Photos by Terry Miller and Jacob Bigley
By Jacob Bigley
Another lucrative opening day took place at Santa Anita Park as a rumored 40,000 spectators made their way to Arcadia to participate in the beginning of the 78th season of great horse racing. Nine races would take place during the picturesque, Friday afternoon as fans tried their luck in picking the winners.
As Jay Cohen’s trumpet sounded the intro for each race, Trevor Denman’s famous “and away they go!” echoed throughout park. With each passing race, more and more tickets would be discarded in unfavorable finishes. The most favorable horse of the day was that of Shared Belief. A three year old horse, with veteran Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard.
He was running in the $301,000 Malibu stakes and went off at 1/2 odds. After an exciting race, Shared Belief was able to pull away with the victory holding off 70-1 contender, Conquest Two Step.
It was highly efficacious opening day at the races which is bound to lead to another exciting year of horse racing at Santa Anita Park.
