Stronach Group COO Tim Ritvo is now facing "his biggest challenge" -- an effort to "revitalize racing" at Santa Anita Park, according to a profile by John Cherwa of the L.A. TIMES. Ritvo said, "It’s the biggest job I’ve been handed." Cherwa notes Ritvo has "technically been in charge of Santa Anita and all other Stronach Group tracks" since '12, but now he has been sent to "fix things" at the Arcadia, Calif., track. The problems at Santa Anita are "well known." The track has already "announced the cancellation of racing on Thursday because of a lack of entries." It is the "second time this year" that has happened and it "underscores what Ritvo is facing." Ritvo: "California, unfortunately, as great as it is, doesn’t produce enough revenue for the Stronach Group for its property value. It’s so important as future generations of Stronachs come along, that if property values aren’t returning dividends, then someday, someone won’t love racing as much as [Stronach Group Founder Frank Stronach] and we won’t see racing here." Ritvo said it would be "devastating to California" to lose Santa Anita. Ritvo: "My goal, my objective, is to put it on a healthy foot so that the percentage of return on property values is good enough to not have a discussion of anything else." He added the facility is "underperforming based on the property value," which is worth, "at a minimum, half-a-billion dollars." Ritvo: "We don’t get anything close to 4 or 5% back. [The Stronachs] are not greedy people, they just want to get a fair investment so they can justify to future generations that it makes sense to race here" (L.A. TIMES. 6/6).
