Santa Anita Park is a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racetrack in

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 t ...

, 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 including both the

Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is one ...

and the Santa Anita Handicap as well as hosting the

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, i ...

in 1986, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2023. Since 2011, the

Stronach Group Stronach Group, doing business as 1/ST, is an entertainment and real estate company in North America with Thoroughbred horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core.Rancho Santa Anita", which was owned originally by former San Gabriel Mission Mayor-Domo, Claudio Lopez, and named after a family member, "Anita Cota". The ranch was later acquired by rancher Hugo Reid, a

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who fou ...

. The property's most widely known owner would be multimillionaire

Lucky Baldwin Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin (April 3, 1828 – March 1, 1909) was "one of the greatest pioneers" of California business, an investor, and real estate speculator during the second half of the 19th century. He earned the nickname "Lucky" Baldwin ...

, a successful businessman in San Francisco who greatly enhanced his wealth through an investment in the famous Comstock Lode. Baldwin became a successful breeder and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and in 1904 would build a racetrack adjacent to the present site in what is today the city of Arcadia, outside of the city of Los Angeles. On February 4, 1909 the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

passed an anti-racetrack gambling bill known as the Walker–Otis Law. Similar in its goal to

New York State's New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

1908

Hart–Agnew Law The Hart–Agnew Law was an anti-gambling bill passed into law by the Legislature of the State of New York on June 11, 1908. It was an amalgam of bills enacted as Chapter 506 and 507 which were sponsored by conservative Assemblyman Merwin K. Hart ...

, the California law resulted in the permanent closing of the Baldwin racetrack. In 1912 the racing facility burned to the ground.

The new Santa Anita Park

In 1933, California legalized

parimutuel Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

wagering and several investor groups worked to open racetracks. In the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

area, a group headed by Dr. Charles H "Doc" Strub was having trouble locating a site. In the Los Angeles area, a group headed by movie producer

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

was in need of further funds. These two groups combined and the newly formed Los Angeles Turf Club opened the present day track on Christmas Day in 1934, making it the first formally-established racetrack in California. Architect Gordon Kaufmann designed its various buildings in a combination of Colonial Revival and a type of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

known as

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial desig ...

, painted primarily in Santa Anita's signature colors of Persian Green and Chiffon Yellow. In February 1935, the first Santa Anita Handicap was run. The race's $100,000 purse, largest of any race ever in the United States until that time, produced its nickname the Big 'Cap. In its heyday, the track's races attracted such stars

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...

, Lana Turner,

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters ...

, Jane Russell,

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

, and other stars.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

, Joe E. Brown, Al Jolson, and Harry Warner were all stockholders. Santa Anita Track (3446121612)

In 1940, Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita Handicap in his last start. In 1942, racing at Santa Anita was suspended due to the Second World War. Santa Anita was used as an "assembly center" for Japanese Americans excluded from the West Coast. (See

below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...

.) For several months in 1942, over 18,000 people lived in horse stables and military-style barracks constructed on the site, including actor George Takei, then a young boy. After the track reopened in 1945, it went through the postwar years with prosperity. A downhill turf course, which added a distinctly European flair to racing at Santa Anita, was added in 1953. Due to its proximity to Los Angeles, Santa Anita has traditionally been associated with the film and television industries. The racetrack sequences in the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

1937 classic '' A Day at the Races'' were filmed there, and ''

The Story of Seabiscuit ''The Story of Seabiscuit'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by David Butler and starring Shirley Temple and Barry Fitzgerald in a semi-fictionalized account of racehorse Seabiscuit, the top money winner up to the 1940s. The screenplay was ...

'' with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

was filmed on location in 1949. It was also featured in '' A Star Is Born'' (1937). Several stars, including

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, freque ...

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

, and MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, have owned horses that raced at the park. The 1958 Santa Anita Derby was attended by 61,123 people, making the attendance that day a record crowd. They had come to watch Silky Sullivan come from 28 lengths off the pace and win—going away. The 1960s brought about a major renovation of Santa Anita Park, including a much-expanded grandstand as well as major seating additions. In 1968,

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is a event venue in Del Mar, California. The annual San Diego County Fair is held here, which was called the Del Mar Fair from 1984 to 2001. In 1936, the Del Mar Racetrack was built by the Thoroughbred Club with foundi ...

relinquished its dates for a fall meeting. A group of horsemen including Clement Hirsch intervened and established the not-for-profit

