Santa Anita Backstretch Workers Rally to Support SoCal Racing

[Wandering Eyes]

Backstretch workers assembled Thursday morning at Santa Anita in a joint effort to plead their case to the media that their community would suffer irreparable damage if racing were to go away in Southern California.

A Santa Anita official estimated the number of people taking part in the rally as around 400, but the radio station KFI reported that there were “more than 100” Santa Anita employees who were on hand.

They achieved at least one major goal, as virtually every English and Spanish language television station and newspaper in Southern California covered the event.

The event was organized by Oscar de la Torre, who describes himself as a social activist and said he became concerned about the possible plight of backstretch workers, many of whom are Hispanic, after learning about threats by politicians and others to close Santa Anita because 29 horses to date have died during the current meet. He said he has never worked on the backstretch of a racetrack.

“I thought it was very powerful for the workers and their families to finally have a voice in the future of this industry,” de la Torre said. “The backstretch workers at Santa Anita, they are the invisible foundation of the horse racing industry and they deserve to be protected as much as the horses they also love and protect. When I heard about the problems at Santa Anita I contacted a friend of mine, trainer Hector Palma, and he introduced me to the backstretch workers and I heard their stories and saw the concern they had about losing their livelihoods. I decided this was a social justice issue that needed attention.

“I think we need to extend the compassion that we have for the horses to the humans. The goal should be to protect both. This is a very vulnerable population of people, the people who work on the backstretch of this racetrack. There are already 59,000 homeless people in the City of Los Angeles. We do not want to shut down Santa Anita and further contribute to that social problem.”

Beyond backstretch workers, several others were spotted in the crowd offering their support, including some of the circuit’s most high profile trainers. The list includes Bob Baffert, Doug O’Neill, John Shirreffs, Mark Glatt and Jeff Bonde.

The list of speakers included Jairo Lopez, whose father has worked on the Santa Anita backstretch for 35 years and he, himself, has worked there during recent breaks from school while pursuing his Bachelor’s degree.

Speaking first in English and then repeating his statement in Spanish, Lopez, who is a student at Cal-State Long Beach, said he never would have been able to seek a college education if not for horse racing.

“Thanks to this job [working on the backstretch for O’Neill], I have become a responsible person who has learned to always do the best he is capable of doing,” he said. “It is thanks to this job and these people that I am the person I am today and without them showing me the support and pushing me forward I wouldn’t be where I am at right now. I got accepted to eight of nine universities that I applied to, but decided I wanted to stay locally. I picked Cal State Long Beach so that I could continue to work at the racetrack and support my family and help my dad.”

According to de la Torre, Lopez would not have been able afford college if not for the money he himself earned working on the backstretch and the money his father saved during his many years working in racing. He said Lopez’s goal is to become a police officer.

Santa Anita management issued a press release applauding the efforts of the workers. It read: “Backstretch workers comprise the backbone of the racing industry and have been a willing partner in implementing the reforms we have proposed at Santa Anita Park–and the California Horse Racing Board implemented–during the course of this meeting. Support from these backstretch workers is a testament to the commitment from within the industry to modernize our sport. We look forward to working with the hundreds of backstretch workers at Santa Anita Park as we continue to move the industry forward and educate Californians on how impactful horse racing is to the state.”

Video of Thursday’s rally can be viewed on XBTV here.

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