HORSE RACING: Lakers standouts creating buzz at track - San Bernardino Sun

Now that Santa Anita CEO Mark Verge has gotten Los Angeles Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol into the horse racing business, the question is when will their horse Siempre Mio actually run?

The answer is tricky. Bryant and Gasol are a little busy right now with the NBA Playoffs, but Verge wants Siempre Mio to run some time in the next two weeks and would love it if horse racing's newest megastar owners are on track to see it.

"Believe me, I'm looking around to see when they play because I do want to get them out there," Verge said. "We hope they'll be out there, but you never know."

Verge created quite a buzz when he offered a 25 percent interest in Siempre Mio, a 4-year-old gelding, to be auctioned at last week's Lakers Foundation Fundraiser. To his surprise, Bryant and Gasol got in a bidding war for the horse, with Bryant coming away with the $8,000 winning bid.

Verge then offered Gasol a chance to buy a 25 percent stake in the horse for another $8,000 to be donated to the Lakers Foundation. The 7-footer obliged and now the Santa Anita CEO who's been on the job for less than two months has brought more star power into a thoroughbred industry that badly needs it. Neither Bryant nor Gasol will have to pay any of the horse's monthly upkeep.

"I was floored," Verge said while thinking back to the bidding. "I walked out of that place with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol as my partners in a horse. I was honestly floored.

"There's

300 people in there, and how these two start battling on a horse, I don't have an answer for that. The place was going nuts."

Siempre Mio is trained by Doug O'Neill, who currently is focused on his Kentucky Derby contender I'll Have Another as they prep for Saturday's Run for the Roses. Siempre Mio will make his next start at Betfair Hollywood Park, which does Verge's track Santa Anita little good.

But Verge isn't looking at it like that.

"I'm not waiting until Sept. 27 (Santa Anita's fall meet opening day) to run the horse," Verge said. "My thought for this whole game is you've got to bring back Hollywood Park. You've got to bring back Del Mar. You've got to bring back Santa Anita.

"When that happens, it will float all boats. A rising tide floats all boats."

Since news of Bryant's and Gasol's entrance into the racing game broke last week, Verge reported several other celebrity/horse ownership ideas have popped up and he's working on several that figure to make even more headlines.

Verge took over as Santa Anita CEO in March and has vowed to make the Arcadia track one of Southern California's top entertainment destinations again. Santa Anita's live racing meet just ended in late April and racing won't return until late September, when Santa Anita's fall meet will be highlighted by the Breeders' Cup.

In the meantime, Verge is doing what he can to make sure fans see a notable difference when things resume.

"We need to save horse racing," Verge said. "I can get Santa Anita rolling, but I also need to get all of horse racing rolling."

aram.tolegian@sgvn.com