Santa Anita Park facts for kids

Santa Anita Park is a famous Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It hosts some of the biggest horse racing events in the U.S. during the fall, winter, and spring. This track is known for many important races, including the Santa Anita Derby and the Santa Anita Handicap. It has also hosted the exciting Breeders' Cup many times, in 1986, 1993, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2019. Since 2011, The Stronach Group has owned Santa Anita Park.

History of Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park was once part of a large ranch called "Rancho Santa Anita." This ranch was first owned by Claudio Lopez and named after a family member, "Anita Cota." Later, a Scottish rancher named Hugo Reid owned it. Even later, it belonged to a very rich horse breeder and racer named Lucky Baldwin.

Baldwin built a racetrack near the current site in 1904, in what is now Arcadia, close to Los Angeles. This first track closed in 1909 and burned down in 1912.

Building the New Racetrack

In 1933, California made horse race betting legal again. Several groups wanted to open new racetracks. Two groups, one led by Dr. Charles H. Strub and another by movie producer Hal Roach, decided to work together. They formed the Los Angeles Turf Club and opened the current Santa Anita Park on Christmas Day in 1934. This made it the first official racetrack in California.

The buildings were designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann. They mix old-fashioned Colonial Revival style with a modern Art Deco style called Streamline Modern. The buildings are painted in Santa Anita's special colors: Persian Green and Chiffon Yellow.

Famous Races and Stars

In February 1935, the first Santa Anita Handicap race was held. Its prize money was $100,000, which was the largest prize for any race in the U.S. at that time. This led to its nickname, the "Big 'Cap."

Many famous movie stars, like Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and Esther Williams, used to visit the track. Some stars, including Bing Crosby and Al Jolson, even owned parts of the racetrack.

In 1940, the legendary horse Seabiscuit won the Santa Anita Handicap in his very last race.

Art Deco entrance to Santa Anita's grandstands.

Santa Anita During World War II

In 1942, horse racing at Santa Anita stopped because of World War II. The park was used as a temporary "assembly center" for Japanese Americans. These people were told to leave their homes on the West Coast during the war.

For several months in 1942, more than 18,000 people lived in horse stables and new barracks built at the site. This included actor George Takei, who was a young boy at the time. After the war, the track reopened in 1945 and became popular again. In 1953, a special downhill turf course was added, making races at Santa Anita feel more like European races.

The unique downhill turf course includes a section where horses have to momentarily cross the dirt track

Hollywood Connection and Growth

Because it's close to Los Angeles, Santa Anita has often been seen in movies and TV shows. Parts of the 1937 movie A Day at the Races with the Marx Brothers were filmed there. The movie The Story of Seabiscuit (1949) with Shirley Temple was also filmed at the track. Many stars, like Bing Crosby and Spencer Tracy, owned horses that raced at Santa Anita.

In 1958, a record 61,123 people came to watch the Santa Anita Derby. They wanted to see Silky Sullivan win after starting far behind.

The 1960s brought big changes to Santa Anita Park, including a larger grandstand with more seats. In 1984, Santa Anita hosted the horse riding events for the 1984 Summer Olympics. The next year, the track set another attendance record with 85,527 people on Santa Anita Handicap Day.

The Seabiscuit statue, created by American sculptor Jame Hughlette ("Tex") Wheeler.

Recent Changes

In 1997, Santa Anita Park was bought by Meditrust, and later by Magna Entertainment Corp. In 2006, Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park worked together to host the Sunshine Millions, a special day of races for horses from Florida and California.

Since 2014, Santa Anita has hosted more races because another track, Hollywood Park Racetrack, closed. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, races continued without fans for a while, then were paused, and later resumed.

Statues and Awards

At Santa Anita Park, you can find statues of famous jockeys like George Woolf, Johnny Longden, Bill Shoemaker, and Laffit Pincay, Jr.. There are also statues of famous horses like Seabiscuit and John Henry.

Since 1950, Santa Anita Park has given out the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. This award goes to a jockey who shows great personal and professional behavior, both on and off the track.

Course Features

The Santa Anita track is set against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Santa Anita has a main dirt track that is one mile (1,609 meters) long. Inside this, there's a turf (grass) course that is about 0.9 miles long. It also has a unique hillside turf course that crosses over the dirt track. This hillside course is used for certain turf races.

In 2020, Santa Anita started building a new turf chute for shorter turf races. This means the hillside turf course will mainly be used for longer races.

For a while, Santa Anita had a special synthetic (man-made) racing surface called Cushion Track. This track was a mix of sand, fibers, rubber, and wax. It opened in 2007. However, due to some issues, Santa Anita changed back to a natural dirt surface in December 2010.

The park covers about 320 acres. Its grandstand is 1,100 feet long and can seat 26,000 people. This grandstand is a historic landmark and still has its original Art Deco style from the 1930s. The infield area, which looks like a park, can hold over 50,000 guests. The park also has 61 barns for more than 2,000 horses and a hospital for horses.

Saving Santa Anita Park

In 2000, Santa Anita Park was put on America's "Most Endangered Historic Places" list. This was because there were plans to build other things on the land around the historic racetrack.

In 2007 and 2008, there were plans to build a large shopping and office complex in the parking area. This area was where the barracks for Japanese Americans were located during World War II. These plans would have also torn down some historic parts of the track.

However, by May 2011, the plans to build another mall next to Santa Anita Park were stopped. This was partly due to protests from another mall owner nearby and financial problems of the company that owned Santa Anita Park.

Racing Events

Santa Anita Park hosts many important horse races throughout the year. These races are divided into different "Grades" based on how important they are. Grade I races are the most prestigious.

Grade I Races

Grade II Races

Grade III Races

Other Races

The Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita

Start of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2008

Santa Anita Park has hosted the Breeders' Cup a record 10 times. This is a huge event in horse racing. Some memorable moments from past Breeders' Cups at Santa Anita include:

• 1986: Lady's Secret won the Distaff race and was named Horse of the Year.
• 1993: Arcangues won the Classic race, which was one of the biggest upsets ever in that race.
• 2003: Trainer Richard Mandella won a record four races, including the Classic.
• 2009: Zenyatta became the first (and only) female horse to win the Classic.
• 2012 and 2013: Wise Dan won the Mile race two years in a row.
• 2016: Beholder won the Distaff in an exciting finish against the undefeated horse Songbird. Also in 2016, Arrogate won the Classic in a thrilling race.

Event Venue

Santa Anita Park is not just for horse racing; it's also a popular place for other events. One of the most famous is the 626 Night Market. Since 2013, this food festival attracts up to 100,000 people over a three-day weekend, four times each summer. Over 250 vendors sell food, crafts, and art. There's also live music, an Art Walk, and dance competitions.