October 2016

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE / Chris Roberts PAST PRESIDENTS

Tom Harmon 1958-60 Awards Luncheon Taking Shape, Gil Stratton 1961-62 But First Comes ‘Day at the Races’ Bill Welsh 1963-64

Fred Hessler 1965-66 Chuck Benedict 1967-68 Our board has been working hard behind the scenes to make Allin Slate 1969-70 our 26th annual awards luncheon at Lakeside on Jan. 30 hopeful- Stu Nahan 1971-72 Tom Kelly 1973-74

ly the best one ever. Mike Walden 1975-77 Ed Arnold 1978-79 PRESIDENT We are using an event planner for the first time to make sure Joe Buttitta 1980 Chris Roberts everything goes smoothly, beginning with entering the parking Steve Bailey 1981-82 [email protected] Chuck Benedict 1983-84 lot. Arrangements have been made so that all attendees need to Steve Roah 1985-86 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - do to enter the parking lot is tell the security guard they are there Steve Bailey 1987-88 VICE PRESIDENT Lisa Bowman 1989 Rand Elkins for “sportscasters.” So there won’t be the backup at the guard Stu Nahan 1990-91 [email protected] shack like last year. Mike Walden 1992-93 (805) 390-4733 Bill Welsh 1994-96 Check-in should be a breeze as well. All tickets, priced at $85 Stu Nahan 1997-07 TREASURER Bob Miller 2008-12 Joe Cala apiece, are being sold in advance, so attendees only need to get Joe Cala 2013-15 [email protected] their table assignment. Our event planner will have plenty of help Chris Roberts 2016-

BOARD MEMBERS checking people in. Check-in will take place near the valet parking area instead of inside Ray Rosenbaum the club at the entrance of the dining area. [email protected] Pete Arbogast Another new facet is a pre-lunch reception, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Lunch will begin at [email protected] Lynda Burns 11:30 sharp. [email protected] Jeff Rose In the past, attendees have not had much time to talk to friends and acquaintances they Larry Stewart may see only once a year. And the dining area quickly became congested, making it diffi- [email protected] cult to move around. That will no longer be a problem. The spacious bar area will be Patrick O’Neal [email protected] cleared for the reception, which is open to all luncheon attendees. Drink tickets for pur- Tom Hoffarth chase will be available. (Major sponsors and donors will get a special badge that will allow [email protected] Isaac Lowenkron them to get drinks on us.) [email protected] Martin Leon The presentation of the newly renamed Vin Scully Life- [email protected] time Achievement Award to none other than Scully himself Stephanie Corrales is one of the highlights of the program. Retiring L.A. County [email protected] Kaitlyn Miller Supervisor Mike Antonovich is being honored and longtime [email protected] sports anchor Ed Arnold, a former SCSB president, will be

NEWSLETTER EDITOR inducted into the SCSB Hall of Fame. For Arnold, who do- Larry Stewart nates his time to many different charitable organizations,

WEB DESIGN the Hall of Fame honor is way overdue. Martin Leon Continue on page 2 Page 1 Continued from page 1

The program of course also includes the announcement of the winners in eight sports broadcasting catego- ries. The winners are determined through voting by SCSB members. You’re going to be hearing a lot more about the awards luncheon over the next few months. In the meantime, our annual “Day at the Races” will be held Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia. Lunch will be served at noon. The first race goes off at 1 p.m. There is something new about the event this year. For the first time it will be held in the modern FrontRunner restaurant, which opened in 1999. The restaurant, which features a 215-foot long bar, sits atop the grandstand on the fifth floor and offers a spectacular panoramic view of the San Gabriel Mountains. There are elevators that take patrons to the FrontRunner. (Yes, there is no space between Front and Runner.) There are plenty of ush- ers around to offer assistance in finding the elevators located near the center of the track. If you haven’t already made arrangements to attend the “Day at the Races,” please contact Rand Elkins at [email protected] or 805 390-4733. The cost is $45, which includes passes and complete, elaborate lunch. Alcoholic drinks are not included. Parking is now free at Santa Anita on weekdays.

EDITOR’S CORNER / Larry Stewart 'Day at the Races' at Santa Anita, Is It a Fun Event? You Bet Our annual “Day at the Races” gives SCSB mem- bers, plus spouses or friends who come along, a chance to socialize as well as enjoy a good meal and maybe a cocktail or two in a beautiful setting. I think everyone is going to like our new site, the FrontRunner restaurant, and its 215-foot long bar. Another plus about our “Day at the Races” is that it gives us a chance to make some money through some judicious handicapping. My recommendation is to find others and pool your money on an exacta ticket or some other “exotic” bet. Exotic is what they call the multi-horse and multi-race wagers. I know a little about horse racing since that sport was my beat during the latter part of the career at the Los Angeles Times. And I later covered the sport for about a year for the L.A. News Group, which includes the L.A. Daily News and eight other suburban newspapers. However, I was never a handicapper, such as former Times colleague Bob Mieszerski, who is now the handi- capper for the L.A. News Group. But I did get some good advice about betting on horses many years ago. Someone told me, “If you want to double your money at the racetrack, fold it over, put it in your pocket and Mario Gutierrez and PR whiz Mike Willman joined us last year. leave it there.” Continue on page 4

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Continued from page 2 Living in Arcadia since 1978, I went to Santa Anita a couple of times a month and made a few relatively small bets. When I took over the horse racing beat at the Times, it meant I was going to be at the track just about every race day. I was concerned those small bets could mount up and become costly. Bill Christine, the Times’ longtime horse racing writer, gave me this advice: “When you’re at the track working, don’t bet. If you’re just there to have fun, then nothing wrong with betting and having a little fun with friends.” Laffit Pincay Jr. and Bob Miller At previous “Day at the Races,” it’s been more than just fun. There have also been interesting programs. In 2010, when Hollywood Park was still in business, Mike Smith was our special guest. He had just ridden to her 18th consecutive victory. The leg- endary filly retired with a record of 19-1, having lost the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Clas- sic by inches. At Santa Anita more recently, we had Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. and Trevor Denman, Bill Seward, Bob Miller track announcer Trevor Denman join us. Last year it was jockey Mario Gutierrez, who a few months later rode Nyquist to victory in the 2016 . In 2012, Gutierrez won the Ken- tucky Derby aboard I’ll Have Another. This year, trainer David Hofmans will again be a special guest along with his wife Linda, Jim Murray’s widow. Santa Anita PR director Mike Willman no doubt will arrange for one or two other special guests who can give us a preview of the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Santa Anita will be hosting the Breeders’ Cup for the ninth time on Nov. 4-5. If you make it to our “Day at the Races” and then watch the Breeders’ Cup on national television a little over a week later, you can say to your- self – or someone else – “I was just there.”

Martin Leon 1329 East Bennett Avenue Glendora, CA 91741

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