George Krikorian seems well suited to his new role as a California racing commissioner. He has roots in horse racing going back to his childhood in Salem, New Hampshire, where his father trained horses at Rockingham Park. The younger Krikorian didn't take to working with horses but he showed an early business sense by earning spending money selling programs and Daily Racing Forms.
After serving in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, he moved to Los Angeles where he completed his education, and then began a successful career in real estate sales and development. He opened his first Krikorian Premiere Theaters movie complex in 1984. His business successes allowed him to get back into horse racing in 1996 – this time as an owner and breeder. He now owns about 100 horses, including 30 broodmares. Along the way, he acquired 300-acre Starwood Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and he is considering another farm on property he owns in Ramona, California.
Krikorian raced the graded stakes winners Starrer, Hollywood Story, Star Billing, and Makeup Artist, along with numerous stakes-placed horses, some of which he bred. The long list includes Hoorayforhollywood, Box Office Girl, Film Critic, Dramatic, Film Editor, and Box Office Queen. He produced stakes winners K.O. Artist, Truth Rules, No Play, and Point, among other notable winners.
Committed to helping improve horse racing, he won election to the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Owners of California in 2012. He served as secretary and treasurer and on the executive committee of the organization's Racing Affairs Committee. Krikorian resigned from the TOC the day Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed him to serve on the California Horse Racing Board.
"This is a difficult and challenging time for the California horse racing industry," said Krikorian following his appointment on May 6. "We are dealing with the imminent closing of Hollywood Park, which requires the CHRB and the industry to work together on a reallocation of racing dates for 2014 and beyond. And we need to secure replacement training facilities and stalls for the nearly 1,700 horses typically stabled at Hollywood Park.
"Concurrently we are faced with sometimes conflicting proposals on how to deal, as an industry, with medication, exchange wagering, maintaining a strong purse structure, track safety, and racing rule issues, all of which could adversely affect public and patron interest.
"I am committed to working diligently, along with the other racing commissioners, to satisfactorily resolve each of these issues. Our goal is nothing less than to protect and promote the health and future of the horse racing and breeding industry in California for the welfare of the public, the State, and all of those who work and are invested in this great industry."
(CHRB)