Santa Anita opening day draws higher attendance, all-sources handle

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita began its winter-spring meeting on Saturday with strong attendance and handle figures compared with the corresponding day in 2014.

The opening day saw the first use of the track’s refurbished turf course, which was well received by jockeys despite some concern about how the course will respond to use in the coming months.

Saturday’s announced ontrack crowd of 44,873 was the highest for an opening day since 46,904 attended the 1994 opening. This was the first opening day on a Saturday since 2009, when 35,667 were in attendance.

By comparison, there were 40,810 in attendance for the opening on a Friday in 2014 and 30,540 for a Thursday opening in 2013. The track traditionally has the opening day of its winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.

Saturday’s all-sources handle was $17,406,121, up slightly from $17,026,449 in 2014. Saturday’s handle was the highest for an opening day since 2005. Handle on the 2009 opening day was $15,343,277.

The turf course underwent significant maintenance following the conclusion of the autumn meeting in late October. The course was cut to a low level, or scalped, and essentially regrown in the weeks leading up to the start of the winter-spring meeting on Saturday.

During the autumn meeting, the course was the subject of widespread concern for having an uneven surface and producing more divots than at past meetings.

The course was used three times on Saturday and Sunday. Jockeys said the surface was safe but expressed concern about kickback.

After Sunday’s fifth race, a sprint on the hillside turf course, jockey Tyler Baze showed a pair of his goggles that had a significant cover of sand and dirt.

“It’s coming back pretty good,” said Baze, 33. “I like it. It has give. I wish the grass had more time for the roots to grow together and for the roots to be stronger. The bottom is good. That’s the important thing.”

After Saturday’s Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens said the course was “super.” Stevens, 52, won the one-mile race with Om, the favorite.

“They did a tremendous job,” he said.

On Sunday, Stevens described the course as “110 percent” better than it was in October.

Another Hall of Famer, Kent Desormeaux, 45, praised the course on Saturday.

“The track is in perfect condition,” he said. “It has cut in it. I don’t want to comment on the October track.”

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke, 21, expressed concern about kickback on Sunday but said conditions were better than what he experienced in October.

“It seems like it’s getting chewed up, but it feels good,” Van Dyke said. “I worry how it will feel in two months. I think it’s fair. You see horses come from off it. It’s a tiny bit better. Everything is good at the start.”

Track officials plan an aggressive approach to maintaining the course through the conclusion of the 63-day winter-spring meeting on April 10. There is no racing at Santa Anita in the final weeks of April before the spring-summer meeting begins May 5. The spring-summer meeting is tentatively scheduled to run through July 10.

The course is not being used as extensively as in past seasons. Santa Anita announced in mid-December that no turf workouts will be conducted this winter. Turf workouts were typically held twice a week and were restricted to the outside lanes of the course.

Rick Hammerle, the track’s vice president of racing, said on Sunday that a new temporary rail will be used this year to allow greater flexibility in setting racing lanes. The turf rails were set at their normal position on Saturday and Sunday but will have a temporary setting 20 feet from the inside on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hammerle said temporary turf rails will be set at 10, 20, and 30 feet from the normal position for this season, a change from past years, when the temporary settings were 8, 15, 24, and 30 feet.

“We’ll move the turf rails a lot more,” Hammerle said. “We can move it daily now.”

Hammerle said Southern California weather will play a pivotal role in how much the course will be used. An El Niño weather pattern is expected in the coming months and could produce significant rainfall.

“We’ll keep a close eye on it with the rainy season,” Hammerle said.