Santa Anita’s new meet closely resembles 2014
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Thoroughbred racing has become a constant at Santa Anita in the first half of the year.
Beginning in 2014, the track took custody of racing dates from late April through late June that previously had been held by Hollywood Park, which closed in 2013. No track in Southern California added more racing dates to its annual calendar.
Santa Anita’s marathon racing seasons are divided into sections – the traditional winter-spring meeting from late December to mid-April and a 39-day spring-summer meeting that begins Friday and runs through June 28.
The spring-summer meeting is similar to last year, with a familiar stakes schedule and racing primarily four days a week, Thursdays through Sundays. This year, though, everyone – from racing fans, to owners and trainers, to track officials – has a better idea of what to expect.
The 2014 spring-summer meeting was considered a success, with average handle of $9.92 million per day, track officials said last summer. The meeting exceeded business expectations, leaving excess money in the purse pool.
The winter-spring meeting that ended last Sunday showed an increase of 3 percent in all-sources handle from the corresponding meeting in 2013-14. One cause was an increase in average field size, from 7.66 runners in 2013-14 to 8.36 runners this year. The 2014 spring-summer meeting averaged 7.71 runners per race.
Keeping that figure elevated is vital for the forthcoming meeting, said racing secretary Rick Hammerle.
“Hopefully, we can use that momentum to carry on,” Hammerle said.
Hammerle said the 2014 and 2015 spring-summer meetings will allow executives a chance to study what works.
“Last year, I think, came out OK,” he said. “This year hasn’t changed a whole lot from last year. We can sit back and look at the first two years. If we need to make changes, we can do it.”
Minor changes have been put in place. For the upcoming meeting, first post time on Fridays will shift from early afternoons for the first four weeks to 4 p.m. Pacific on May 22. Last year, Friday racing began at 3 p.m.
There are six Grade 1 races among the 35 stakes on the calendar – the $300,000 Vanity Stakes on May 9, $300,000 Gamely Stakes on May 25, $400,000 American Oaks on May 30, $400,000 Shoemaker Mile on June 13, and the $300,000 Triple Bend Stakes and $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 27.
The 2014 spring-summer meeting was boosted by heightened interest in the Triple Crown with the success of local star California Chrome, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The three biggest ontrack crowds were on Triple Crown days – 26,211 for the Kentucky Derby, 21,011 for the Preakness Stakes, and 31,208 for the Belmont Stakes. The record handle for the meeting of $21.3 million was set on Kentucky Derby Day.
That could be tough to top, track chairman Keith Brackpool said. He said a strong group of California-based 3-year-olds in this year’s Triple Crown could lead to the same enthusiasm.
“Let’s hope we can have a continuation of that and have a California horse to follow,” he said. “I believe that if a California horse would win the Derby, we could see a similar situation.”