– Photo by Terry Miller
Santa Anita Park has announced that the prestigious Grade I, $300,000 American Oaks, which was most recently run in May 2015, will now be run on Dec. 31. Santa Anita’s 72-day winter stand will conclude on April 9 and be followed by its Spring Meet, which will run from April 14 through July 4.
A blockbuster card consisting of four graded stakes will await fans on opening day, with a pair of Grade I, $300,000 races at seven furlongs–the Malibu for 3-year-old colts and geldings and the La Brea, for 3-year-old fillies, highlighting a ten-race program. The Grade II, $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile (turf) and the Grade III, $100,000 San Simeon Handicap, at 6.5 furlongs down the hillside turf course, will round out the graded stakes action.
Heading Santa Anita’s Grade I Winter Meet stakes lineup is the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, which has produced 17 Kentucky Derby winners, and will be run on April 8. The Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, to be contested for the 81st time, will be run on March 11.
