Columbus Day card makes for long weekend of racing

ARCADIA, Calif. – There is racing scheduled for Monday, Columbus Day, although there is no stakes on the program.

Next week, there will be a three-day racing week from Friday through Sunday, with the week highlighted by Saturday’s $100,000 California Flag Handicap for statebreds at 5 1/2 furlongs. The next graded stakes at Santa Anita is the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies on Oct. 26.

◗ The California Horse Racing Board has canceled its monthly meeting at Santa Anita on Oct. 24 because of a lack of available members on that day, according to a statement released by the racing board on Thursday.

The board will conduct its next meeting at Del Mar on Nov. 21. One of the subjects will be the license application for the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, which begins on Dec. 26. The license application details such elements as racing days and the stakes schedule for the marathon meeting, which will last until late June.