The detente between Frank Stronach and the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn. means that the Breeders' Cup is heading back to Santa Anita.

Sherwood Chillingworth, executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Assn., which as a Santa Anita tenant hosted Breeders' Cups in 1986 and 1993, said that no contract has been signed for racing's big year-end day in 2002, but other sources indicated that the Breeders' Cup and Oak Tree are close to a deal.

"I've been meeting with the Breeders' Cup, and there's another meeting scheduled soon," Chillingworth said. "We hope to get the date and we're very optimistic."

Although Oak Tree is not directly involved in the debate between Stronach, the owner of Santa Anita, and the NTRA, racing's national marketing arm, Breeders' Cup officials said late last year that it would be difficult to schedule their races at Santa Anita if Stronach were not a member of the NTRA. The Breeders' Cup is a partner of the NTRA.

Stronach, who owns Gulfstream Park and five other tracks besides Santa Anita, pulled his Magna Entertainment group from the NTRA in October, but this week agreed to rejoin the organization for 2001 and possibly for 2002. This is the second time that Stronach bolted from the NTRA and then changed his mind. The Stronach tracks pay more than $1 million in annual dues to the NTRA, which has been hit by numerous defections. Fifteen other tracks resigned from the NTRA the same time that the Stronach group did, and recently six other tracks, including Turf Paradise in Phoenix, left. The NTRA, which has more than 70 members, including horsemen's groups, is trying to woo many of these tracks back.

The Breeders' Cup runs eight races worth $13 million in purses each fall. Racing's year-end complement to the Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds, the Breeders' Cup usually determines most of the Eclipse award winners, including horse of the year. This year's Breeders' Cup will be run Oct. 27 at Belmont Park.

Before Stronach's most recent shift in attitude, Chillingworth felt that he had made progress in convincing the Breeders' Cup that Oak Tree shouldn't be penalized merely because it was a Stronach tenant. He was not without bottom-line ammunition. When the NTRA was formed three years ago, Oak Tree was one of a small number of racing groups that each put up $1 million in seed money. Since then, Oak Tree has been pre-paying its annual dues, of about $100,000, to help the NTRA with cash-flow problems.

"We're obviously a big NTRA supporter," Chillingworth said. "Del Mar, for example, might like to host the Breeders' one of these years. Would they be excluded just because their landlord [the state's 22nd Agricultural District] wasn't a member of the NTRA?"

Oak Tree had been penciled in as the host of the Breeders' Cup last year, but Churchill Downs stepped in because of concern that Santa Anita's construction program would interfere. Starting in 1984, three of the first four Breeders' Cups were held in California, but since 1994 the only Breeders' Cup run on the West Coast was at Hollywood Park in 1997.

Stronach conducted a forum that brought a cross-section of racing leaders to Gulfstream Park last Sunday. One of the speakers, owner-breeder Don Zuckerman, criticized the Breeders' Cup for its position vis-a-vis the NTRA.

"[You] are threatening someone who doesn't agree with you," Zuckerman said, referring to tracks not being eligible to host the Breeders' Cup if they were non-NTRA. "How dare you. You can't turn [your organization] into a political entity."

One of the compromises between Stronach and the NTRA is that Magna Entertainment will get a seat on the NTRA's board of directors. Churchill Downs, which owns Hollywood Park and other tracks, would also receive a seat, as would the New York Racing Assn., which operates Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The board will be filled out by four seats given to other tracks on a regional basis, plus seats for several horsemen's organizations.

Although the NTRA indicated that Stronach's return to the organization would clear the way for telecasts of several Kentucky Derby prep races, such as the Florida Derby at Gulfstream and the Santa Anita Derby, that may not be the case. According to other sources, the broadcast status of the Santa Anita Derby on April 7 is unclear, and the Florida Derby on March 10 probably won't be carried by ESPN or ESPN2, which are now committed to college basketball. Before Stronach's change of heart, the NTRA was unwilling to include races from his tracks on its TV schedule.

Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times