Santa Anita to have 26 stakes at 19-day fall meet

Santa Anita has scheduled 26 stakes for its 19-day fall meeting from Sept. 25 through Nov. 1, including seven graded stakes with automatic berths to the Breeders’ Cup and four races that were run at Del Mar in the last two years.

The richest races of the meeting are two Grade 1 races worth $300,000 – the Goodwood Stakes for 3-year-olds and older horses at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 26, and the American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 3.

The winner of the Goodwood receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31. The American Pharoah winner receives a berth to the BC Juvenile on Oct. 30.

There are three other races on opening weekend of Santa Anita’s meeting with Win and You’re In status for the Breeders’ Cup – the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile (a qualifier for the BC Mile) on Sept. 26, the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (BC Sprint), and the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes (BC Distaff) on Sept. 27.

The winner of the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on Oct. 3 receives a berth to the BC Juvenile Fillies, and the winner of the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes run on the same day qualifies for the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

There are five stakes worth a combined $1 million on Sept. 26. There are 13 stakes over the first two weekends designed as prep races for Breeders’ Cup races.

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Later in the fall meeting, Santa Anita will run two stakes for fillies and mares on turf and two stakes for statebred juveniles that are run at the California venue that is either hosting the Breeders’ Cup or is open when the Breeders’ Cup is simulcast from out of state.

The $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course will be run on Oct. 24. The race was worth $200,000 last year when it was held on the first of two days of Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar and financially supported by that organization.

The Grade 3 Goldikova Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf will be run on Oct. 31 with a value of $100,000. The race was worth $300,000 last year when it was run on the undercard of the Saturday program of the Breeders’ Cup and benefited from a purse boost.

This year’s Oct. 31 program at Santa Anita has two $175,000 races for statebred 2-year-olds at seven furlongs – the Golden State Juvenile and Golden State Juvenile Fillies.

The Maddy, Goldikova, and Golden State races were last run at Santa Anita in 2023, the most recent year the track hosted the Breeders’ Cup.

Earlier this month, Santa Anita officials told the California Horse Racing Board that overnight purses will increase at the fall meeting. A maiden race will be worth $65,000 compared to $60,000 in 2025, for example.

Purses for other categories will be increased from $1,000 to $5,000, while some categories of races will be unchanged, officials said.

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