Santa Anita opens 2011 Season Sept. 30

By Staff Report September 16, 2011

Santa Anita Park’s 2011 Autumn Meeting begins Sept. 30, with 13 graded stakes, including six Grade I events to be run as part of Santa Anita’s Breeders’ Cup prep program that encompasses the first two weekends of the 24-day race meeting.

The 2011 Breeders’ Cup will for the first time take place at Churchill Downs in Kentucky (Nov. 4-5). With more than $26 million in purses offered over two days, it is billed as “the richest event sports.” In 2012 the Breeders’ Cup returns to Santa Anita (where it has been held five times) Nov. 2-3.

For the 2011 Santa Anita fall schedule, the Grade III, $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes will keynote opening day, as fillies and mares aged 3 and up will compete at 6 ½ furlongs over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course.

“This fall we will offer a comprehensive stakes schedule that will give our horsemen the opportunity to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup, which we are pleased and honored to host in 2012,” Santa Anita Director of Racing, Mike Harlow said. “Our horsemen are excited to be at Santa Anita this fall and we look forward to welcoming them.”

Santa Anita will present four Grade I stakes on Saturday, Oct. 1, when the track’s popular Gourmet Food Truck Festival will also take place. Seventy of the area’s top mobile cuisine units – including the Grilled Cheese Truck, the Lobsta Truck, Ragin Cajun, Shrimp Pimp, White Rabbit and Nom Nom – will be offering sumptuous fare for casual consumption on the track’s grassy infield, or in the stands.

“We will be offering some of the best racing we’ve seen all year and there’s no doubt this could be the biggest day of our Autumn Meet,” Santa Anita president George Haines said of the big day. Stakes races that day include the $250,000 Norfolk Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles; the $250,000 Goodwood Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles; the $250,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes presented by Emirates Airline for 3-year-old and up fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on turf, and the $250,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/16 miles. A mere $5 gains admission to all.

On Oct. 2, the Grade I, $250,000 Oak Leaf Stakes for 2-year-old fillies will round out the Grade I stakes action for opening weekend.

One additional Breeders’ Cup prep race will be run early in the meet, as the Grade I, $250,000 Ancient Title Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs will be offered on Saturday, Oct. 8.

The Grade II, $150,000 Oak Tree Mile (turf) for 3-year-olds and up will also be run on Oct. 8, as will the $65,000 Swingtime Stakes for fillies and mares 3-and-up at one mile on turf.

The $65,000 Louis R. Rowan Stakes for fillies and mares 3-and-up will be run Sunday, Oct. 9.

On Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 10, Santa Anita will offer the Grade III, $100,000 Morvich Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 6 ½ furlongs on turf. The $65,000 Jack Goodman Stakes for 2-year-olds will also be run at six furlongs.

The Grade II, $150,000 Oak Tree Derby, to be contested at 1 1/8 miles on turf, will be run on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Grade III, $100,000 Harold C. Ramser, Sr. Stakes will be run the following day, Oct. 16.

The $65,000 Anoakia Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs will be run Saturday, Oct. 22.

Santa Anita will present the 22nd running of the California Cup on Saturday, Oct. 29, with the $175,000, 1 1/8 miles California Cup Classic highlighting five stakes restricted to horses bred in the state of California. Included are the Distaff at 6 ½ furlongs on turf for fillies and mares 3-and-up, the Sprint at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up and the Juvenile (colts and geldings) and the Juvenile Fillies, both at 1 1/16 miles.

The Santa Anita Autumn Meet will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 6, and will be highlighted by the Grade II, $150,000 Las Palmas Stakes for fillies and mares 3-and-up at one mile on turf.

For more information visit www.santaanita.com

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