Race Tracks

When Kimberly Mao paid a local doctor last summer a little more than a million dollars for a sprawling ranch in horse country here, folks thought she was just another well-to-do city dweller seeking a rural retreat in the piney woods of East Texas. But weeks after the 47-year-old Hacienda Heights woman purchased the property, bulldozers began cutting a winding course of bumps and berms into the soil, turning the tranquil farm into a raceway for the fast-growing sport of motocross.

Beginnings The community was founded in 1885 by Jacob Taylor, whom the local historical society describes as "a dynamic visionary who pictured Del Mar as a seaside resort for the rich and famous." The centerpiece of Taylor's vision was his Casa del Mar hotel-resort -- which burned to the ground five years after it was built, prompting him to leave Del Mar and never return.

Dale Jensen and Brad Yonover knew they would be fighting history when they proposed staging a street race through downtown. After all, a Formula One street race here was such an epic flop that it still makes old-timers shudder with the 15-year-old memory. But the two local real estate and entertainment entrepreneurs thought they could correct the mistakes made on that earlier occasion.

A bill to permit horse tracks to install nearly 13,000 video gambling machines stalled Monday when a key legislator blocked a hearing set for today. Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), chairman of the governmental organization committee, which was supposed to consider the measure, put off a hearing until mid-August at the earliest. The legislative session concludes at the end of August. Florez said the bill would amount to a huge policy shift.

Horsemen, racetrack operators and members of the California Horse Racing Board learned about Polytrack on Tuesday at Santa Anita at the first of three informational meetings on synthetic track surfaces. At its February meeting, the CHRB, citing safety concerns, decided to require replacement of dirt tracks with synthetic racing surfaces at thoroughbred tracks in the state with meets longer than four weeks. Such tracks have until the end of 2007 to comply or face the loss of racing dates.

Daredevils once flew around LAX -- and they never even left the ground. Before Los Angeles International Airport became a bustling modern airport, it included L.A. Municipal Airport Speedway, where cars raced from 1934 to 1936.

One of the most influential men in motor sports has his eye on the National Hot Rod Assn., the Glendora-based sanctioning body that oversees most drag racing in the United States. Bruton Smith, whose Speedway Motorsports Inc., rivals the France family's International Speedway Corp. in racetrack ownership, told The Times on Friday he wanted to buy the NHRA's assets. SMI owns three NHRA drag strips, at Las Vegas, Sonoma and Bristol, Tenn.

California Speedway plans to spend more than $10 million to create a family-friendly entertainment area with a Wolfgang Puck-designed restaurant, concert area and additional shade structures to help shelter fans who arrive early on race days. Daytona Beach-based International Speedway Corp., which owns the two-mile, D-shaped oval track in Fontana, will unveil the plans at a news conference today. The 23.

Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park and several other tracks, is selling the Meadows, a harness-track in the Pittsburgh suburbs, for $225 million. The sale of the Meadows was announced as Magna's third-quarter report showed that the Canadian-based company had lost $34.5 million, compared to a deficit of $50.3 million for the same three months a year ago. Magna's losses since 2002 have been almost $280 million.

In an announcement that astounded horsemen, leaving many of them frustrated and angry, Hollywood Park said Tuesday that it would have no grass racing at the meet that opens a week from today. The focal point of the meet traditionally has been grass racing, including the turf festival over the Thanksgiving weekend, but Hollywood officials said that the rebuilding of the turf course, which began shortly after the first 2005 season ended in July, had been unsatisfactory.