SANTA AUTUMN MEET STAKES SCHEDULE UNVEILED IN ADVANCE OF SEPT. 28 OPENER

Debbie Olsen —-

SANTA AUTUMN MEET STAKES SCHEDULE UNVEILED IN ADVANCE OF SEPT. 28 OPENER; 26 STAKES OFFERED OVER COURSE OF 22-DAY MEETING; GRADE I FRONTRUNNER STAKES RENAMED IN HONOR OF AMERICAN PHAROAH

FIVE GRADE I BREEDERS’ CUP ‘WIN AND YOU’RE IN’ CHALLENGE RACES SET FOR OPENING WEEKEND

ARCADIA, Calif. (Aug. 16, 2018)—With opening day set for Friday, Sept. 28, Santa Anita Park’s 2018 Autumn Meet stakes schedule will be highlighted by a total of 26 stakes run over the course of its 22-day meeting, including seven Grade I Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Races. Four of these Challenge events will be run on Saturday, Sept. 29, with another Grade I Challenge event on Sunday, Sept. 30. Two additional Breeders’ Cup Challenge races, the Grade I, $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes, will be run on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The Grade III Eddie D. Stakes for 3-year-olds and up is one of 14 overall graded events and will be run on opening day. Contested at about 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita’s newly refurbished hillside turf course, the Eddie D. is named for all-time great retired Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, who will be on hand to present the winning trophy.
Prominent among Santa Anita’s Grade I offerings on Saturday, Sept. 29 will be the American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. Formerly run as the FrontRunner Stakes, the race has been renamed for Bob Baffert’s Triple Crown Champion, who was based here at Santa Anita and won the 2014 FrontRunner.
“It’s really an honor to have Santa Anita name this race for him,” said Baffert. “He trained at Santa Anita and following the FrontRunner in 2014, he obviously went on to do some great things. Hopefully, some of his babies will have the opportunity to run in this race in the years to come.”
For the first time ever, Santa Anita will also be offering a limited number of five furlong turf races, beginning with the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes for 2-year-olds on Oct. 6. As a Breeders’ Cup Challenge event, the Speakeasy will serve as a “Win and You’re In” prep for the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.
Two other stakes will be run at five furlongs on turf, the $100,000 California Distaff, for California-bred or sired fillies and mares, on Oct. 13 and the $100,000 California Flag, for California-bred or sired 3-year-olds and up, on Oct. 20.
The 2018 Autumn Meet also marks the return of six stakes; the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies (Nov. 2), the $70,000 Lure Stakes (Nov 2), the Grade III, $100,000 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes (Nov. 3), the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile (Nov. 3), the Grade II, $200,000 Goldikova Stakes (Nov. 4) and the Grade II, $200,000 Twilight Derby (Nov. 4). (Due to a shortened season last year, all six of these races were run at Del Mar, which hosted the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships).
One additional change is the return on Oct. 6 of the Grade II, $200,000 City of Hope Mile, which was most recently run here in 2016.
Santa Anita’s complete 2018 Autumn Meet stakes schedule is now available at http://www.santaanita.com/stakes-schedule/. For additional information, please call the Santa Anita Racing Office at (626) 574-6417.

About Us
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.