Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stronach Group at Center of Best and Worst of Horse Racing
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
May 13, 2019

Share

The Stronach Group isn’t well known outside horse racing.

“No question the Stronach Group and the Stronach family invest in horse racing. They do invest heavily in the business, and you’ve got to acknowledge that and thank them for that.” — National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Alex Waldrop

In the public eye, the big players are the likes of recent Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify, trainer Bob Baffert and legendary horses Secretariat and Seattle Slew.

But few — if any — have had a bigger impact on the sport of late than the Stronach Group, led by Frank Stronach, Belinda Stronach and Tim Ritvo. They’re the movers and shakers of the Canadian company that has been at the center of much of the good, the bad and the ugly of horse racing.

“No question the Stronach Group and the Stronach family invest in horse racing,” National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Alex Waldrop said. “They do invest heavily in the business, and you’ve got to acknowledge that and thank them for that.”

And blame them at times.

They own seven U.S. tracks, are credited for saving the industry in Maryland, boosted the sport in Florida and established the richest horse race in the world. They’re also the subject of multiple family lawsuits, an ongoing quarrel over the future of the Preakness that’s again the conversation with the race coming up this week, and own Santa Anita Park, which was the site of 23 horse deaths over a span of three months.

Debate Over How the Aftermath Was Handled

But love them or loathe them, it’s fair to say horse racing wouldn’t be where it is right now without the Stronach Group.

Before the disqualification of Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby, the fatalities at Santa Anita dealt another blow to horse racing’s reputation and put the Stronach Group under the microscope. East Coast officials criticized the Stronach Group for being slow to react and institute reforms.

Waldrop praised the Stronach Group and horsemen in California for getting the situation under control. There’s considerable debate over how the aftermath was handled and changes implemented, but Stronach Group executives did it their way.

“The long term of thoroughbred racing, whether it be in Maryland, California or Florida or anywhere in the U.S. is reliant on having healthy horses, healthy trainers, healthy jockeys and all of the above,” CEO Bill Hecht said. “We will continue to work very closely with the breeders and the trainers and the horsemen to affect the very best solution for the health of all of those groups.”

Long before the fatalities at Santa Anita forced the Stronach Group to find a solution to that problem, it has been fighting with Maryland lawmakers over the Preakness. The argument over whether the Preakness will continue to be run at Baltimore’s aging Pimlico Race Course or the company’s favored Laurel Park, 30 miles down the road, has become a tiresome mid-May tradition.

Stronach Made Money in Auto Parts, Put it Into Horse Racing

The Stronach Group’s fingerprints are all over the sport.

“Frank is the only man that’s invested his life earnings in racing. Nobody can criticize him for that because nobody else wants to do that. There’s nobody out there that will do that. Nobody’s going to fix a racetrack, build a racetrack.” — Maryland-based owner and trainer Linda Gaudet

Austrian-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach made his money in auto parts and wanted to put it into horse racing. It was his idea in 2016 to launch the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Florida, which now has the biggest purse in the world at $16 million.

“Frank is the only man that’s invested his life earnings in racing,” longtime Maryland-based owner and trainer Linda Gaudet said. “Nobody can criticize him for that because nobody else wants to do that. There’s nobody out there that will do that. Nobody’s going to fix a racetrack, build a racetrack.”

Gaudet still remembers Dec. 4, 2015, when Ritvo came into Maryland and “saved” the industry there after some rough years. She said Stronach, Ritvo and Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Sal Sintra took the state’s racing operation from “the bottom of the rung” back to respectability.

“The stuff (Ritvo) got done in a short amount of time was amazing,” Gaudet said. “He has a tough management style, but he’s effective. And if somebody’s not doing their job, move on to the next one.”

Tension in Stronach Family

That’s not limited to Maryland. Even though his name isn’t on the company, Ritvo has plenty of influence and has become something of a fixer when problems arise.

“Tim Ritvo, he’s a dynamo,” Waldrop said. “He’s a force to be reckoned with. Not everyone likes that approach, but I take my hat off to him for working with all the parties involved in the situation and getting it right now at Santa Anita.”

Not everyone in the Stronach family likes each other all that much right now, at least from a business standpoint. Frank in September sued his daughter, two grandchildren and former business associate Alon Ossip for over $500 million in Ontario Superior Court alleging they mismanaged the family’s assets and conspired to take control of them.

Belinda Stronach countersued her father in January, saying in a statement of defense that he lost vast sums of money on pet projects.

Hecht said whether its family infighting, safety at Santa Anita or problems at Pimlico, the horse racing spotlight — rightly or wrongly — will continue to shine on the Stronach Group.

“They can’t blow their nose without somebody seeing something wrong,” Gaudet said. “All the optics are on them right now.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Trustee Wittrup Says District Had Stronger Candidates Than Misty Her

DON'T MISS

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

DON'T MISS

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

DON'T MISS

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

DON'T MISS

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

DON'T MISS

How Trump Tariffs Could Upend California Farms, Wine Businesses, and Ports

DON'T MISS

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Crow-Armstrong Goes Deep Again as Cubs Edge Dodgers

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

Webb, Flores Come Up Big as Giants Clip Brewers

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

UP NEXT

Great News for 49ers: Christian McCaffrey Says He’s Fully Healed

UP NEXT

Lakers Muscle Up to Even Playoff Series With Timberwolves

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

10 hours ago

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

11 hours ago

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

11 hours ago

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

11 hours ago

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

12 hours ago

How Trump Tariffs Could Upend California Farms, Wine Businesses, and Ports

12 hours ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

13 hours ago

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

13 hours ago

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

13 hours ago

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

14 hours ago

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Yastrzemski and Matt Chapman homered as the San Francisco Giants rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 on Thursday ...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

8 hours ago

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

9 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Wittrup Says District Had Stronger Candidates Than Misty Her

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an 'Unleashing American Energy' event at the Department of Energy in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2017. (REUTERS File)
10 hours ago

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

11 hours ago

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

Chickens sit at a poultry farm. March 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Diego Vara/File Photo)
11 hours ago

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

11 hours ago

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

Candi, GV Wire's Adoptable Cat of the Week
12 hours ago

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend