Santa Anita calls on its trainers to stay local

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita plans to run nine-race programs on weekdays and 10 races on weekends in February, continuing a plan in place since the start of the meeting on Dec. 26, new racing secretary Steve Lym said Friday.

The track has called on trainers to focus on local races. On overnights this weekend, the track published a notice stating that trainers who want to enter runners at other tracks and bring the horse back to Santa Anita must gain permission from the Santa Anita racing office.

“If we have a race here, I’d like them to stay here,” Lym said. “I want people to know we’re watching. We’re striving for field size.”

The issue of horses shipping to other circuits is certain to arise, notably stakes runners sent to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. California-based runners have excelled at Oaklawn Park in recent seasons.

Last April, City of Light and Accelerate finished first and second in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. City of Light later won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs in November. Accelerate won the BC Classic the same day.

Lym acknowledged that runners will be sent to other circuits. California-based runners frequently travel for Triple Crown preps as well.

“I get it,” he said. “If you have to, you have to.”

Last year, Santa Anita frequently ran eight races on weekdays and nine or 10 races on weekend in January and February. When the days grew longer in the spring, 10-race programs were more common. This winter, Santa Anita has moved post times forward to complete the program before sunset.

Sunday’s 10-race program begins at noon. An 11-race program on Saturday was set to begin at 11:30 a.m.

Lym said he is hopeful there are enough horses in the barn area to sustain additional races.

Through Monday, the track had run 16 programs this meet and averaged 7.82 runners in 159 races. The Jan. 17 program was canceled because of excessive rain. During a similar span at the start of the 2017-18 season, through Jan. 21, the track had run 16 programs and averaged 8.64 runners in 139 races.