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HistorySanta Anita Park was opened on December 25, 1934 and is the oldest racetrack in Southern California. Gold prospector Lucky Baldwin initially founded a racetrack on the present site in Arcadia outside of Los Angeles in the 1800's but it later closed. In 1933, California legalized parimutuel wagering and several investor groups worked furiously to open racetracks. In the San Francisco Area, a group headed by and Dr. Charles H ("Doc") Strub was having trouble locating a site. In the Los Angeles area a group headed by movie producer Hal Roach was in need of further funds. These two groups combined and the newly-formed Los Angeles Turf Club reopened the track on Christmas Day in 1934. In February of 1935, the first Santa Anita Handicap was run. The race's $100,000 purse, the largest of any race ever up until that time, produced its nickname the Big 'Cap. Image:SantaAnitaEntrance wb.jpg Art deco entrance to Santa Anita's grandstands.
In 1940, Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita Handicap in his last start. Two years later, in 1942, racing at Santa Anita was suspended due to the Second World War. From 1942 to 1945, Santa Anita was used as an internment camp for Japanese-Americans. After the track reopened in 1945, the track went through the postwar years with prosperity. A downhill turf course that added a distinctly European flair to racing at Santa Anita was added in 1953. A record 61,123 people showed up for the 1958 Santa Anita Derby, making the attendance that day a record crowd. They'd come to watch Silky Sullivan come from 28 lengths off the pace and win—going away. The 1960s brought about a major renovation of Santa Anita Park, including a much-expanded grandstand as well as major seating additions. In 1968, Del Mar Racetrack relinquished its dates to an autumn meeting. A group of horsemen including Clement Hirsch intervened and established the not-for-profit Oak Tree Racing Association. Oak Tree had no facilities of its own and rented Santa Anita Park for an autumn meeting in 1969.
Prosperity continued at Santa Anita throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. In 1984, Santa Anita was the site of equestrian events at the 1984 Olympics. The following year, the track set an attendance record of 85,527 people on Santa Anita Handicap Day. Santa Anita still draws massive crowds during the late December to mid April meeting. For example, 34,000 people attended Santa Anita Park on December 26, 2005. Other competing tracks such as Calder and Fair Grounds struggle to get 10,000 or less. This level of attendance and the betting that coincides with it guarantees the prosperity of Santa Anita. In 1997, Santa Anita Park was purchased by Meditrust. Meditrust in turn sold the track to Magna Entertainment Corp. Magna still owns Santa Anita Park. In 2006, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita cohosted the Sunshine Millions, [1] a day of competition in stakes between horses bred in Florida and those bred in California. Gulfstream and Santa Anita are generally recognized as the top winter tracks, especially with the absence of Fair Grounds Race Course due to Hurricane Katrina. Due to its proximity to Los Angeles, Santa Anita has traditionally been associated with the film and television industries. The Marx Brothers classic A Day at the Races was filmed there, and many stars, including Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Alex Trebek, and MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, have owned horses that raced there. Image:Seabiscuit statue.png Lily Okuru, a Japanese-American woman held at Santa Anita Park, poses with the statue of Seabiscuit, 1942 At Santa Anita Park's European-style paddock there are statues of jockeys George Woolf, Johnny Longden, Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay, Jr. plus a memorial bust of announcer Joe Hernandez and one of trainer Charlie Whittingham with his dog, Toby. There is also a lifesize bronze of Seabiscuit in the walking ring at Seabiscuit Court. Since 1950, Santa Anita Park has annually presented the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award to a rider who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. South African native Trevor Denman has served as the track announcer at Santa Anita since 1983. Denman is considered to be one of the best announcers in the country alongside Tom Durkin, the announcer at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. Denman is noted for his calls beginning with "And awaaay they go..." Physical attributesSanta Anita has a one-mile (1,609 m) dirt main track which rings a turf course measuring 9/10 of a mile, or 7 furlongs plus 132 feet (1,448 m). In addition, it has an unusual hillside turf course which crosses the dirt and is used mainly to run turf races at a distance of "about" 6½ furlongs (exact distance 64½ feet less than same). This type of track is one of the few of its kind in America. Santa Anita occupies 320 acres. It has a 1,100-foot-long grandstand, which is a historic landmark that seats 26,000 guests. The grandstand is done in an Art Deco style and is the original facade from the 1930s. [2] The track infield area, which resembles a park with picnic tables and large trees, can accommodate 50,000 or more guests. The Park also contains 61 barns, which house more than 2,000 horses, and an equine hospital. [3] RacingThe racing at Santa Anita Park is a very high standard. Purses are among the highest in the nation and the track draws good horses albeit small numbers of them. Santa Anita is considered to hold the best racing in the country during the Winter-Spring Meeting and racing of a similar high standard during the Oak Tree Meeting. Grade I stakes:
Miscellaneous information
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