Santa Anita agrees to host Oak Tree meet for one last time

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Frank Stronach, the chairman of MI Developments, which controls the Santa Anita racetrack, offered Tuesday at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board to allow the Oak Tree Racing Assn. to hold its autumn meeting one last time at the Arcadia track.

Oak Tree accepted the one-year lease offer, allowing the meeting that has been held at Santa Anita since 1969 to continue.

Stronach indicated Oak Tree would not be welcomed back after this season.

‘We don’t want a tenant in our home,’ Stronach said earlier before agreeing to the one-year lease.

Stronach said no new track surface for Santa Anita will be put in until after the winter 2011 meeting, leaving the Pro-Ride surface for the next year.

-- Eric Sondheimer