Santa Anita set to reopen

Santa Anita's newly installed Cushion Track surface will open for training next Tuesday, the track announced Tuesday.

The new synthetic surface was installed following the close of Santa Anita's winter meeting in April. Santa Anita is scheduled to begin racing again with its Oak Tree meeting, which starts Sept. 26.

The track's stables will be able to be occupied beginning Saturday, and the infield training track will be open for training starting Sunday.

Santa Anita had been closed during the renovation of the main track, with horses stabled at either Del Mar, which runs through Sept. 5, or at Hollywood Park, the Los Angeles track that remained open during Del Mar. Santa Anita and Hollywood alternate as the secondary training site on a yearly basis when Del Mar is open.

According to Mike Willman, Santa Anita's publicity director, the main track will have one renovation break each morning, beginning at 7:15 a.m. The track opens for training each day at 4:45 a.m.

At Santa Anita, horses cross a portion of the main track when grass races start on the hillside turf course, including the popular 6 1/2-furlong turf sprints. Willman said the track will allow works down the hill on Sept. 12 for trainers who want their horses to get used to crossing the new Cushion Track surface.