As was announced Thursday by MI Developments (MID), longtime Santa Anita Park General Manager George Haines has been named interim Santa Anita President and will oversee all of MID’s California racing operations, which also include Golden Gate Fields effective immediately.
Haines has nearly 40 years of work experience at The Great Race Place, as he was first employed at Santa Anita in 1972, in the track’s Parimutuel Department.
“It’s a great honor to be named to this position,” said Haines. “I’m not only honored, but I feel very fortunate to be inheriting an extremely talented management team that I know very well. I’ll be working closely with all of our people and I’ll be calling upon their expertise.
george haines and Caruso
“Although these are obviously very challenging economic times, we are going to be working toward a common goal of making the racing experience here at Santa Anita everything that our fans and horsemen over the years have come to expect—and that is world class.”
“Santa Anita is still the number-one winter-racing venue in America and we’ve proven time and again operationally and from the standpoint of live national television, there is no better place in the world to showcase racing on a grand stage than right here at Santa Anita.
“When you look at the future of racing here in California, there is no question that change is needed and it is coming. I’m fully confident that Santa Anita will be an integral part of the solution and that we will continue to lead the way.”