Santa Anita turf aeration, rain help course play softer

ARCADIA, Calif. – Events unfold at a slower pace on the Santa Anita turf course these days.

Since the start of the spring-summer meeting April 24, final times of turf races have been noticeably slower than during the last weeks of the track’s winter-spring meeting that ended April 19. The slower times are a result of ongoing maintenance to avoid surface compaction, a rare May rainstorm that produced approximately an inch of rain, and cool recent weather.

The condition of the surface has led to mixed reactions from some veteran riders.

“It takes a real grass horse to run on it,” Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said. “It’s like a true turf course. It’s not as fast as it used to be. It reminds me of Belmont.”

“Some of the horses that aren’t used to running on the soft turf aren’t running as well,” jockey Tyler Baze said.

Beginning in late April, turf course superintendent Bernie Eastridge began a periodic renovation of the turf to aerate the course with prongs that are plunged into the surface. The process is designed to avoid surface compaction and improve drainage.

The procedure was done before a rainstorm struck May 14 and again last Saturday before racing. Eastridge said this week that there is no set schedule for such maintenance.

“Weather has a lot to do with it,” he said. “It gets compact. Depending on the number of races, we can make a judgment.”

Eastridge said he wants to avoid the ultra-firm turf that caused injuries to horses during a warm spell last May. During that month, turf racing was briefly interrupted while the course underwent four days of extensive watering and the aeration procedure.

Recent weather has been cooler, with temperatures peaking in the 70s instead of the 80s or higher. The mid-May rainstorm was a benefit, Eastridge said.

“We got an inch of rain,” he said. “What was good about that is that it went deep into the profile.”

Some race times have been remarkably slower. On Sunday, Ashleyluvssugar won the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/2 miles in 2:30.10. In March, Ashleyluvssugar won the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at the same distance in 2:25.78.

In sprints at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, times have typically ranged from 1:13 to 1:14 in stakes to as slow as 1:16 for claiming horses. At the winter-spring meeting, stakes on that course were often run in high 1:12s or low 1:13 clockings.

The turf was rated firm last week, although to Baze, the course does not seem to be in that condition.

“It’s way too soft,” he said. “It’s safe, though, and that’s the main thing. I like it better firm.”

Conditions could change. Warmer weather is forecast for the coming days, and such weather is common in June.

The current meeting concludes June 28, followed by a two-week Los Alamitos summer meeting that does not have turf racing. Santa Anita director of racing Rick Hammerle said the turf course might be used more extensively in the coming weeks before the season ends.

“We might crank it up a little bit,” he said.

Eastridge said his job is to keep the course as safe as possible in the next month.

“I know it’s kind,” he said. “When they pass by me, I can hardly hear them.”