearse said he planned to stay around for a few days after the repair project is completed to help track superintendent Richard Tedesco and his crew with a maintenance program.

Charles said a decision on whether to replace the track after the meet ends will be made later.

Said trainer Ray Bell, “Who knows, we may end up with the most tremendous track ever. If that’s the case, then of course everyone would be in favor of leaving it in place. If it doesn’t satisfy the owners, trainers and jockeys, then they’ll have to replace it.”

larry.stewart@latimes.com