Sports
Santa Anita Park Reverts to Four-Day Race Week
First Wednesday race day of current meeting draws poorly, but Santa Anita President George Haines blames declining horse inventory.
Last week there was racing at for the first time this year on a Wednesday, and the announced attendance was a measly 2,187. As they looked across the virtually empty grandstands, a number of Santa Anita employees predicted that would be the last Wednesday racing day of the current meeting that ends April 17.
Turns out those employees were right. It was announced Sunday that the Arcadia racetrack will return to a four-day race week for the remainder of the meet.
Santa Anita was first scheduled to go from a four-day race week to a five-day race week on March 2. But and moved that date to March 23.
Now they've been forced to call another audible. Maybe it was inevitable. Racing fans are generally creatures of habit, and many of them had no doubt become accustomed to a four-day race week – Thursday through Sunday.
But in making the announcement of a return to a four-day race week, the disappointing attendance this past Wednesday was not mentioned.
“Our horse inventory here in Southern California is well below what it has been in recent years,” said Santa Anita President George Haines in a press release. “Accordingly, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to return to a four-day week for the rest of the meet. We want to ensure that we’re offering our fans a quality product and at this time, this is the best way to meet that objective.
“We’re very confident that by running four days a week, we can offer the horseman plenty of opportunities to run and offer our fans fuller fields which provide more betting opportunities.”
Haines also noted that Santa Anita’s “Free Fridays” promotion will remain in effect for the rest of the meet.
“We expect that our ‘Free Fridays’ will gather momentum and be strong for us as we look forward to the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (on April 9),” said Haines.
First post time on all weekdays remains at 1 p.m. and weekend post time remains at 12:30 p.m., with the exception of Santa Anita Derby Day, when first post will be at noon.
To make dining or seating reservations, or for more racing information, fans are encouraged to visit www.santaanita.com, or to call (626) 574-RACE.