SANTA ANITA AUTUMN STAKES SCHEDULE UNVEILED IN ADVANCE OF SEPT. 27 OPENER

By Mike Willman —-

SANTA ANITA AUTUMN STAKES SCHEDULE UNVEILED IN ADVANCE OF SEPT. 27 OPENER; A TOTAL OF 43 STAKES, INCLUDING 14 BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS NOV. 1 & 2, TO BE OFFERED OVER 23-DAY MEETING

ARCADIA, Calif. (Aug. 8, 2019)—With opening day set for Friday, Sept. 27 and the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships returning for a record 10th time on Nov. 1 & 2, Santa Anita’s 23-day Autumn Meet, which will conclude on Nov. 3, will offer fans and horsemen a full complement of world class racing highlighted by a total of 43 graded stakes—18 of which are Grade I events.

For the first time ever, a total of three graded stakes, two of them Grade I Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” qualifying events, will be carded on opening day. In addition to the traditional meet opener, the Grade II, $200,000 Eddie D. Stakes, the Grade I, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes, for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the Grade I, $300,000 Chandelier Stakes, for 2-year-old fillies at the same distance, will no doubt help to make Santa Anita the focus of the racing world on Sept. 27.

“We’re excited to get the meet started with these two outstanding Grade I races on opening day,” said Santa Anita Vice President, Racing and Racing Secretary Steve Lym. “It will get the ball rolling in a big way. In addition, the Eddie D. has been upgraded to a Grade II and we’ve also doubled the purse on it, so we’re expecting an outstanding field at five furlongs on turf, which will serve as prep for many horsemen who are hoping to run under the same conditions in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2.

“The American Pharoah and the Chandelier are both traditional preps for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and we’re confident both of these races will attract big, competitive fields that our fans across the country will enjoy playing.”

(Lym also noted that while there will be no downhill turf sprints at 6 ½ furlongs, Santa Anita will for the first time, offer a limited number of 5 ½ furlong turf sprints, with the starting gate set on the main track. The utilization of the downhill course will be revisited in advance of the 2019-20 Winter Meeting).

Santa Anita will present five stakes on opening weekend, Sept. 28 & 29 and three of them, the Grade I, $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes and the Grade I, $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes on Sept. 28, and the Grade II, $200,000 Zenyatta Stakes on Sept. 29, will serve as Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” qualifiers.

Additionally, the Grade II, $200,000 John Henry Turf Championship, for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one quarter, and the $75,000 Unzip Me Stakes, for 3-year-old fillies at 5 ½ furlongs on turf, will also be run on Sept. 28, making day two a thoroughly compelling afternoon.

Santa Anita’s final 2019 Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” qualifier, the Grade I, $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, will be run on Saturday, Oct. 5.

In conjunction with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Santa Anita will again offer a pair of $200,000 stakes for horses bred or sired in California—the Golden State Juvenile and the Golden State Juvenile Fillies, both at seven furlongs on Friday, Nov. 1.

Santa Anita’s complete 2019 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) 574-6352.

ABOUT SANTA ANITA PARK
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.
ABOUT THE STRONACH GROUP

The Stronach Group (TSG) is a world-class entertainment and real estate development company with Thoroughbred horse racing at the core. The company’s mission is executed through the distinct but interconnected pillars of Racing and Gaming, Entertainment, Technology and Real Estate Development. TSG is dedicated to delivering the best in class Thoroughbred horse racing content and operations. The company holds some of the greatest brands in the industry including, Southern California’s Santa Anita Park, “The Great Race Place”; South Florida’s Gulfstream Park, home to the $16 million Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series and retail destination, The Village at Gulfstream Park; Pimlico Race Course, home of the legendary Preakness Stakes, Laurel Park and Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland; Oregon’s Portland Meadows; and the San Francisco Bay Area’s, Golden Gate Fields. TSG is a leader in digital and mobile wagering technology through its subsidiaries AmTote and Xpressbet and is a major distributor of horse racing content to a global audience through Monarch Content Management. The award winning Adena Springs is the breeding and training facility of The Stronach Group with stables in Kentucky, Florida and Ontario.