Santa Anita to offer live coverage of workouts

For the first time ever, Santa Anita will offer live video of workouts on its

website (santaanita.com). The service, which begins Tuesday, will allow fans to

watch horses work and train on the Santa Anita oval from the comfort of their

own homes.

"This is a major development for Santa Anita and our fans," Santa Anita

Director of Broadcast Amy J. Zimmerman said. "We are very excited about the potential

of this technology. As this is a work in progress, we will fine-tune it as we go

to display the best images available. We envision that a great number of fans

and horsemen will be taking advantage of this capability."

A Sony video camera that provides exceptional performance in both day and

low-level light conditions, including near early morning darkness, will be used. The image

will be displayed in 16x9 format, enabling a longer area of the stretch to be

shown. The video will be streamed live by select.net.

Santa Anita Director of Racing Michael J. Harlow noted that horsemen

worldwide will now have a visual window into Santa Anita that never existed

before.

"If we have important horses set to work at certain times, owners, trainers,

breeders and jockeys will be able to log on and assess their performance,"

Harlow said. "Horsemen will now be able to monitor conditions here as never before. This is a

huge plus for us."

Santa Anita begins its 70th winter/spring meeting on Tuesday. The 85-date

meet continues through April 22.