Synthetic training track opening nears

ARCADIA, Calif. – The infield training track at Santa Anita is expected to open in the first week of March, with a few maintenance tasks remaining to be completed on the new synthetic surface, track general manager Nate Newby said over the weekend.

Newby said the material has been installed with the primary objective in coming days focused on grooming the surface for everyday use. The course closed in November, after the track’s fall meeting, and was scheduled to reopen in mid-January.

Construction delays, partially attributed to weather-related disruptions, have delayed the project, installed at a cost of more than $7 million, Newby said in February.

“All the material is on,” Newby said. “We’re making sure everything is perfect. We’re getting close.”

Newby said officials would have a better indication of a start date for the track by mid-week, depending on whether a forecast of rain early in the week further delays progress.

The course cannot open soon enough to aid the preparation of some leading runners.

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Exaulted, one of the top turf milers in Southern California in 2023, worked only on the infield training track from late 2022 and in 2023 when the surface consisted of dirt. Trainer Peter Eurton has had Exaulted in light training on the main track in recent months in anticipation of more intense activity when the training track opens.

Eurton said Exaulted’s 2024 debut could occur in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, a $300,000 race on May 27.

“I’m trying to make the Shoemaker, if I don’t run out of time,” Eurton said Sunday.

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