Rainbow 6 Jackpot Helps Santa Anita Autumn Meet Numbers

With a staggering $6,746,114 in "new money" wagered, Santa Anita Park's closing day 20-cent Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot amounted to a total of $7,888,308 by fifth race post time, ensuring a massive all-sources pari-mutuel pool of $18,948,679 Nov. 4, which helped the track post increases in both on-track and all-sources handle for the 22-day Autumn Meet.

With 22 racing days producing $206.7 million in overall pari-mutuel handle, all sources average daily handle was up 7% compared with last year. A total of $23.7 million was wagered on-track, which marked a three percent average daily handle increase over 2017.  (With 19 racing days last year, all sources handle was $167.3 million, while last year's on-track take was $19.8 million).

A parade of short priced horses on closing day resulted in 10,466 winning tickets in the 20 cent Rainbow Pick Six, with each ticket returning $601.10.

This weekend's Breeders' Cup results in Kentucky once again underscored the depth of equine talent at Santa Anita, as no less than five Southern California-based horses tasted Breeders' Cup glory over the two-day World Championships on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, Gary and Mary West's Game Winner, trained by Bob Baffert, won the $2 million Juvenile, which followed a win here in the Grade I American Pharoah Stakes Sept. 29.

On Saturday, Peter Miller pulled off an incredible year-to-year double, as Stormy Liberal and Roy H each won their respective races, the Turf Sprint and the Sprint, for the second year in a row while based at San Luis Rey Downs.  Both horses are owned by Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen, LLC.  Stormy Liberal used a win in the Grade III Eddie D Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs down the hillside turf course Sept. 28 as his final Breeders' Cup prep, while Roy H again struck Breeders' Cup gold following a win in the Grade I Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Oct. 6.

Trainer Michael McCarthy, a graduate of Arcadia High School, took Saturday's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with the Santa Anita-based City of Light.  Owned by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren, City of Light won last year's Grade I Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 as well as the Grade I Triple Bend Stakes here on March 10.

John Sadler put an exclamation point on the day Saturday, as Accelerate, owned by Hronis Racing, took the $6 million Classic.  Based at The Great Race Place, Accelerate won three out of his five Grade I victories this year in Arcadia; the Santa Anita Handicap on March 10, the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 26 and the Awesome Again here on Sept. 29.

Flavien Prat, who scored a stakes double by winning both the Grade II Goldikova Stakes and the Twilight Derby on closing day, finished as the meet's leading rider with 20 wins, two better than a resurgent Rafael Bejarano.  In the trainer's division Jerry Hollendorfer and Peter Miller dead-heated atop the standings with 15 Autumn Meet wins, one clear of Doug O'Neill's 14.

On-track attendance figures for the 22-day season totaled 158,000, compared to 137,000 attendees in the 2017 season, which had three fewer racing days.