As was announced May 20 by MI Developments, longtime Santa Anita Park general manager George Haines has been named interim president of the track 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 Santa Anita, as he was first employed at the Arcadia, Calif. track in 1972 in the facility’s pari-mutuel department.
“It’s a great honor to be named to this position,” said Haines in a statement. “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.
“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.
“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.”