hollywood park

Jeff Siegel, a major player on the Southern California horse racing scene for more than half-a-century, died at his home in Duarte on Saturday after an extended battle with cancer. He was 74.

There are few roles in horse racing, besides trainer or jockey, that Siegel didn’t perform since he first got a job in the publicity department at Hollywood Park in 1974.

Siegel’s last job in racing was both serving as a host on XBTV, a service, owned by The Stronach Group, that specializes in horse workout videos. He was also the morning-line maker for both Santa Anita and Del Mar. He continued doing the job until his health no longer allowed it earlier this year.

But what made Siegel a must-know personality in racing was his ability as a handicapper. Andy Beyer, the legendary Washington Post handicapper and namesake to Beyer speed figures, called Siegel the “World’s Greatest Handicapper” in his 1993 book “Beyer on Speed.” Siegel gave Beyer six horses to bet on a day’s card of Southern California racing. All six won, according to Beyer.

Siegel was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 1950, and grew up in Southern California. He attended Fairfax High, where he ran track, and he worked at the school newspaper at L.A. Valley College. He later went to San José State, where he was pointed to radio and television journalism. He came home and got a job at radio station KLAC, where he worked with Jim Healy, who had a top sports commentary show for many years. Healy knew Siegel liked racing and got him a job at Hollywood Park without even asking Siegel, who said he liked his current job. Healy told him he would like the Hollywood Park job even more.

And he did. Siegel never looked back.

Because of his access to trainers, jockeys and owners, plus an ability to see things others didn’t, Siegel was a valued public handicapper and soon his picks were featured in many Southern California newspapers, including The Times, the Daily News, Pasadena Star-News, Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Jeff has been my primary mentor in this game,” said Bob Ike, a long-time public handicapper in Southern California. “He made performance ratings before there were published Beyer figures. He videotaped gate workouts in the mid-1980s. His overall knowledge of pace, pedigree and European form is unsurpassed. As a public handicapper, he’s the GOAT.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert often took advice from Siegel and loved his time talking to him about horses.

“I had total respect for his opinions and thoughts on horses,” Baffert said. “When [Triple Crown winner] Justify broke his maiden, Jeff told me the horse was going to win the Kentucky Derby.

“He just loved being part of the game and I respected his handicapping. If he picked your horse first, second or third, you knew you had a good chance of winning. He could see a horse run and he knew right away. After he saw [Triple Crown winner] American Pharoah run for the first time, he came up to me and said ‘You’ve got a real good one there.’

“I’m going to miss talking to him. I’d ask him what he thought and he might say, ‘I don’t think he can go that far.’ And he was right. On top of all that, he was such a nice man. His passion for the sport was unequaled. Nobody knew horses better than him. It’s a sad day and I will really miss listening to him.”

Siegel also co-founded partnership stables Clover Racing and Team Valor, the most successful partnership at that time, with his friend Barry Irwin.

“He was the best handicapper I’ve ever met.” Irwin said. “What separated him from his peers, is his ability to add horsemanship to his handicapping. He knew a lot of what went into training. He wasn’t just a nuts and bolts guy, he understood the animal.”

Irwin remembers a time he was at Siegel’s house to talk about buying a horse.

“I asked if he had any old Racing Forms so I could look up a horse,” Irwin said. “He said, ‘Go look in the bathroom.’ He had Racing Forms stacked to the top of the shower where the water comes out. His entire life was dedicated to horse racing and handicapping. Nobody ever met a kinder or nicer guy.”

Never deterred by the amount of work on his plate — unless it conflicted with UCLA football or basketball games — Siegel decided to try broadcasting. So, he joined HRTV, a horse racing channel, in 2004 and stayed for almost a decade as an analyst.

“In addition to all the great work he did on camera, he was a true fan and dedicated student of the game,” said Becky Somerville, senior director of production at FanDuel TV. “He was passionate about it, which came through in everything he did, and that passion was infectious, lifting up everyone around him.”

Somerville worked closely with Jeff at HRTV from 2004 to 2015, including producing his show “First Call.”

