New turf backstretch chute at Santa Anita likely ready for winter-spring opening

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita will run turf sprints on a newly constructed backstretch chute as early as opening day of the winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26, senior vice-president Nate Newby said Sunday.

Grass was installed on the chute in the final days of September and has shown growth through a recent stretch of warm weather, Newby said. Track superintendent Dennis Moore has supervised installation of the new course.

“Dennis said things were on schedule or ahead of schedule,” Newby said.

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The grass is a Bermuda blend. Newby said the new course could “absolutely” be part of the racing program by Dec.26. The winter-spring meeting will go until mid-June.

The new chute is adjacent to the seven-furlong backstretch chute on the main track and will allow turf sprints to be contested at distances of 6 and 6 1/2 furlongs. At those distances, runners will start on the new chute, and cross the dirt track on the first turn before rejoining the main turf course with slightly less than 5 1/2 furlongs remaining to the finish.

Turf sprints at five furlongs on turf will continue on the turf oval, while sprints at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf will start at their current position on the dirt track. At that distance, horses run for a few strides on the dirt course before joining the turf oval.

The new chute will have a slight left-handed dogleg before joining the turf oval.

“I would guess we would write a lot more 6 and 6 1/2 furlong races, and that’s what people are interested in,” Newby said.

There are no immediate plans to run sprints at about 6 1/2 furlongs starting on the hillside turf course, a distance discontinued in March 2019 after a series of equine fatalities that drew widespread attention. In the last 18 months, turf sprints have been restricted to distance of 5 and 5 1/2 furlongs.