Santa Anita won't race on hillside turf course this weekend

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will not run any races on its unique hillside turf course this weekend after a horse sustained a fatal injury in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on the course Sunday.

“We’ll pause for now,” said Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, the track’s parent company.

He did not speculate on when racing will resume on the hillside course but said track officials “will look at data” of races on the course. After Sunday’s program, racing is not scheduled to resume until Friday, April 12.

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Two races were scheduled for the hillside turf course on Thursday and one on Friday. Thursday’s first race will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track, while the eighth will be run at a mile on turf. Friday’s third race will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track.

No races are scheduled for the hillside turf course on Saturday. There are two proposed races for the hillside turf course for Sunday, but they will be run on the main track, officials said.

Hillside races are an integral part of Santa Anita’s program. At the current race meeting, from Dec. 26 through Sunday, 53 of the 396 races were run on the hillside. The races on the hillside are popular, averaging 8.75 runners per race this meet, compared with 7.46 runners for all races.