The El Encino Stakes was an American

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

run between 1954 and 2011 at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

in Arcadia, California. Open to four-year-old

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, it was raced over a distance of miles (8.5 furlongs) on the synthetic

Cushion Track The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: * Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common trac ...

surface. A Grade 2 event, it last offered a purse of $150,000 Part of Santa Anita Park's ''La Cañada Series'' of races, the El Encino Stakes was open to newly turning/turned 4-year-old fillies. Run at an increasing distance, the series began with the Grade I

La Brea Stakes The La Brea Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt track held annually in late December at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently ...

at 7

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...

s at the end of December followed by the El Encino Stakes at miles (8.5 furlongs) in mid January, then the Grade 2

La Cañada Stakes The La Cañada Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age four-years-old and older over a distance of one-and-one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Ca ...

at miles (9 furlongs) in mid February. Created in 1975, only three fillies have ever won the series: Taisez Vous (1978), Mitterand (1985), and

Got Koko {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Got Koko , image = , caption = , sire = Signal Tap , grandsire = Fappiano , dam = Baby North , damsire = Northern Baby , sex = Filly , foaled = 1999 , country = United States , colour = Bay , bree ...

(2003). The Santa Anita Park counterpart for male horses is the Strub Series. Prior to 1976, the race was open to horses of either sex aged four and up. The El Encino was inaugurated in 1954 as a handicap race on dirt at miles. From 1955 through 1957 it was raced on

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

at a distance of miles after which it was suspended until 1968 when it returned as a miles claiming stakes. There was no race in 1970 but returned the following year. In 1974 and 1975 it was modified to a distance miles before being changed permanently in 1976 to miles and restricted to four-year-old fillies.

Records

Speed record 1:40.61 @ miles):

Zenyatta Zenyatta (foaled April 1, 2004) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and Champion Older Female in 2008, ...

(2008) Most wins by a jockey: * 5 –

Chris McCarron Christopher John McCarron (born March 27, 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He mounted his first horse ever at 16.5 years old and was racing professionally by 18. At only 19 years o ...

(1983, 1986, 1991, 2000) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 –

John Shirreffs John A. Shirreffs (born June 1, 1945, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Based in California, Vietnam War veteran John Shirreffs began training Thoroughbreds in 1978. He has won a number of stakes races ...

(1999, 2006, 2008, 2009) Most wins by an owner: * 3 – Golden Eagle Farm (1976, 1983, 1998)

Winners

*In 1998, I Ain't Bluffing won the race but was disqualified and set back to third. {{refend

External link

El Encino Stakes at Pedigree Query
Discontinued horse races Horse races in California Santa Anita Park Graded stakes races in the United States Flat horse races for four-year-old fillies Mile category horse races for fillies and mares Racing series for horses Recurring sporting events established in 1954 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2012