Santa Anita delays draw of opening-day program

Santa Anita postponed entries for the Dec. 26 opening-day program from Friday to Sunday to better assess an unsettled forecast in Southern California in coming days.

Widespread rain is forecast from Tuesday to Thursday next week. In a text message released midday Friday, the track’s racing office said entries were delayed “to allow for additional time to evaluate the weather forecast.”

Santa Anita was scheduled to take entries on Friday for the Dec. 26 program, which includes six graded stakes and is typically the track’s best attended program of the year.

With the revised entry schedule, the track will take entries for the Dec. 27-28 programs on Monday.

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Wet weather has affected the opening-day program twice in the last six years.

In 2019, Santa Anita canceled the first two days of racing – Dec. 26-27 – because of extensive rain, leading to the postponement of opening day to Dec. 28.

In 2021, three graded stakes scheduled for turf on the Dec. 26 opening-day program were moved to dirt because of persistent rain in preceding days.

California tracks are discouraged from racing during or immediately after inclement weather, following policies enacted by the California Horse Racing Board in late 2020.

– additional reporting by Brad Free

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