OAK TREE, SANTA ANITA INK LEASE EXTENSION THROUGH 2016
ARCADIA, Calif. (Sept. 17, 2007)—The Oak Tree Racing Association announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Turf Club to extend the Oak Tree lease through the Fall of 2016. “Oak Tree has been a tenant at Santa Anita for over 38 years, during which time we’ve had an enjoyable relationship with the management and employees of the Los Angeles Turf Club and we are pleased that this partnership will now proceed well into the future,” said Oak Tree Executive Vice President Sherwood Chillingworth.
Oak Tree will embark upon its 39th annual season on Sept. 26, and this year’s meeting is particularly significant because it will mark the advent of Santa Anita’s state-of-the-art Cushion Track, a synthetic surface designed to promote equine soundness and safety. Oak Tree has agreed to contribute $3 million toward the more than $10 million cost of installing the new surface, which is generating rave reviews among horsemen.
Oak Tree President Dr. Jack Robbins, one of America’s most distinguished equine veterinarians and an original Oak Tree board member dating back to 1969, indicated he was delighted to be able to continue the decades-old tradition of Oak Tree racing at Santa Anita, and to be at the forefront of a new dawn of world class racing on Cushion Track.
“We not only have a great race meet coming up (Sept. 26) with 13 graded stakes in a six week period, the benefit of conducting this racing on a surface that has received overwhelming acceptance from the horse racing community is an added enhancement,” said Robbins.
Santa Anita Park President Ron Charles stated, “It is extremely gratifying to continue this relationship with Oak Tree. From Dr. Robbins to Mr. Chillingworth to their entire board of directors, Oak Tree is universally respected as one of the most prestigious horsemen’s groups in the country. Oak Tree Racing Association has worked toward the betterment of the industry from every segment—from the backside, to the race track, to the racing facility, and it has remained dedicated to channeling its profits to research, development and breeding, plus other worthy causes.”
Oak Tree, which has hosted three record-breaking runnings of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, in 1986, ’93 and 2003, has been selected to host
Breeders’ Cup XXV in 2008. “With the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series (a series of graded stakes) being run this year at Oak Tree, as well as Oak Tree hosting the simulcast of the Breeders’ Cup (from Monmouth Park, New Jersey) itself on Oct. 26 and 27, we are going to have an array of some of the highest quality racing anywhere this year,” said Chillingworth.
“Next year we will be hosting two days of live Breeders’ Cup races (Oct. 24 & 25) and as we look forward to the challenges and opportunities we’ll be faced with in the next 24 months, we are very pleased to be joined once again by an excellent and experienced Santa Anita staff,” he added.
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