Santa Anita front-loads fall meet in absence of Breeders' Cup
ARCADIA, Calif. – Typical of this time of year, the autumn meeting at Santa Anita begins on Saturday under hot conditions – both weather-wise and on the track.
With temperatures expected in the 90s, common in late September in Southern California, Santa Anita launches a 19-day meeting with an 11-race program that includes five excellent Grade 1 races that serve as preps for the Breeders’ Cup next month.
But unlike five of the last seven years, when the Breeders’ Cup was held at Santa Anita, the Breeders’ Cup this year will be at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31. The Breeders’ Cup returns to Santa Anita in 2016, but without those races in California this year, the autumn meeting is front-loaded with the leading races of the brief season.
After Saturday’s program, there are seven additional graded stakes through closing day on Oct. 26, including the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 3.
“We’re happy to be racing,” said Rick Hammerle, the track’s vice president of racing. “It’s short and sweet. Hopefully, we can have full fields.”
Saturday’s opening-day program drew 106 runners before scratches, including three on also-eligible lists, for an average of 9.6 runners per race. Sunday’s nine-race program drew 80 runners, an average of 8.9 runners per race.
In overnight races, those horses will be running for less prize money than at the corresponding meeting in 2014. For example, maiden special weight races were worth $56,000 in 2014 but have purses of $52,000 this year. A $12,500 claimer for sprinters has a purse of $19,000 this year compared with $21,000 last year.
“We had to leave them down because with less days racing, we have less purse money generated,” Hammerle said.
Hammerle said he anticipates no such reduction for the track’s winter-spring meeting that begins Dec. 26.
This is the first fall racing season at Santa Anita to open on a weekend since the 2003 Oak Tree meeting began on a Sunday, and it’s the first to begin on a Saturday since the 1975 Oak Tree meeting. This will be the second-shortest meeting in track history – the 1973 Oak Tree meeting spanned 18 racing days.
Santa Anita began operating the autumn meeting on its own in 2011.
To boost weekday attendance, the track is offering free general parking and admission on Thursdays and Fridays, which encompasses eight days of the season. Racing will be held primarily on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule, plus Monday, Oct. 12.