Santa Anita 2025-26 Classic Meet Kicks Off Sunday

By Victor Ryan —-

SANTA ANITA 2025-26 CLASSIC MEET KICKS OFF SUNDAY; BEGINS 48 DAYS OF LIVE THOROUGHBRED ACTION AT THE GREAT RACE PLACE FEATURING TOP HORSES, JOCKEYS AND TRAINERS

First post Sunday is 11 a.m. for a blockbuster 11-race program

ARCADIA, CA (Dec. 24, 2025)—After being postponed from Friday due to this week’s series of rainstorms in the area, the much-anticipated 2025-26 Classic Meet at Santa Anita Park gets underway this Sunday with a blockbuster 11-race program starting at 11 a.m. PT. Opening day will be the first of 48 days of top Thoroughbred racing at The Great Race Place through Sunday, April 5.

As a result of the delayed start to the stand, Santa Anita has added two previously unscheduled days of racing this coming Monday and on New Year’s Eve Wednesday to serve as makeups. First post for both days is 12 p.m. Additionally, on-track fans on those days will be treated to free parking and admission and an “All Day Happy Hour” with 50 percent off select beer, wine and cocktails. Next week’s action will then continue with a New Year’s Day card on Thursday and then every day through Sunday, Jan. 4 as originally scheduled. On New Year’s Day, to help ring in 2026 Santa Anita is offering fans $2 beers, hot dogs and sodas.

Following the reconfigured start to the meet, Santa Anita will settle into a regular Friday through Sunday racing schedule for the remainder of the stand. There will also be additional Holiday racing on Monday, Jan. 19 (Martin Luther King Jr.) and Monday, Feb. 16 (Presidents’ Day).

Once again highlighting the racing action at the Classic Meet will be historic Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday, March 7 and the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, April 4. Last year, Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism went on to win the Preakness Stakes and become the 19th winner of the Santa Anita Derby to also win a Triple Crown race.

The stakes schedule for the first time this season also includes the D. Wayne Lukas Stakes named in honor of the legendary trainer who passed away in June at the age of 89. Previously known as the Santa Monica, the D. Wayne Lukas Stakes will be run on Saturday, Feb. 7. It will joined on the card by the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, which serves as a key steppingstone to 3-year-olds looking to make it into the Santa Anita Derby.

Given its role as one of the top racetracks in the country, Santa Anita has also again attracted many of the country’s top jockeys and trainers to compete at the Classic Meet. On the jockey side, Juan Hernandez will be seeking a fifth consecutive Classic Meet riding title and 10th overall at Santa Anita. A 33-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico, Hernandez enters the Classic Meet with 2,936 U.S. victories and more than $105.9 million in purse earnings.

Looking to upend Hernandez in the jockey’s race this season are the likes of perennial top riders Umberto Rispoli, Antonio Fresu, Hector Berrios and Kazushi Kimura. Fresu, a 34-year-old native of Sardinia, earned his first Santa Anita riding title at this year’s Hollywood Meet in the spring. Rispoli, a 37-year-old Italian, recently won his first riding title in the U.S. at the Del Mar Autumn Meet.

A notable addition to the jockey colony this season is Emisael Jaramillo, who relocated to Santa Anita from south Florida where he was a perennial top rider at Gulfstream Park. Jaramillo, 48, is originally from Venezuela and enters the Classic Meet with 1,882 career wins in North America and more than $60.9 million in purse earnings.

The Classic Meet will also feature a top roster of trainers led by Hall of Fame inductees Bob Baffert and Richard Mandella along with the likes of Phil D’Amato, an eight-time leading trainer at Santa Anita; John Sadler, Doug O’Neill and Michael McCarthy. At the 2024-25 Classic Meet, Glatt won 31 races to lead all trainers for his first Classic Meet title and second overall at Santa Anita.

For tickets and more information on the 2025-26 Santa Anita Classic Meet, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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