Santa Anita Posts Largest Opening Day Since 2016

The largest opening day since 2016 and the largest Sunday opener this century kicked off a postponed Santa Anita Park Classic Meet in a big way Sunday. The 41,962 fans on track marked the largest Sunday curtain-raiser since 1999 in the eighth Sunday opener in the track’s nine-plus decades. Opening day of the winter-spring season traditionally falls on Dec. 26, but the date was postponed 48 hours last week when the weather forecast deteriorated. The track took almost six inches of rain from Tuesday night through Friday, but fans were treated to a crystal-clear Sunday afternoon with temperatures in the mid-60s. The last time Opening Day was postponed was in 2019, when 35,085 were on track. “We appreciate everyone who had to adjust their schedule for the weather, and we are so thankful to everyone who worked so hard to make opening day a success,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Park’s SVP & General Manager. “It was important to stay on the turf course to present the best racing program possible for the owners, trainers, jockeys and horseplayers. Opening day is very important to create momentum for the season, and today’s large crowd provided terrific energy. It was a nice reminder of why Santa Anita remains ‘The Great Race Place.’” Horseplayers on track and around the world supported the program with their wagering dollars. The total all-sources mutuel handle was more than $18.2 million, marking the eighth time in the last nine years that the opening day handle topped $18 million. On track handle was up 2.55% over last year. The crowd was treated to some outstanding performances on the track. Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos defeated his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Nevada Beach by a head in the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes as the pair raced as a team from the top of the stretch to the finish. Pincay, who turns 79 tomorrow, was on hand to present the trophy. Baffert also won the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes with the flashy Usha, and saddled the first and second place finishers in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes. Another Hall of Famer, jockey Mike Smith, who will turn 60 next year, won the San Gabriel Stakes aboard Cabo Spirit while jockey Antonio Fresu won the afternoon’s other stakes race, the Mathis Mile with Hiding In Honduras. Fresu would finish the day, however, in Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA, after injuring his left foot two races later when his boot was squeezed in between his horse and the rail during the running of the race. Kazushi Kimura picked up Fresu’s mount in the day’s final race, the Grade 1 American Oaks, and guided Ambaya to victory for trainer Jonathan Thomas. Santa Anita Park first opened on Christmas Day, 1934, less than 12 months after the newly formed California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) granted the Los Angeles Turf Club a permit to build the racetrack, with the guarantee that it would be in operation by the end of that year. Since 1949, Santa Anita’s opening day has been Dec. 26, with few exceptions. The season continues through mid-June.