Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Santa Anita Park Opens Winter/Spring Meet With $12 Million in Stakes
Posted on Monday, November 27th, 2006
(Edited from Santa Anita Release) Santa Anita Park will feature 10 Grade I stakes races and will offer more than $12 million in stakes money during its 70th season of racing, which begins Tuesday, Dec. 26. The meet figures to be highlighted by the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday, March 3 and the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, April 7.
In addition to its multi-million dollar stakes schedule, Santa Anita will also be offering tremendous overnight purses. ???We???ll be starting off the meet with one of the strongest overnight purse structures in Santa Anita history,??? said Santa Anita Director of Racing, Mike Harlow.
A major change in the lineup, the Santa Catalina Stakes (for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on Sat. Mar. 3) has been renamed The Robert B. Lewis Stakes. Lewis, one of the nation???s most prominent owner/breeders, passed away on February 17 of this year.
Also note that the Hill Rise Stakes (for 2-year-olds at one mile on turf Sat. Dec. 30) has been renamed The Eddie Logan Stakes, in honor of the legendary ???footman??? who has been greeting people with a smile at Santa Anita since Christmas Day, 1934.
Santa Anita will offer 73 stakes, 44 of them graded, during its upcoming 85-day meeting. The prestigious Gr. I Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs will once again highlight the opening day festivities.
Santa Anita will offer $1.6 million in stakes purses for 3-year-old dirt horses pointing for the Kentucky Derby, culminating with the $750,000, Gr. I Santa Anita Derby on April 7.
Distances for Santa Anita???s 3-year-old stakes will once again follow a natural progression. The Gr. II San Rafael Stakes will be run at one mile on January 13, and it will be followed by a pair of 1 1/16 mile Derby preps: The Gr. II, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on March 3, and the Gr. II, $250,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 17. Then it???s on to the Gr. I Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles.
The Santa Anita Derby is now considered the most significant Kentucky Derby prep race in the country, as it has produced runners that have won or finished in the money in Triple Crown races in seven out of the last nine years.
The Gr. III, $100,000 Sham Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, will be run on Feb. 3 and has also been a popular spot for potential Triple Crown horses who are ready to go a longer distance earlier on the calendar. The seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes (Gr. II) on Feb. 11 is also a possibility for Derby-bound 3-year-olds.
An American racing tradition since its inception as the nation???s first ???hundred-grander??? in 1935, the 70th edition of the Santa Anita Handicap will be run on March 3, a day that will feature a total of four graded stakes.
The $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (Gr. I) for older horses on turf, on March 3, provides middle-distance horses with a coveted opportunity early in the year. To compliment the Kilroe, the Arcadia Handicap (Gr. II) will also be run at a mile on turf on April 7.
Along with the Gr. I Santa Anita Handicap and the Gr. I Kilroe Mile, the Gr. II Robert B. Lewis Stakes and the $75,000 China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf, provide competition that figures to key a colossal day of racing on March 3.
While the fifth annual Sunshine Millions, pitting the best California-bred horses against the top Florida-breds (composed of four stakes at Santa Anita and four at Gulfstream Park) for $3.6 million in total purse money will be staged Jan. 27.
The $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf will headline the day???s card at Santa Anita. Other races on the local program will be the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff, the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint and the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Oaks.
The opening-day Malibu Stakes (Gr. I) is the first leg of the prestigious Strub Series. Last year Proud Tower Too took the Malibu, en route to victory in the $2 million Golden Shaheen (Group I) in the United Arab Emirates. The series continues with the Gr. II, $200,000 San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes exclusively for 4-year-olds on Jan. 13 and concludes with the Gr. II, $300,000 Strub Stakes, also for 4-year-olds, on Feb. 3.
The La Ca??ada Series???the Strub Series female counterpart, opens with the Gr.I, $250,000 La Brea Stakes on Dec. 30. The Gr. II, $150,000 El Encino Stakes follows on Jan. 14. The series reaches a climax with the Gr.II, $200,000 La Ca??ada Stakes on Feb. 11.
Other Grade I stakes on the calendar are the $250,000 Santa Monica Handicap for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs on Jan. 28; the $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on Feb. 10; the $250,000 Santa Maria Handicap for older fillies and mares, at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 10; the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on March 11, and the $300,000 Santa Margarita Handicap for older fillies and mares, at 1 1/8 miles on March 10.
"Santa Anita Park Opens Winter/Spring Meet With $12 Million in Stakes" was posted on Monday, November 27th, 2006 at 11:20 am and is filed under Horse Racing Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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