The La Cañada Stakes is a Grade III 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 ...

for

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 ...

and

mares A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

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 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 ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The event currently offers a purse of US$200,000.

History

The event was named after a 1843

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

known as Rancho La Cañada in the

San Rafael Hills The San Rafael Hills are a mountain range in Los Angeles County, California. They are one of the lower Transverse Ranges, and are parallel to and below the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to the San Gabriel Valley overlooking the Los Angeles Bas ...

and

Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California, lying between the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills on the southwest. It opens into the San Fernando Valley at th ...

of Southern California. The name means "ranch of the canyon". The rancho included the current day city of

La Cañada Flintridge LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

.Diseno La Cañada
/ref> The inaugural running of the event was on 1 February 1975 over a distance of one-and-one-sixteenth miles and was won by the 1974 U.S. Champion Three-Year-Old Filly

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

who carried 128 pounds, winning by a nose as the 13/10 favorite over Mercy Dee with Lucky Spell in third place lengths away in a time of 1:41. The winning time recorded for the distance continues today to be the stakes record. The following year, the distance of the event was increased to miles. The event was run at this distance until 2011. Given the quality of competition after the first two runnings of the event in 1977 the

American Graded Stakes Committee {{short description, Organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders The American Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) based in Lexington, Kentucky is a trade organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders. ...

classified the event as

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. In 1978 Santa Anita Park administration created the ''La Cañada Series'', a series of races for newly turning/turned 4-year-old fillies and run at an increasing distance. The series begins with the La Brea Stakes at 7 furlongs followed by the Grade II

El Encino Stakes The El Encino Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run between 1954 and 2011 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to four-year-old fillies, it was raced over a distance of miles (8.5 furlongs) on the synthetic Cushion Trac ...

at miles in mid January, then the upgraded Grade I La Cañada Stakes at miles in mid February. Until the series ended in 2011 when the El Encino Stakes was discontinued, only three fillies had ever won all three races: 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 series for male horses is the Strub Series. In 1990 the event was downgraded

. For three years (2008–10) the event was held on the synthetic All-Weather course which had been installed at Santa Anita Park. With the discontinuation of the

in 2012 the La Cañada Stakes distance was decreased to miles and the race was scheduled in mid January. In 2018 the event was run at a distance of one mile. In 2019 the event was downgraded Grade III. The 1986 winner

Lady's Secret Lady's Secret (April 8, 1982 – March 4, 2003) was an American Eclipse Award winning Thoroughbred racemare that was listed in the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. Lady's Secret was bred by Robert H. Spreen at Lucas Farm in Oklah ...

had an outstanding year culminating with a victory in the Grade I

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or ...

and winning the U.S. Champion Older Filly award and being voted as United States Horse of the Year. The 1996 winner

Jewel Princess Jewel Princess (foaled 1992 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred Eclipse Award, Champion racehorse and winner of the 1996 Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was voted the Eclipse Award as the 1996 American Champion Older Female Horse. Pedigree Refe ...

also won the

and winning the U.S. Champion Older Filly award and being voted as United States Horse of the Year. While the 2000

winner

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

won two legs of the La Cañada Series and finished second in the

Records

Speed record: * miles: 1:41.60 –

(1975) * miles: 1:47.60 –

Glorious Song {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Glorious Song , image = , caption = , sire = Halo , grandsire = Hail To Reason , dam = Ballade , damsire = Herbager , sex = Filly , foaled = 1976 , country = Canada , colour = Bay , breeder = E. P. ...

(1980), Safe Play (1982) Margins: * lengths – As Time Goes By (2022) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 5 – Gary Stevens (1987, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2016) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 –

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...

(2004, 2011, 2017, 2022) Most wins by an owner: * 2 –

Eugene V. Klein Eugene Victor Klein (January 29, 1921March 12, 1990) was an American businessman who was chairman of the board of directors and chief stockholder of National General Corporation, an insurance and entertainment company based in Los Angeles, Ca ...

(1986, 1987) * 2 –

The Thoroughbred Corporation The Thoroughbred Corporation is a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established in 1994 by principal partner Prince Ahmed bin Salman of the Saudi Arabian royal family. It was based at an facility at Bradbury Estates, in Bradbury, ...

(2001, 2004)

Winners

''Legend:''

''Notes:''
§ Ran as an

entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets * ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian Malayalam fil ...

External links

2020 Santa Anita Media Guide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Canada Stakes 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 Recurring sporting events established in 1975 1975 establishments in California Grade 3 stakes races in the United States

History

Records

Winners

See also

External links

References