Top executive for Stronach Group is being sent to Santa Anita to revitalize track
The Stronach Group has successfully transformed tracks at Gulfstream Park in Florida and Laurel Park in Maryland. Now, it aims to do the same at Santa Anita, seen above.
Reporting from Baltimore — After the 142nd running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, the Stronach Group’s top executive will leave his East Coast base and move to Arcadia to try to revitalize Santa Anita Park.
Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of the Stronach Racing Group, is being sent west to help “implement best practices,” Sal Sinatra confirmed to The Times. Sinatra is the Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager.
Ritvo was unavailable for comment.
Ritvo is known as Frank Stronach’s fix-it guy, having helped transform racing at Gulfstream Park and successfully moving racing in Maryland to Laurel Park for most of the year. Pimlico runs only 12 days a year.
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Technically, Ritvo has always had authority over Santa Anita as COO, but the historic track has operated almost on its own.
Ritvo will arrive in Southern California in a few days and take up residence in a house that adjoins the downhill turf course at Santa Anita.
Sinatra said Ritvo will be there “for an extended period of time.”
The move is said to be part of a restructuring, with one goal to have only one big-events team that can move from track to track. The Stronach Group owns Santa Anita, Gulfstream, Pimlico, Laurel, Golden Gate and Portland Meadows.
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A blue and yellow look at the Preakness village.
(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)
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Helen Hoey of Pittsburgh sports feathers at the 2017 Preakness.
(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)
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Beth Workman of Reisterstown wears a black hat at the 2017 Preakness.
(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)
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Anne Stinson and her daughter, Stella, 2, coordinated their hats for the 2017 Preakness.
(Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)
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Linda Hindman, left, of Glen Burnie, who is attending Preakness for the first time, dances for her boyfriend, Bill Faley.
(Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)
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From left, Stephanie Hrin of Alexandria, Va., her mother, Nancy Fleming of Reisterstown; and sister, Amy Gass of Fairfield, Pa., sport elaborate hats as the wait for the second race of the day.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Johns Hopkins student Rachel Huselid wore her mother’s hat to the Infield before the 142nd Preakness Stakes. (Emma Patti Harris / Baltimore Sun)
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Sara Chaffee, of Seattle, wears a fascinator for the 142nd Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. She has traveled to Baltimore to attend the Preakness every year since 2010.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Wayne Richardson, of Haddon Township, N.J., wears a hat covered with Triple Crown Race pins at the 142nd Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. Richardson says he’s attended the Preakness for 30 years.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Caitlin Cawley, of Worcester, Mass., wears a fascinator her mother made for the 142nd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Missy Beck sits in the grandstand on Preakness Day at Pimlico Race Course.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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From left, Missy Beck and Shannon McCann attend the 142nd Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Eileen Robert, of Philadelphia, attends the 142nd Preakness with her sister-in-law, who is a mutuel teller at Pimlico Race Course.
(Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)
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Wayne Richardson, of Haddon Township, N.J., has attended Preakness Day for thirty years.
(Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)
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Kyla Possinger of Baltimore, says she went for something different this year -- a top hat with a feather.
(Brittany Britto / Baltimore Sun)
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From left, Annaka Stoeckel, 21, of Chicago; Emily Herman, 22, of New Jersey; Rachel Huselid, 21, of New Jersey; Zoe Demko, 21, of Detroit.
(Quinn Kelley / Baltimore Sun)
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Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis sports a fashionable hat at the 2017.
(Colin Campbell / Baltimore Sun )
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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh arrives at Preakness in a hat styled by Christine Moore.
(Brittany Britto / Baltimore Sun)
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“I just wanted to look chic,” Debbie Thornbury of Columbia said of her fashion inspiration. This is her first Preakness.
(Brittany Britto / The Baltimore Sun)
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Cindy Kila of Severna Park “wanted to capture everything about the Preakness” in her homemade hat.
(Quinn Kelley / Baltimore Sun)
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Linda Shaw of Severn, with her husband, Ted, made her own hat. “I had the hat. I ordered the feathers & hot glued them on this morning,” she said.
(Brittany Britto / Baltimore Sun)
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Lauren Stuart of Baltimore and Rachel Shek of Bel Air both went with colorful fascinators.
(Brittany Britto / The Baltimore Sun)
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“She always buys the hat first” and then Cheryl and Darrell Tarte of Mount Airy coordinate outfits.
(Quinn Kelley / Baltimore Sun)
Santa Anita has struggled recently with attendance and a shortage of horses. The track canceled a late April card because of a lack of entries. The wet winter also has not helped the track.
It’s unclear whether this will change the duties or eliminate any of the current management team at Santa Anita.
John Cherwa is a special contributor to the Los Angeles Times. He started at The Times in 1980 and left in 1995 to be sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Co. sports coordinator in 2002. He rejoined The Times in 2009 and left his post as deputy sports editor late in 2017. Currently, his major coverage area is horse racing, where he can be found at big races at Santa Anita, the Triple Crown series and Breeders’ Cup. He also can be found at the Olympics, having just finished the Tokyo and Beijing double, marking his 11th Olympics. Cherwa also contributes general interest stories from Florida.
