Alternate Santa Anita website caters to broader audience

Santa Anita has announced that it has launched an alternate website,

www.santaanitalive.com,

in an effort to reach a broader, younger audience by offering a wide array of

content, much of which is not horse racing-specific.

"We know that we need to expand our fan base and try harder than ever to

reach an audience that may not be familiar with our sport," Santa Anita Vice

President of Marketing and Sales Chris Quinn said.

"Our intention is to make SantaAnitaLive much more than a racetrack website.

We host so many events here, 365 days a year, that we needed a dedicated vehicle

like SantaAnitaLive to be able to promote and entice people and organizations to

consider Santa Anita Park for a vast number of events that we can host."

Quinn also noted that with HBO's "Luck" set to premier in January,

SantaAnitaLive will be a valuable tool in helping to publicize the

much-anticipated episodic series that will star Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte,

Dennis Farina and others.

"We're confident that 'Luck' has the potential to be a mega-hit and we're

hopeful it will instill interest in our sport and in Santa Anita in ways that

we've never seen before," Quinn said. "We hope to be able to work with the HBO

people and promote through the use of still photos, trailers, etc., the essence

of what all of us hope 'Luck' will be," he said.

Santa Anita's Director of Community Services and Special Projects, Pete

Siberell, who has worked closely with HBO on-site, views SantaAnitaLive as a

tool to further develop the "Luck" story.

"We anticipate a good many people coming to Santa Anita to check out where

various scenes have been shot. With this new website, we hope to bring 'Luck' to

life at Santa Anita Park," Siberell said.

In addition to "Luck," it is anticipated that many more entertainment and

sports celebrities will be regular attendees at Santa Anita in the weeks and

months ahead.

"SantaAnitaLive is going to be a great way for people to stay in touch and to

get a sense of the fun and the buzz that we hope to be able to create and

sustain," Quinn said.

Prominent among many special events scheduled to take place at Santa Anita in

coming months are the annual Santa Anita Derby 5K Walk and Run, the California

Philharmonic's "Festival on the Green" summer concert series and a continuation

of Santa Anita's highly successful Gourmet Food Truck Festivals.

"SantaAnitaLive will also offer people tips on local lodging and dining and

we'll thus be in better contact with our friends and neighbors in the local

business community. We're hoping that people will look to this website when

they're thinking about a restaurant or if they live out of the area, that

they'll check with us first before making hotel reservations," Quinn added.

SantaAnitaLive will also offer "Tips and Tricks," which will serve as an

insiders guide to Santa Anita and all that it has to offer. Wagering

terminology, which is often intimidating to newcomers, will also be explained

fully.