Santa Anita: Santa Margarita gets $100K boost
A boost in the purse of the Santa Margarita Stakes and the return of the San Juan Capistrano to its former April position are a couple of the tweaks made to the power-packed stakes schedule at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which features eight Grade 1 races and runs from Dec. 26 through April 10.
The Grade 1 Santa Margarita, for older females on March 19, is now worth $500,000, up $100,000 from a year ago. The Santa Margarita could be a first-quarter target in 2016 for Beholder, who is remaining in training for next year and could be a three-time Eclipse Award winner by then. She already has two titles and is the favorite to be named champion older female for 2015.
The San Juan Capistrano, which runs the entire scope of Santa Anita’s hillside and infield turf course at about 1 3/4 miles, was moved to June for its past two runnings but will be run April 10 next year, owing in part to a change in the Southern California racing schedule for 2016.
After Hollywood Park closed in 2013, Santa Anita effectively ran straight through from the end of December until June in both 2014 and 2015, and the San Juan Capistrano was run at the end of a six-month haul. In 2016, however, Santa Anita will run its traditional main meeting through April 10, yield to Los Alamitos for three weeks, then return for a meeting from May 5 through July 10 prior to the start of Del Mar’s traditional summer season. So, the San Juan Capistrano has returned to April, where it had been for decades.
The meeting at Santa Anita begins Dec. 26 with a pair of Grade 1, seven-furlong races for 3-year-olds: the Malibu and the La Brea, which is for fillies.
The biggest and richest races of the meet are the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Handicap for older horses on March 12 and the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9. In two of the last four years, the Kentucky Derby winner – I’ll Have Another in 2012 and California Chrome in 2014 – won the Santa Anita Derby, and in 2015, Santa Anita-based 3-year-olds American Pharoah, Firing Line, and Dortmund took the first three spots in the Kentucky Derby.
– additional reporting by Steve Andersen
2015-16 winter-spring stakes schedule
| DATE | RACE | CONDITIONS | DISTANCE | PURSE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Dec. 26 | Malibu Stakes (Grade I) | 3 YO | 7 F | $300,000 |
| Sat., Dec. 26 | Mathis Brothers Mile (Grade II) | 3 YO | 1 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Dec. 26 | La Brea Stakes (Grade I) | F, 3 YO | 7 F | $300,000 |
| Sat., Dec. 26 | Daytona Stakes (Grade III) | 3 & UP | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sun., Dec. 27 | Robert J. Frankel Stakes (Grade III) | F/M, 3 & UP | 1 1/8 M (T) | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 2 | Midnight Lute Stakes (Grade III) | 4 & UP | 6 1/2 F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 2 | Santa Ynez Stakes (Grade II) | F, 3 YO | 6 1/2 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 2 | San Gabriel Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 1/8 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sun., Jan. 3 | Monrovia Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 9 | San Pasqual Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 1/16 M | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 9 | Sham Stakes (Grade III) | 3 YO | 1 M | $100,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 16 | La Canada Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | 1 1/16 M | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 23 | Santa Monica Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | 7 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 30 | California Cup Derby | 3 YO (CA) | 1 1/16 M | $250,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 30 | California Cup Oaks | F, 3 YO (CA) | 1 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 30 | Sunshine Millions F/M Turf Sprint | F & M, 4 & UP (CA) | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $150,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 30 | California Cup Sprint | 4 & UP (CA ) | 6 F | $150,000 |
| Sat., Jan. 30 | California Cup Turf Classic | 4 & UP (CA) | 1 1/8 M (T) | $250,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 6 | Las Virgenes Stakes (Grade I) | F, 3 YO | 1 M | $300,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 6 | San Antonio Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 1/8 M | $500,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 6 | Robert B. Lewis Stakes (Grade III) | 3 YO | 1 1/16 M | $150,000 |
| Sat., Feb., 6 | San Marcos Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 1/4 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sun., Feb. 7 | Palos Verdes Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 6 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Arcadia Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 13 | Santa Maria Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | 1 1/16 M | $200,000 |
| Mon., Feb. 15 | San Vicente Stakes (Grade II) | 3 YO | 7 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 20 | Buena Vista Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | 1 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Feb. 27 | Sensational Star Stakes | 4 & UP (CA) | abt 6.5 (T) | $100,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 5 | Santa Ysabel Stakes (Grade III) | F, 3 YO | 1 1/16 M | $100,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 12 | San Carlos Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 7 F | $300,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 12 | Santa Anita Handicap (Grade I) | 4 & UP | 1 1/4 M | $1,000,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 12 | Frank E. Kilroe Mile (Grade I) | 4 & UP | 1 M (T) | $400,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 12 | San Felipe Stakes (Grade II) | 3 YO | 1 1/16 M | $400,000 |
| Sun., Mar. 13 | San Luis Rey Stakes (Grade II) | 4 & UP | 1 1/2 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 19 | Santa Margarita Stakes (Grade I) | F/M, 4 & UP | 1 1/8 M | $500,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 19 | Irish O'Brien Stakes | F/M, 4 & UP (CA) | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sun., Mar. 20 | Las Flores Stakes (Grade III) | F/M, 4 & UP | 6 F | $100,000 |
| Sat., Mar. 26 | Santa Ana Stakes (Grade II) | F/M, 4 & UP | 1 1/8 M (T) | $200,000 |
| Sun., Mar. 27 | Dream of Summer Stakes | F/M, 4 & UP (CA) | 1 M | $100,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 2 | San Simeon Stakes (Grade III) | 4 & UP | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sun., Apr. 3 | Tokyo City Cup (Grade III) | 4 & UP | 1 1/2 M | $100,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 9 | Echo Eddie Stakes | 3 YO (CA ) | 6 1/2 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 9 | Evening Jewel Stakes | F, 3 YO (CA) | 6 1/2 F | $200,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 9 | Santa Anita Oaks (Grade I) | F, 3 YO | 1 1/16 M | $400,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 9 | Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) | 3 YO | 1 1/8 M | $1,000,000 |
| Sat., Apr. 9 | Providencia Stakes (Grade III) | F, 3 YO | 1 1/8 M (T) | $150,000 |
| Sun., Apr. 10 | Las Cienegas Stakes (Grade III) | F/M, 4 & UP | abt 6 1/2 F (T) | $100,000 |
| Sun., Apr. 10 | San Juan Capistrano Stakes (Grade III) | 4 & UP | abt 1 3/4 M (T) | $100,000 |