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

. Oak Tree had no facilities of its own and rented Santa Anita Park for its first autumn meeting in 1969. The Oak Tree Association became the operator of the autumn meet at Santa Anita Park. This meet usually ran from the end of September until early November. Many key stakes races were held during the Oak Tree Meeting, including many preps to the

races. The Oak Tree meet relocated to

Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois * Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and m ...

for 2010 but the California Horse Racing Board awarded the fall dates to Santa Anita in its own right in 2011. This prompted a renaming of many stakes races held at the fall meeting that were formerly associated with Oak Tree. For example, the Norfolk, Goodwood, Yellow Ribbon, Lady's Secret, and Oak Leaf, were renamed at the FrontRunner, Awesome Again, Rodeo Drive, Zenyatta and Chandelier respectively. Prosperity continued at Santa Anita throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. In 1984, Santa Anita was the site of

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

events at the 1984 Olympics. The following year, the track set an attendance record of 85,527 people on Santa Anita Handicap Day. However, recognizing the potential revenue boon to the State of California, the California Legislature expanded off track betting, bring operating betting parlors within closer driving distance of the race-day tracks. While the Santa Anita meeting could still draw large crowds, attendance had decreased by a third. Only 56,810 people were at the park for Santa Anita Derby Day 2007 to witness a Grade I event. In 1997, Santa Anita Park was acquired by Meditrust when it purchased the Santa Anita Companies for its unique real estate investment trust paired share corporate structure. Following the elimination of the special tax treatment accorded Pair Share

REIT A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping c ...

s, Meditrust sold the track to Magna Entertainment Corp. In 2006,

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group, is a Thoroughbred race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Thoroughbred horse racing occurs year-round, defined by three distinct race meets ...

and Santa Anita cohosted the Sunshine Millions, a day of competition with $3.6 million in stakes races between horses bred in the State of Florida and those bred in the

State of California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. At Santa Anita standardbred racing was also conducted. At Santa Anita Park's European-style paddock there are

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s of jockeys George Woolf, Johnny Longden,

Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey. For 29 years he held the world record for total professional jockey victories. Early life Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Sho ...

and Laffit Pincay Jr. plus a memorial bust of announcer Joe Hernandez and one of trainer

Charlie Whittingham Charles Edward Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who is one of the most acclaimed trainers in U.S. racing history. Early career Born in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham began w ...

with his dog, Toby. There is also a lifesize bronze of Seabiscuit in the walking ring at Seabiscuit Court; a similar bronze of John Henry was unveiled near the Seabiscuit statue in December 2009. Buried near the paddock is Emperor of Norfolk, the best horse Lucky Baldwin ever owned, along with three other great Baldwin horses: Volante, Silver Cloud, and Rey El Santa Anita, all four of them winners of the prestigious American Derby. In 2012, a lifesize bronze of Zenyatta was unveiled prior to the running of the race renamed in her honor. Since 1950, Santa Anita Park has annually presented the

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct ...

to a rider who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. South African native Trevor Denman served as Santa Anita's full-time announcer from the 1983 Oak Tree meet until his retirement from the position in 2015. Denman is noted for his calls beginning with "And awaaay they go..." and his distinctive gravelly voice. Queensland, Australia native Michael Wrona was chosen to succeed Denman in March 2016, and continued through fall 2018. Frank Mirahmadi took over after that. Starting in 2014, Santa Anita began adding more racing cards due to the closure of

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to ...

, hosting Hollywood Park's old spring dates from late April until June. In mid-March 2020, due to the

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifi ...

, racing resumed without fans; two weeks later, racing was suspended until it returned on Friday, May 15, 2020.

Horse fatalities of 2019

In early March 2019, all races were cancelled following the 21st fatality of the winter season; racing resumed late in the month. Races were postponed so that the dirt surface could be studied. Seven of the 21 deaths occurred during races on the dirt oval with nine happening during training on dirt and the others occurring on the turf track. Thirty-seven horses died at the facility in 2019, causing the above noted suspension of races, and resulting in the California Racing Commission considering rule changes. Following the death of the 30th horse in late June, trainer

Jerry Hollendorfer Jerry Hollendorfer (born June 18, 1946, in Akron, Ohio) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer whose notable horses include Eclipse Award winners Blind Luck, Shared Belief and Songbird. He has the most wins in the history of Northern ...

, who had trained four of the horses that died, was banned forever by the Stronach Group from all of its facilities.

Santa Anita Assembly Center

In February 1942, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...

