Santa Anita Park Reports Record Opening Day Wagering

Santa Anita Park's 2018-19 winter meeting got off to a strong start Dec. 26, as the track posted all-sources pari-mutuel handle of $20,491,016, a 19% increase over a year ago and an all-time opening day record.

Wednesday's opening day crowd of 41,373 contributed to on-track handle of $3,463,535, a 5% increase over last year's $3.3 million. On-track attendance was up 3% year to year.

The last time Santa Anita opened on a Wednesday was 2012, when all-sources handle was $13.4 million, making yesterday's handle of $20.4 million a whopping 52% increase. On-track attendance on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 was 27,273, making yesterday's 41,373 a 52% increase.

"Yesterday's attendance and handle numbers are the result of many factors, none greater than field size," said Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group. "We would first of all like to thank our tremendous fans, not only here at Santa Anita, but around the country as well. They recognize a top quality product that offers good value and they responded in-kind yesterday.

"We had tremendous racing and the horsemen obviously responded to the great opportunities our 10-race program offered. We had world class racing and it was great to see so many top riders from the East Coast in here to ride. Operationally, we are very happy with how things went and we'll look at everything and apply those lessons-learned to our other big days throughout the new year, including the two-day Breeders' Cup in November."

Ritvo also noted the pivotal role Mathis Brothers Furniture continues to play in Santa Anita's opening day success.

"They have been a tremendous partner," he said. "We want to thank the Mathis family for their passion and participation here over the past four years. The Mathis Brothers plush Thoroughbred toys were held tight by more than 4,000 little kids and were seen on television locally and nationwide. Additionally, the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2T) attracted 10 horses and was a huge part of our pari-mutuel success yesterday."

As for opening day performances, Bob Baffert's McKinzie was the star of the afternoon, winning the $300,000 Malibu Stakes (G1) by a measured 4 3/4 lengths under Mike Smith while covering seven furlongs in 1:22.48. Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, McKinzie was off as the   6-5 favorite in a field of 14 and he paid $4.40 to win.

Santa Anita will embark upon a five-day race week beginning Dec. 28, with first post time for a nine-race card at 12:30 p.m. With the grade 1 American Oaks headlining a 10-race program Saturday, there is a special early first post time of noon.