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Santa Anita opens its 16-day autumn conscionable Friday with a spectacular play of racing that includes 14 stakes races, 10 of them graded and 3 of them Grade I’s.
We talked with Santa Anita wide manager Nate Newby this week, quizzing astir the conscionable and what absorption expects the adjacent 5 weeks:
Q: Will the aforesaid COVID-19 protocols that were successful spot erstwhile Santa Anita completed its past conscionable connected June 20 beryllium successful spot for opening weekend?
Newby: They’re precise similar. They (health department) look to update the rules rather a spot truthful it’s benignant of ever-changing guidelines, but we’re starting retired with the existent guidelines are masks required indoors (except erstwhile eating oregon drinking), but not outside. It’s specified a large installation we deliberation it’s precise safe. We’ve got radical dispersed out, and it’s specified a large gathering that I deliberation it’s a harmless spot to come. There are immoderate caller guidelines that volition instrumentality spot opening Oct. 7 and we’ve heard that determination whitethorn beryllium much coming soon aft that truthful we’ll conscionable support watching the concern and adjust. We’ll conscionable bash arsenic we’ve been doing and set arsenic needed and travel immoderate they archer us.
Q: What are you expecting this meet, with the Breeders’ Cup conscionable 1 period away?
Newby: We’ll commencement beardown (and past taper off), but we’re optimistic. Del Mar evidently had a coagulated meet. We’ve raised purses again for this meet. It’s our 3rd consecutive conscionable of purse increases and we’ve already announced it for the winter-spring (meet). We’ve got immoderate caller faces with our equine recruitment programme with (trainers) Mark Casse, Michael Maker and Steve Asmussen having brought immoderate horses in. I deliberation it’s going to beryllium a beardown conscionable and let’s support the momentum going successful California. We’re truly moving unneurotic (with Del Mar) to marque it arsenic compelling arsenic imaginable for barns to travel retired to California. Del Mar’s had a batch of occurrence with that and we’re gathering connected what they did. (Santa Anita’s) a bully spot to get acceptable for the Breeders’ Cup, and past hopefully we tin support them successful the wintertime and outpouring arsenic well.
Q: The fashionable downhill turf sprints volition resume astatine Santa Anita for the archetypal clip since March 2019 with the moving of Friday’s Eddie D. Stakes. There’s besides downhill turf sprints scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. What’s been the absorption from fans to the instrumentality of racing implicit the world’s astir unsocial course?
Newby: We’ve gotten a batch of affirmative feedback. The fans are excited and it volition truly assistance the buzz for opening day. The horsemen are excited truthful we’re looking guardant to it. We’re going to tally 4 stakes during the conscionable (down the hill) positive immoderate prime allowance races. We won’t beryllium moving a clump of races down the elevation to commencement with, but it volition beryllium a large lawsuit erstwhile we do.
Q: Some naysayers volition archer you equine racing is simply a dying athletics due to the fact that on-track attendance is not what it erstwhile was owed to off-track betting and online wagering. How bash you consciousness astir that?
Newby: We’ve seen that inclination implicit the years, but surely the pandemic adjacent accelerated wherever we’ve made it precise comfy for radical to play the races from location and a batch of radical are choosing to bash that. It’s large to person them connected track, but we surely admit their enactment erstwhile they’re playing from location arsenic well.
Q: Santa Anita is offering what it calls the “Sports Betting Challenge” these adjacent 5 weeks. What bash funny fans request to bash to get involved?
Newby: Every Saturday and Sunday we’re going to bash a contention either online oregon connected track. If you travel connected track, you tin get a bonus introduction and play online arsenic well. You tin participate astatine santaanita.com. It’s $1,000 prize wealth each day, escaped to enter, and you’re picking a operation of immoderate of our races and prop bets connected the large sports. So it’s benignant of a amusive mode to harvester them, and evidently we cognize that sports wagering could beryllium connected the skyline truthful it’s a bully accidental to seizure fans connected some sides.
Q: Finally, the Breeders’ Cup is scheduled for Del Mar (Nov. 5-6) this twelvemonth and Keeneland successful 2022. Is Santa Anita a imaginable big tract for 2023?
Newby: There’s thing authoritative to announce, but we emotion hosting the Breeders’ Cup and determination are discussions truthful I deliberation you’ll spot it astatine Santa Anita (again) sooner alternatively than later.
SANTA ANITA RACING
A look astatine the track’s 16-day autumn conscionable that begins Friday and runs done Oct. 31:
Racing days: Santa Anita volition tally Fridays done Sundays, with the objection of peculiar vacation racing Monday, Oct. 11.
First post: 1 p.m. daily, with the objection of Saturday’s 11-race paper that volition statesman astatine 12:30 p.m.
Major races: There are 3 $300,000 Grade I races this conscionable – Friday’s American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds; Saturday’s Awesome Again Stakes for 3-year-olds and up; the Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares implicit the turf.
Defending champs: Flavien Prat won past year’s jockey rubric with 27 victories and Bob Baffert and Peter Miller shared grooming honors with 11 victories apiece.
More info: santaanita.com
Follow Art Wilson connected Twitter @Sham73
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