The Derby

This piece is part of a monthly series I do over on Medium called The Los Angeles Letter.

When Lucky Baldwin bought the Rancho Santa Anita near the San Gabriel Foothills in 1875, he had horse racing on his mind.

Baldwin was once the State's largest landowner, employer, and taxpayer in Los Angeles. Baldwin was nicknamed "Lucky" because of his prescient bets on California land during the gold rush. He lived lavishly, had four wives, and was shot twice by two other women for failing to fulfill marriage promises to them. He was a poker player and loved thoroughbred racehorses.

He built and operated a grand estate, planted fruit trees and corn, raised livestock and winning race horses, and imported a pride of peacocks from India to roam the place. The colorful birds still populate the area. He set about building a town around his estate and selling land for housing. He christened the town Arcadia, named after the beautiful city in Ancient Greece.

California outlawed horse racing in February 1909, and Lucky Baldwin died in March. Arcadia fell on hard times in the decade that followed and during prohibition it became a battlefield for bootleggers and the vice squads that hunted them.

But horseracing came roaring back in the 1930s. On Christmas Day, 1934, the Santa Anita Racetrack opened where it stands today.

During this era, a Canadian named George Woolf would become the greatest jockey of his generation. He was nicknamed The Iceman for his relaxed demeanor during a race, and he is remembered for riding Seabiscuit - the famous horse that beat the mighty War Admiral. In a time when most jockeys struggled financially, Woolf won so much money that he bought a restaurant that he rechristened as The Derby.

Today, The Derby is as dark inside as I imagine it was in the 1930s. I once had dinner there with a group of ten men all around my age. We all used the lights on our phones to read the menu. Our long table in the center of the dining room must have looked like a UFO, with all the light beaming up from it.

The restaurant is located down the street from the racetrack, and it was Woolf's idea to make it a place where jockeys, owners, and fans could eat, drink, and mingle. He brought in many artifacts that still adorn the place. Saddles, whips, silks, and trophies are hung throughout the restaurant, with paintings and photos of famous horses and their riders. A jockey's table in the dining room offers the best view of the room because it sits on a small platform.

The bar is reached haphazardly down a long hallway from the entrance or through the busy dining room. If you leave the track early on a race day, you can snag one of the few tables in it. Be warned, the bar will soon be overrun with horse racing industry people, which, in my experience, usually include some people pretending to be horse racing industry people. Horse racing people are the good sort because horses are good for people and vice versa.

The conversations you will overhear there are as cool and delicious as the Iceman Martini you should order, named after Woolf.

As I often have, you may hear a drunk gambler bemoaning the loss of thousands of dollars on a given day. Or you may listen to the whispers of others nodding to a quiet winner in the corner who is rumored to have just won $100K.

I remember sitting beside a couple once; the woman was quite friendly. She dressed immaculately and had one of those expensive handbags that must come with its own social security number. I excused myself to the men’s room, where two well-dressed men discussed the allegedly scandalous couple. She had recently left one brother and married another. One of the men speculated whether the new husband owned more winning horses than the jilted brother.

Should you find yourself seated next to a jockey, do not stare. Jockeys are necessarily small in stature. As you were.

Carpetbaggers like me shouldn’t determine whether or not you should visit a place. Tourists come for a story; locals come for the food. Locals still flock here.

The food at The Derby is excellent, and the menu is filled with updated versions of what you expect in a 100-year-old steakhouse. This appetizer called the Brandied Lobster Gratin with Gruyere cheese is stupid-good. As are the crab cakes, which are chunky with crab and cooked perfectly.

The steaks are served with sides, not in the annoying traditional steakhouse way that has you inquiring with your tablemates how many bites they may want of this or that. Two of you could share the Mike Smith (Triple Crown-winning jockey) 20-oz Bone-in Ribeye. Or choose the super solid shrimp scampi if you're vegan.

The bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce makes for the perfect finish.

Last year, the current owners announced plans to build a 200-unit apartment building in the parking lot and on the property adjacent to The Derby. You can't blame them; there is too much money to be made in housing, thanks to government ineptitude. The plan is to preserve and surround the restaurant with the new project. The current owner, Dustin Nicolarsen, has shepherded the restaurant through the financial crisis and the pandemic, so he is a good bet to see The Derby through to another generation. But you never know. It's not just owners that tear down icons; sometimes, Angelenos just stop going. Are you going to bet LA won't tear down another landmark and miss out on eating and drinking with history?

After George Woolf rode Seabiscuit to victory in 1938, he kept racing and running The Derby restaurant. He lamented never winning the Kentucky Derby when he said, "I may have jinxed myself when I named my place The Derby. I may have to settle for The Derby in Arcadia instead of Kentucky." Sadly, in January 1946, Woolfe fell from the horse he was racing, named Please Me, near the end of the race. He died from his injuries.

Santa Anita Racetrack racing generally runs from December - June, but you can visit The Derby and the spirit of George Woolf all year round.

The Derby

233 E Huntington Dr, Arcadia, CA 91006

4PM Most Days

(626) 447-2430

https://www.thederbyarcadia.com/