Santa Anita's renovated turf course gets added emphasis

ARCADIA, Calif. – Two years ago, Santa Anita ran the final three weeks of its spring-summer meeting on the main track while the turf course underwent a badly needed renovation.

This weekend, the spring-summer meeting ends with an emphasis on grass racing. On Saturday, six of 12 races were scheduled for turf, and six of the 11 Sunday races also are set for the turf course.

The course, a Bermuda Bandera grass, has handled significant use since late December, without showing wear-and-tear, such as a high number of divots or worn areas.

Track supervisor Jesse Martinez said the nearly 2-year-old surface has benefited from maturity. This summer, he plans a renovation project to replace approximately four acres of the course, largely from the middle of the hillside portion of the course through the stretch.

“We’ll sod four acres on the running lines,” he said.

The grass is being grown nearby and will be installed July 9, Martinez said, well in advance of the start of the autumn meeting in late September.

“We’ll utilize as much time as we can, so it can be mature when we start racing,” he said.

“What I’m looking for is consistency. On a daily basis, we check the soil temperature, the moisture, and make sure the compaction is uniform and the right condition for racing.”

Since Dec. 26, the track has run 324 turf races, compared to 290 turf races from Dec. 26, 2016, to July 4, 2017. The early months of 2017 were plagued by wet conditions, which led some races to be transferred to the main track. The 2017 spring-summer meeting was more than a week longer than the season that ends Sunday.

The course has had added use this year with drier conditions.

Track consultant Dennis Moore said the main track will undergo its annual renovations this summer at a time when Del Mar is holding its summer meeting and there are no horses based at Santa Anita.

The main track will be regraded and will have additional material added.

“It’s a good time to do it,” Moore said.

Moore is the director of track maintenance at Del Mar and recently completed work there to prepare the course for the start of the track’s meeting on July 18.

Moore said 1,700 tons of material of sand was added to correct a high level of silt and clay. The course was blended and sealed in advance of the San Diego County Fair, which is currently taking place on track property. When the fair ends in early July, Moore said his crew will be able to quickly prepare the track for the arrival of horses in the days before the meeting.

“We’ll open it up, till it, and water it,” he said. “We did the heavy work before the fair started.”