Santa Anita Expands Spring Juvenile Racing

In an effort to expand racing opportunities for 2-year-olds and to make a larger number of top quality juveniles available to horsemen in California, Santa Anita Park has announced it will be offering maiden special weight races for 2-year-olds beginning April 18 & 19 and that it will present a pair of 2-year-old stakes on closing day, June 23.  Both races will offer a purse of $75,000 and be run at 5 1/2 furlongs, the Landaluce will be for 2-year-old fillies, while the Santa Anita Juvenile will be for 2-year-olds. (Both stakes were most recently run at Santa Anita in 2017).   

This news is in conjunction with that of America's longest tenured equine sales company, Fasig-Tipton, conducting their first-ever sale of 2-year-olds in training here on June 5. In addition to working with Fasig-Tipton, Santa Anita is also working closely with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, in order to present a much more comprehensive 2-year-old program that will better address horsemen's needs throughout the calendar year.

Accordingly, those juvenile maidens that race at Santa Anita prior to closing day, June 23, will be granted preference in terms of their ability to enter like races at Del Mar, beginning with their annual Summer Meet on July 17.

"We are extremely happy to be able to announce these very significant developments regarding our 2-year-old program here at Santa Anita," said P.J. Campo, Executive Vice President, Racing Division, for The Stronach Group. "In consultation with all of our stakeholders, including the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and the TOC, we realized that we need to work together to provide more opportunities to race, market and sell our juvenile horses, who truly represent our future.

"Having Fasig-Tipton come here for their June 5 sale is tremendous news for our horsemen and fans as well. They are going to be offering top quality horses and we're going to be offering more races to run in, including of course our brand new stakes on June 23. And we want to sincerely thank Tom Robbins and his team at Del Mar for recognizing the importance of granting those maidens which have started here preference in terms of their ability to run later in the summer. All told, this is a comprehensive approach that will serve all of us well."

For his part, Robbins, who serves as Del Mar's Executive Vice President, Racing, sees the need to provide horsemen with greater continuity in an effort to maximize racing opportunities.

"What we're essentially doing is giving those two-year-olds that run in maiden special races in May or June, Cal-bred or open, preference when entering any maiden special or maiden claiming races at sprint distances on the main track here for the first 10 days of racing this summer," said Robbins. "These horses will have automatic preference over those horses that did not race at Santa Anita."

In terms of the racing schedule, including the creation of a pair of new Santa Anita stakes for juveniles, the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) has also been in consultation with all parties.    

"It's great to see all of the stakeholders being creative and working together," said Elizabeth Morey, Director of Racing with the TOC. "This has been a collaboration between horsemen, the racing associations, and Fasig-Tipton. The end result really benefits everyone."

Horses consigned to the June 5 Fasig-Tipton Sale at Santa Anita will begin arriving in May and will be stabled in temporary stalls near the seven furlong chute, which will provide ready access to the main track.  The sale itself will be conducted in Santa Anita's Paddock Gardens.

"All of us at Fasig-Tipton are very excited to launch our inaugural two-year-old sale at Santa Anita on June 5," said Boyd Browning, President and CEO, Fasig-Tipton.  "Santa Anita is the perfect venue for both buyers and sellers and the sale should provide a boost for two-year-old racing in California."

Santa Anita's Condition Book Seven will provide additional information regarding all races to be run on April 17 & 18.  Additional details regarding the June 5 Santa Anita Fasig-Tipton Two-Year-Old in Training Sale and closing day stakes on June 23 will be forthcoming in the near future at santaanita.com or by calling (626) 574-RACE.