At the latest session of the California Horse Racing Board, racetrack owner Frank Stronach was in fine form
.
Stronach, leader of MI Developments and owner of Santa Anita Park, told members of the board they were responsible for everything but the Gulf oil spill, and Stronach eventually received -- for him -- the highly unusual reprimand of being told to shut up.
Newswise, the main item was Stronach announcing he would allow Oak Tree racing, which he had deposed as a tenant at Santa Anita, to race this fall for one meeting only if they chose (they did quickly) but that he wanted “no tenants in our house” and intended to have none in the future.
Stronach began his presentation by saying board members had slandered him by not understanding his ideas, and that “I’m very resentful when you trash my reputation. I need this like a hole in the head.”
His ideas include changing California racing by proposing to operate his tracks at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields year-round but on weekends only. He told the board he had invested $250 million in his tracks and “haven’t brought out a cent,” and added that “a business that doesn’t make a profit is a burden to society.” He said racing was “trapped in laws, but laws are made and changed by people. It’s very urgent. It’s got to be free enterprise,” and said that tracks, not states, should decide when they want to run.
His brush with Bo Derek came when the actress-turned-racing commissioner accused Stronach of driving away the Breeders’ Cup, and he responded that the racing board, not him, had done that.
At one point a board member shouted at Stronach to be quiet, saying, “Hey, hey, hey, I’m talking now.”
(with files from HTA)