Santa Anita running fewer races on selected days

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita is running eight races on Sunday as part of a plan for a shorter racing program following nine- and 11-race programs on Friday and Saturday.

A similar plan is scheduled for the weekend of the Preakness Stakes, with eight-race programs on May 16 and 18 and an 11-race program on May 17.

This is the first year that Santa Anita has run a spring-summer meeting, running on dates previously held by Hollywood Park, which closed in December. Santa Anita opened its winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26 and closes its current meeting on June 29, giving the track more than six months of continuous racing.

Track officials said that fewer races through the meeting should help sustain the horse population.

“We want to support field sizes,” said racing director Mike Lakow said. “This meeting is all brand new for Santa Anita. We’ll play it by ear. We’ll see how the fields are and see how the horse [population] is.”

Field sizes for Sunday’s program are 6, 7, 11, 7, 10, 12, 10, and 13. There are three races with an also-eligible list. As many as 76 horses will start.

Saturday’s 11-race program drew a maximum of 108 runners. Three races have also-eligible lists.

For the most part, the track is running a four-day per week schedule through the spring-summer meeting, with racing on a Thursday-through-Sunday basis. The exception will be the addition of racing on Monday, May 26, for Memorial Day.