, which authorized military commanders to exclude "any or all persons" from certain areas in the name of national defense, the Western Defense Command began ordering Japanese Americans living on the West Coast to present themselves for "evacuation" from the newly created military zones. Seventeen temporary "assembly centers" were designated to house the evicted population until construction on the more permanent and isolated internment camps was finished. Most, like the Santa Anita Assembly Center, were converted from former uses like racing tracks or fairgrounds.Linke, Konrad
"Santa Anita (detention facility)"
''Densho Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 2014-07-25. Santa Anita was turned over to the Wartime Civilian Control Administration, the government body responsible for oversight of the temporary detention facilities, in March 1942, and army engineers soon after built 500 barracks on the parking lot and converted the horse stables and the area underneath the grandstand into residential "apartments". Japanese-Americans began arriving in April, most coming from the surrounding Los Angeles County, and the center's population soon topped 18,000, peaking at 18,719 by August of that year. Six mess halls, each seating approximately 850 at a time, fed some 3,000 people daily at a cost of 33 cents per person. The sanitary facilities faced similar overcrowding, with a ratio of 30 people to each shower ''after'' the number of showers was increased from 150 to 225 in early July. Consequently, those in the center spent a significant portion of their time in Santa Anita waiting in line for meals or to use the sanitary facilities. The Assembly Center remained open for seven months, and in the meantime, Japanese-Americans took up jobs in camp at the camouflage net factory, the hospital or various administrative departments, and set up schools to ensure their children's education would not be interrupted. Transfer to War Relocation Authority camps began on August 26, 1942, when 901 Japanese-Americans left for Poston, Arizona, and over the next month the remaining Japanese-Americans were sent to Poston and several other camps. The Santa Anita Assembly Center closed on October 27, 1942.

Course attributes

Santa Anita has a one-mile (1,609 m) natural dirt main track which rings a turf course measuring 0.9 mile, or . In addition, it has an unusual hillside turf course which crosses the dirt and had been used mainly to run turf races at a distance of "about" 6½ furlongs (exact distance is ), as well as longer races at 1.25 miles, 1.5 miles and 1 mile 1,232 yards. This type of track is one of the few of its kind in America. In August 2020, Santa Anita

broke ground Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are ...

on a new backstretch turf chute. The new turf chute is expected to be finished in time for the 2020/2021 winter meet, and will be used primarily for turf sprints at distances up to 6½ furlongs. Santa Anita effectively ended downhill turf sprints following an incident in the 2019 San Simeon Stakes; under their plans, the hillside turf course will continue to be used for distance races. To comply with a State of California mandate, Santa Anita replaced its dirt racing surface with a new synthetic surface called Cushion Track, a mixture of silica sand, synthetic fibers, elastic fiber, granulated rubber and a wax coating. The new Cushion Track opened for training on Sept 4, 2007 and hosted its first live race on Sept 26, 2007. The track lost 11 racing dates in 2008 due to a drainage problem with the new material, but intensive maintenance and the addition of a liquid binder greatly improved the artificial surface. Santa Anita restored the all natural dirt surface in December 2010. Santa Anita occupies . It has a -long grandstand, which is a historic landmark that seats 26,000 guests. The grandstand facade is rendered in an

style and is largely the original from the 1930s. The track infield area, which resembles a park with picnic tables and large trees, can accommodate 50,000 or more guests. The Park also contains 61 barns, which house more than 2,000 horses, and an equine hospital.

Endangerment and reprieve

In 2000, the racetrack was named to America's "Most Endangered Historic Places" list. The Santa Anita Racetrack was determined eligible for listing in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2006, but continued to be threatened by developer's plans. A themed entertainment complex proposal was aborted, but there were new plans are in the works for the parking and support areas adjacent to the historic race track and grandstands. In 2006, there was a proposal to close Santa Anita Park and use its location as the site of a new retail/entertainment complex. The Arcadia City Council approved a plan In April 2007 to develop an 830,000 square foot commercial, retail, and office complex in the south parking area, where the barracks that housed interned Japanese Americans during World War II are located. The proposal planned to tear down the South Ticket Gate and the 1938 Saddling Barn, and to install a simulcast facility in the center of the historic grandstand. In April 2008, a plan was approved to use large parts of the existing track parking lot to construct a mall, the "Shops at Santa Anita". , the plans to build another mall next to Santa Anita Park were abandoned. Protests against the project by the Westfield group, owner of the adjacent Westfield Santa Anita Mall (built in 1974 on the site of the old barns and training track), and the bankruptcy of Magna International, owner of Santa Anita Park, were a factor in the decision.