Siegel is survived by his brother, Barry Siegel; sister, Michelle Weiss; nieces Caryn and Mara; nephew Robert; grand nephews Kai, Beckett and Roman; and grand niece Monroe.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke will build a movie studio next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood that will serve as the international broadcast center for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Construction will start by summer on the studio and production facility that will house hundreds of broadcasters from around the world that have acquired rights to cover the Summer Games in Los Angeles, Kroenke’s company said Tuesday.

After the Games, the facility known as Hollywood Park Studios will be used to make movies, television shows and other productions and perhaps host live broadcasts.

The development is part of Hollywood Park, a multibillion-dollar complex built on the site of a former horse racing track also known as Hollywood Park that includes the stadium, apartments, theaters, offices, shops and restaurants.

A luxury hotel is under construction there, and more development including a grocery store and medical offices is being considered.

Kroenke’s organization hopes that attention from the Olympics will boost Hollywood Park Studios’ appeal as a future entertainment production center.

“We want it to be recognized around the world,” said Alan Bornstein, who is overseeing development of the studio for Kroenke.

The studio is part of Hollywood Park’s master development plan focusing on media, entertainment and technology, Bornstein said, anchored by SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater and the NFL Media office building.

“There has been an increasing convergence of media and technology and sports, all under the notion of entertainment that is now distributed in in multiple channels,” Bornstein said, “whether it’s through streaming or whether through broadcast television or movies in theaters,”

The first phase of Hollywood Park Studios will occupy 12 acres and will consist of five soundstages, each 18,000 square feet, two of which may be opened to a single 36,000-square-foot stage.

The complex will have a three-story, 80,000-square-foot office building to support stage, production and postproduction activities. The studios will have a dedicated open base camp where trucks, equipment and actors’ trailers could be placed, along with a parking structure for 1,100 cars. Future development could include as many as 20 stages and 200,000 square feet of related office space.

The additional stages would be built to suit for future tenants as demand emerges, Bornstein said, who declined to estimate how much the studio complex will cost.

Although demand for soundstages outstripped supply a few years ago, production has recently slowed and dampened the current need for them.

A rendering of the Hollywood Park Studios broadcast center and movie production facility.

(Gensler)

Last year, the average annual occupancy rate dropped to 63%, a further indication of Hollywood’s sustained production slowdown, according to a recent report by FilmLA, a nonprofit organization that tracks on-location shoot days in the Greater Los Angeles area.

That was a decline from 2023, which saw an average regional occupancy rate of 69%. That was the year when dual strikes by writers and actors crippled the local production economy for months.

The foray into Hollywood-level production facilities is part of Kroenke’s goal to combine sports, entertainment and media from around the world, Bornstein said.

In addition to the Rams, Kroenke is owner of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, the Colorado Avalanche hockey team, the Colorado Rapids soccer team, the Colorado Mammoth lacrosse team and Arsenal Football Club, the Premier League soccer team based in London.

SoFi Stadium, where the Chargers also play football, will be converted into the largest Olympic swimming venue in history during the Games in 2028. It will host the Olympic opening ceremony with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games.

Kroenke is also a major real estate developer and landlord. The 300-acre Hollywood Park project is one of the largest mixed-use developments under construction in the western United States. SoFi Stadium alone cost $5 billion to build.

Last month, he also unveiled plans for a new Rams headquarters on a 100-acre site at Warner Center in Woodland Hills that would include a residential and retail community intended to be the centerpiece of the San Fernando Valley. It could cost more than the total price of Hollywood Park, which has been valued by outside observers at more than $10 billion.

Creating a second epicenter in Woodland Hills allows the Rams to significantly increase the size of their footprint in the Southern California market.

“When you’re looking to do a practice facility, you don’t need to be right in the middle of everything, and typically that real estate is very expensive,” Kroenke told The Times. “We built an identity in the Valley, with Cal Lutheran, and a lot of our players and families are up there. Our experience was really good.”

Architecture firm Gensler spearheaded the design for the Warner Center headquarters and Hollywood Park Studios. Clayco will be the general contractor for the studio, with Pacific Edge acting as project manager. Financing was arranged by Guggenheim Investments.

Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report.