Santa Anita Park is gearing up to take center stage in the thoroughbred racing world over the next 38 days, beginning this weekend and concluding with the 40th Breeders’ Cup, the sport’s a $31 million, 14-race, two-day extravaganza showcasing champions and challengers from around the globe.
The Breeders’ Cup, set for Nov. 3-4, returns to The Great Race Place for a record 11th time, with the $6 million BC Classic (G1) the grand finale that likely will decide Horse of the Year.
Nineteen days of racing starts Friday (Sept. 29) and features the $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares – a race renamed in 2020 for Sherwood Chillingworth, a longtime California racing executive.
The first of four Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In’’ races during the autumn meet is Saturday – the $300,000 Awesome Again (G1) with the winner earning an automatic berth to the BC Classic.
A trio of Grade 2 races are on the undercard – the $200,000 City of Hope at a mile on the turf for 3-year-olds and up; the $200,000 Eddie D Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs on the turf for 3-year-olds and up; and the $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at 6 furlongs for 3-year-olds and up.
The 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again drew a field of nine led by a pair of trainer Bob Baffert horses – last year’s winner of the race Defunded and 2023 Preakness (G1) winner National Treasure. Baffert is looking for a ninth win in the Awesome Again, and his fourth in a row.
The other “Win and You’re In” races at the meet are Oct. 7 – the $300,000 American Pharoah (G1), the $200,000 Chandelier (G2), and the $300,000 Rodeo Drive (G2). The winners earn automatic spots in the BC Juvenile (G1), the BC Juveniles Fillies (G1), and the BC Filliy & Mare Turf (G1), respectively.
The schedule includes 42 stakes races, including 31 graded events, highlighted by 15 Grade 1s, with four stakes restricted to California-bred or sired horses.
Early arrivals include Belmont, Travers winner Arcangelo
Even before the meet begins, champions are arriving at Santa Anita.
BC Classic contenders White Abarrio, the Whitney (G1) winner trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr., has been at the track since early in the month after arriving from New York, and Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers (G1) winner Arcangelo, trained by Jena Antonucci, was expected to arrive this week from New York.
Also, the first wave of trainer Steve Asmussen’s horses – champions Echo Zulu and Clairiere as well as Grade 1 winners Gunite and Society – just arrived, and Argentina-bred Belleza de Arteaga (BC Distaff contender) was scheduled to arrive later in the week.
The Breeders’ Cup consists of seven turf races and seven dirt races. At Santa Anita, turf races leading up to the championships are a priority.
“We’re obviously going to lean into the turf like we have the last couple of years,’’ Jason Egan, Santa Anita’s director of racing and racing secretary, said. “The front half of the meet, especially, will be heavy on the grass.”
In the Chillingworth, Baffert sends out 6-5 favorite Eda, a 4-year-old filly on a seven-race winning streak, in a field of seven.
Betting options tweaked
Two popular wagers among horseplayers return with the opening of the meet – the reintroduction of a traditional Pick 6 (a $1 bet) to replace the single-ticket jackpot and the addition of an all-turf daily Pick 3 with a $3 minimum for the final three turf races on each day’s card.
“Our goal is to have a consistent wagering menu with the Breeders’ Cup and flow right into the big day,” Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby told the Daily Racing Form. “The players’ feedback has been to try something like this. A few of us much prefer this (Pick 6) format.”
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