TV personalities

TVG, which acquired Horse Racing TV (HRTV) in 2015, is a 24-hour television based multimedia network dedicated to horse racing which features racing action from many of the sport's greatest racetracks around the world. TVG broadcasts live from Santa Anita Park. Talents from HRTV are now employed by TVG Network or XBTV (Xpressbet TV). Santa Anita talent now host the simulcast feed. Expert American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

commentators employed by HRTV: * Kurt Hoover (1988–2012) * Jon White (1993–2015) White writes a weekly column that is accessible at xpressbet.com and hrtv.com as well as an oddsmaker for Santa Anita Park. * Becky Witzman (2004–2006) * Carolyn Conley (1996–2002) * John DeSantis (1996–2002) * Jay Privman (1996–2002) * Laffit Pincay III (2002–2015) *

Bill Seward Bill Seward (June 26, 1958 – January 14, 2022) was an American broadcaster, actor, and coach. In addition to calling various professional and college sports in America, Seward has been “on the mic” for NBC’s Summer and Winter Olympic cove ...

(1988–2002) Seward was voted "Top Sports Update Anchor" by the Los Angeles Daily News and can be seen on the TVG network, hosting thoroughbred horse racing coverage. * Michelle Yu (2012–2016) Santa Anita Simulcast Hosts * Megan Devine (2016-2018) Megan has appeared as an on-air analyst at TVG, Turfway Park, Ellis Park, Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) and was fired from Santa Anita Park in November 2018.

Racing

Graded events

The following Graded events were held at Santa Anita Park in 2022 with inaugural runnings in parenthesis. Grade I Grade II Grade III

Other events

The Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita

In 2023, Santa Anita will host the

for a record 11th time. Highlights of the previous events include: * 1986 - Lady's Secret wins the Distaff on her way to becoming Horse of the Year * 1993 -

Arcangues Arcangues (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France in what was formerly the Basque province of Labourd. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arcanguais'' or ''Ar ...

wins the Classic in the biggest upset in the race's history * 2003 - Trainer

Richard Mandella Richard Eugene Mandella (born November 5, 1950 in Altadena, California), is a Thoroughbred horse trainer and a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. Mandella's father, a blacksmith, introduced him to horses at an early age and while still i ...

wins a record four races including the Classic *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

- Overseas based runners win five races including the Classic *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

- Zenyatta becomes the first (and to date only) mare to win the Classic *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Wise Dan Wise Dan (foaled February 20, 2007) is a champion American Hall of Fame and Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the first horse to win the same three Eclipse Awards in consecutive years, having been named American Horse of the ...

wins the

Mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

on his way to a Horse of the Year title *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

- Wise Dan goes back-to-back *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

- Bayern upsets California Chrome and

Shared Belief Shared Belief (February 15, 2011 – December 3, 2015) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old, he was undefeated in three races, including the Hollywood Prevue Stakes and Los Alamitos Futurity, and was named the American Ch ...

in the Classic * 2016 - Beholder wins the Distaff in a thrilling stretch battle over the previously undefeated

Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...

. * 2016 - Arrogate wins the Classic in a thriller over the heavy favorite California Chrome. * 2019 - Storm the Court upsets the field to win the Juvenile by a neck at 45-1.

Event venue

Santa Anita Park is also an event venue, most notably for popular food festival

626 Night Market 626 Night Market is an annual night market food festival located in the 626 area code region of San Gabriel Valley, northeast of Los Angeles. Its events are held 10 times a year from May to September. Each 3-day night market event draws up t ...

. Since 2013, the event draws up to 100,000 attendees per 3-day weekend, four times a year during the summer. More than 250 vendors sell food, merchandise, crafts and art. There is also a stage with live music, an Art Walk, cosplay contest and

b-boy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

dance competitions. Arcadia High School holds its annual graduation ceremony at Santa Anita Park during the month of June and holds alumni reunions during September and October.

References

Bibliography

External links

Santa Anita Park Official Website

Oak Tree Racing Association Official Website

Horses finishing the California Breeders' Stakes Race at Santa Anita Park, 1938
at the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

. {{Authority control Horse racing venues in California Stronach Group Internment camps for Japanese Americans Sports venues in Greater Los Angeles Venues of the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrian venues San Gabriel Valley Art Deco architecture in California Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California 1934 establishments in California Sports venues completed in 1934