At first glance, Santa Anita’s announcement Thursday that it will offer free general admission on Fridays during its 2008-09 Winter-Spring meet (except opening day), smacks of track officials trying to hit the economic crunch head on.

But the truth is that a drop-off in weekday attendance has been a problem at race tracks for a while now, long before the recession.

Like most tracks, Santa Anita has found it increasingly difficult to draw fans to the races on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Last year, management tinkered with a Thursday through Monday race week, hoping that Monday racing would prove to be an extension of the weekend.

It didn’t work, so now comes the free Fridays promotion, which will also include free box seating on a first-come, first-served basis and a one-dollar menu that includes beers, sodas, hot dogs and popcorn.

Santa Anita president Ron Charles says if it works, the track will look at trying something similar on Thursdays next season.

“What we’re really trying to do is generate one additional day that we can try to motivate the people to come out during the week,” Charles said.

“Wednesday, Thursday, Friday are becoming more difficult to get people to make the trip out.

I have been an advocate of free general admission for years. People are going to spend that extra money they save once they’re inside anyway, so why not let them in for free in hopes of attracting more fans?

Santa Anita should offer free general admission every day, but the free Fridays concept is a good first step.

If it goes well, maybe management will consider extending it to other days of the week.

This is a time when, not only is horse racing hurting, but virtually every business in the nation is feeling the financial crunch. Businesses need to be aggressive by pulling out all the stops in hopes of surviving.

If organizations like the National Football League, which was thought to be impenetrable, are forced to make 10 percent staff cuts like the one announced earlier this week, no business is immune from this economic downturn.

Just ask Charles, who admitted Santa Anita is looking at layoffs and cutbacks in the near future.

“We’re looking at that right now,” he said. “We’re not sure exactly how far, but we are going to have to take a look at some reduction in staff, the likes of which we don’t know right now.”

That could also include a reduction in purse sizes at some point during the upcoming 84-day meet, which begins Dec. 26th and concludes April 19th. Del Mar and Hollywood Park have already had to deal with that, and the economic picture has gotten even worse since Del Mar was the first to act during the summer.

Still, Charles chooses to take the optimistic view. Remember, this is a man who had to deal with the Cushion Track drainage fiasco a year ago. Perhaps it’s toughened him up to confront even bigger challenges.

“I think the economy certainly can have an effect,” Charles said. “But I’m still probably more optimistic than most.

“I happen to think that if we give the fans a quality product, maybe we won’t be impacted as much as many people think.”

That quality product likely will continue to lure large turnouts for the Sunshine Millions (Jan. 24th), Santa Anita Handicap (March 7th) and Santa Anita Derby (April 4th) – race days that traditionally continue to attract the biggest crowds of the meet.

What’s uncertain is how much the recession will impact the other days, and Charles and Co. will keep a close eye on that development.