Santa Anita Park

The Camino Real Turf Course at Santa Anita Park is currently undergoing its annual renovation after regular use during the Classic and Hollywood Meets, according to a press release from the track on Thursday. Superintendent Jesse Martinez and his team stripped the existing course in its entirety and new sod is on the way, which is composed of Bandera Bermuda hybrid grass. The entire project, which usually takes from three to four weeks, is scheduled to be completed by next Friday, July 4. During Santa Anita's Classic and Hollywood Meets,...

The folks who fought to preserve racing at the Northern California's remote half-miler in Ferndale deserve tremendous respect and credit for soldiering on to the bitter end. Make no mistake, the cessation of racing at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds in the coastal region of NorCal definitely rates as "bitter." There is no sugarcoating this one like a sticky tuft of cotton candy from the midway of Humboldt County's charmingly rural fairgrounds, whose ties to the sport date to 1896. Advocates for racing at Ferndale (pop. 1,398), a Victorian village with...

2nd-Santa Anita, $58,800, Msw, 6-13, 2yo, 5f, :57.35, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. DESERT GATE (c, 2, Omaha Beach--Theogony {SW-Can, SW & MGSP-USA, $404,544}, by Curlin), who was facing three others for this debut, tracked pacesetter Acknowledgemeplz (Bucchero) up the backstretch. Moving rather effortlessly to the outside, the colt collared his rival around the far turn as the pair separated themselves from the other two entries. Desert Gate suddenly hit the accelerator entering the lane and powered away nicely to graduate by 2 1/4 lengths. The winner's dam is responsible for...

With her most likely competition coming from her stablemate Splendora, MyRacehorse and Peter Leidel's Seismic Beauty went to the front and never looked back, rolling home an easy winner in Sunday's GII Santa Margarita Stakes. Breaking from the high draw, Seismic Beauty wasted no time as she sprinted to the front and was clear of 4-5 favorite Splendora rounding the first turn. Clicking off race horse fractions of :23.05 and :46.25, the 8-5 second choice continued to control the narrative through three quarters in 1:09.84. Still clear of fellow Bob...

Santa Anita Park's Hollywood Meet reached the halfway point by increasing the substantial gains in handle and field size through comparable dates from last year. The Hollywood Meet, which began on Apr. 18, saw purses increases of over 10% from last year's season while drawing runners from Northern California and leading to an 11% rise in field size at Santa Anita. Additionally, Santa Anita Park's handle is up 14% from 2024.  On-track attendance during Santa Anita's 90th year has remained steady with a 5%increase over 2024. The Santa Anita Hollywood...

It may've started slow, but Firenze Flavor (Liam's Map) was flying late to contribute her part toward a thrilling finish in the GIII Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita, pulling a 7-1 upset in the process. Last seen Apr. 25 when she defeated optional claiming company over this turf course, the Patrick Gallagher charge had broken her maiden Jan. 20 by three-quarters of a length, but ran a flat seventh in between her two victories Feb. 21. in her first attempt at beating the optional claiming condition. In no rush after...

With continued heat advisories in the region, and a forecasted high of 98 degrees Saturday, officials at Santa Anita Park have instituted a series of safety measures for people and horses. With the weather reaching a scorching 100 in some places and Sunday calling for 91 degree heat before the temperatures return to the low 70s Monday, racing officials have included in the heat protocols ice buckets and hoses throughout the grounds for convenient access. Riders will be legged up in the saddling barn and horses will go directly to...

The sun is shining and the birds are singing, which means that spring has sprung and hopefully cold blasts are fixed over yonder. This kind of weather propagates the condition known to many as Derby fever, which technically has no definable cure. So, while you're tinkering with mint julep recipes or heading to the dry cleaners with your seersucker to keep the vapors in check, maybe what you need is to take a look at the weekend's graded stakes slate. The races are chock full of options, so let's not...

This past weekend we were three weeks out from America's most historic and important horse race, and all was quiet on the GI Kentucky Derby front. Too quiet, in fact. Compared to pro and college team sports, which have expanded their wild-card and play-in formats to capitalize on the immediacy of games with win-or-go-home playoff berths on the line, the lead-up to the Derby has silently shifted in the opposite direction. Instead of maximizing the relevancy of making the final cut as the sport's main event nears, racing rolls out...

With the Sunday conclusion to Santa Anita's Classic Meet, the 2024-25 season enjoyed significant gains in handle, attendance, field size, and safety, the track announced Monday morning. The all-source handle topped $510-million with players from around the world responding favorably to the modifications to the wagering menu. The handle on just Santa Anita's races increased five per cent from the last Classic Meet. Opening day Dec. 26 brought the third largest opening day handle in the venue's 90-year history, and the final three-day weekend claimed more than $40.6-million in wagers...

Goal Oriented (Not This Time), carrying powerhouse connections and a speedy work tab into his debut, made even-money look like a gift when he glided home a 3 1/4-length debut winner for trainer Bob Baffert and the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan Sunday evening at Santa Anita. The dark bay colt, a $425,000 Keeneland September yearling acquisition, trailed the field and was climbing up the backstretch, but once he got his...

Saturday's Santa Anita Derby day showed large increases over 2024 with the all sources handle totaling $22,388,003 and wagering on just the marquee race up by nearly 24 per cent, according to a press release by the track. Bolstered by a big turnout from the Derby Day 5K, the on-track attendance came in at 34,312, a seven per cent jump from last season. It was the largest turnout since 2018. Both the all sources handle and on track attendance are expected to finish the Classic Meet Sunday up by noteworthy...