Since 1953, some turf races at Santa Anita have been run on the track’s unique downhill course. Beginning as early as the fall of 2024, a chute will be added to the turf course that will include an uphill feature and allow for one-turn races at a mile. The proposed addition will begin in what is now a parking lot behind the backstretch of the main track. The course will cover slightly less than three furlongs before rising to join the existing hillside turf course more than a half-mile from the finish. The last half of a one-mile race would cover the sweeping left-handed turn of the downhill course, cross the main dirt track and continue through the stretch. The expansion was introduced last Friday as part of a multi-pronged $31.7 million investment in California racing by the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, including the installation of a synthetic surface on the infield training track, long-needed refurbishment of the backstretch stables, and financial incentives to lure Northern California-based horsemen to Santa Anita. :: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets. On July 16, the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, announced that it will close another California track it owns – Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif. – in December in an effort to consolidate racing at Santa Anita. Officials with 1/ST Racing are hopeful that stables based at Golden Gate Fields will migrate to Santa Anita to allow the Southern California track to expand its racing program to include four days of racing per week. Currently, the track operates three days a week for most of its calendar, which covers racing from late December to mid-June and a six-or seven-week season in early autumn. The turf course expansion, estimated to cost $2.5 million, is in the introductory phase of planning, according to Aidan Butler, the chief executive officer of 1/ST Racing. The course would accommodate races at 6 1/2 furlongs, seven furlongs, and a mile and would give Santa Anita expanded options to program turf races. The hillside portion of the turf course is currently used for the start of races at about 6 1/2 furlongs, 1 1/4 miles, 1 1/2 miles, and about 1 3/4 miles. A turf chute adjacent to the backstretch of the main track was completed in late 2020 that allowed for turf sprints on the main track at distances of six furlongs and 6 1/2 furlongs. From that chute, horses race as much as a furlong before joining the main turf course approximately 5 1/2 furlongs from the finish line. The main turf course has races at five furlongs, 5 1/2 furlongs, a mile, and 1 1/8 miles. Butler said the racetrack has held preliminary discussions about construction permits with officials from the city of Arcadia, where Santa Anita is located. Butler said construction of the new chute will not affect ongoing racing or training since the new area for the surface is currently used for parking. “It’s going to be different, but Santa Anita has always been a little different on the turf.” Butler said. Butler said to avoid wear-and-tear on the turf course stretch temporary rails can be positioned so that runners completing races on the new chute will finish on the outer half of the course. The track often moves the inside rails on all areas of the turf course to regenerate turf growth on the course. “It will take a bit of ingenuity,” he said. The proposed new chute on the turf course comes at a time when turf racing is becoming more prevalent in Southern California. At the track’s 2022-23 winter spring meeting that ended June 18, 315 of the 664 races run during the season, or 47 percent, were on turf. For the 2017-18 winter-spring meeting, 340 of the 908 races run that year, or 37 percent, were on turf. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.