Breeders' Cup News

December 21, 2009

SANTA ANITA TO OPEN EARLY ON DEC. 26, GATE 8 TO BE OPEN TO RACETRACK TRAFFIC ONLY

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 21, 2009)—Santa Anita Park, which will open for its 75th anniversary season on Dec. 26, will have an early first post time on opening day of 11:30 a.m., and will open its parking lots to the general public at 9 a.m.

Admission gates will open at 9:30 a.m. and Gate 8, which adjoins the Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Mall on Santa Anita’s southwest end, will be restricted to racetrack traffic only, with mall access available via Baldwin Ave. through mall gates south of Santa Anita Park.

December 17, 2009

SANTA ANITA SET FOR 75TH ANNIVERSARY OPENER DEC. 26; ZENYATTA, JOHN HENRY HONORED, POST TIME 11:30 A.M.

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 17, 2009)—Santa Anita Park, which opened on Dec. 25, 1934, will celebrate its 75th anniversary season beginning with opening day, Saturday, Dec. 26, with a special early first post time of 11:30 a.m.

All fans attending will receive Santa Anita’s traditional wall calendar, free of charge with paid admission. This year’s calendar chronicles many of the unforgettable moments in the 75-year history of the Great Race Place.

December 9, 2009

SANTA ANITA GEORGE WOOLF FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 9, 2009)—Santa Anita Park announced Wednesday a list of five finalists for the 61st annual Santa Anita George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, with the winner to be announced in January. Calvin Borel, Garrett Gomez, Randall Meier, Gallyn Mitchell and DeShawn Parker will face an electorate comprised of their peers and one of the five will be selected the recipient of the highly coveted 2010 Woolf Award.

The Woolf Award has been presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious honors in all of racing. It honors and recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. The winner’s trophy is a replica of the life-size statue of George Woolf, which adorns Santa Anita’s Paddock Gardens area.

December 8, 2009

SANTA ANITA ADDS “WINVIVOR” TO ON-LINE MENU, TO JOIN POPULAR “SHOWVIVOR” CONTEST JAN. 1

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 8, 2009)—Santa Anita Park has announced the addition of a new on-line handicapping contest, “Winvivor,” beginning Jan. 1. This contest will complement the popular “Showvivor,” which has been offered to Santa Anita fans free of charge, for the past two years. “Showvivor has been very popular with our fans and we feel that Winvivor could be a big hit as well,” said Santa Anita Vice President of Marketing, Allen Gutterman. “By virtue of the fact that you’ll have to pick a winner each day instead of a horse that finishes first, second or third, it’s obviously going to be tougher for people to stay ‘alive’ with Winvivor, but we think it has the potential to create some added interest, which is always good.”

December 4, 2009

SANTA ANITA TO UNVEIL STATUE OF LEGENDARY JOHN HENRY, ICONIC GELDING TO JOIN SEABISCUIT IN PADDOCK GARDENS AREA

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 4, 2009)—Santa Anita Park announced on Friday that the legendary Hall of Fame gelding, John Henry, will be immortalized for generations of racegoers to come as a life-sized bronze statue of him will be unveiled by his long-time Hall of Fame trainer, Ron McAnally, in Santa Anita’s picturesque Paddock Gardens on opening day, Saturday, Dec. 26, of Santa Anita’s winter/spring meet. The unveiling will coincide with and complement Santa Anita’s 75th anniversary celebration.

Sculpted by Nina Kaiser, the statue stands at John Henry’s height, 15.2 hands, and weighs roughly the same as “John” did, 1,000 lbs. Commissioned by Santa Anita and Oak Tree, Kaiser worked on the project for more than two years.

December 2, 2009

ZENYATTA TO PARADE AT SANTA ANITA DECEMBER 26, WILL REVISIT SIGHT OF HER GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 2, 2009)—The undefeated superstar mare Zenyatta, who was retired following her brilliant last-to-first victory versus males in the Gr. I, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 7, will make her final race-day appearance at Santa Anita on opening day, Dec. 26, prior to shipping to Kentucky to begin her new career as one of the world’s most highly sought broodmares.

All fans in attendance will receive a beautiful full-color poster of Zenyatta, courtesy of HRTV and will be treated to a winner’s circle ceremony honoring the great mare, which will be emceed by HRTV’s Kurt Hoover.

November 24, 2009

OAK TREE HONORS ZENYATTA WITH GRADE I RACE, SUPERSTAR MARE INHERITS LADY’S SECRET MANTEL

ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 24, 2009)—In the wake of what many consider to be the most dramatic performance in Breeders’ Cup history, the Oak Tree Racing Association has announced that the undefeated superstar mare Zenyatta, a devastating last-to-first winner of the Grade I, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Oak Tree on Nov. 7, will be honored by having the name of the race she won in both 2008 and 2009, the Grade I Lady’s Secret, renamed The Zenyatta, effective next year.

November 16, 2009

HALL OF FAME SUPERSTAR TRAINER BOBBY FRANKEL DIES

ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 16, 2009) – Hall of fame trainer Bobby Frankel, Santa Anita’s all-time leader by number of wins and a dominant force in American racing since the 1970’s, died early Monday at the age of 68, after waging a lengthy and very private battle with lymphoma.

Frankel, who was born July 9, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York, passed away at his home in Pacific Palisades Monday morning at 3 a.m.

Frankel began his career as a hotwalker on the backstretches of Belmont Park and Aqueduct in the mid ‘60s and took out his first trainer’s license in New York in 1966. He shifted his base of operation to Southern California full-time in 1972 and quickly established an all-time single meet win record at Hollywood Park of 60 victories – it would be the first of 30 Southern California training titles.

November 13, 2009

SUNSHINE MILLIONS AT SANTA ANITA, GULFSTREAM; $500,000 CLASSIC TOPS POPULAR STATE BRED DAY JAN. 30

ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2009)—The popular Sunshine Millions, which was designed to match the best California-bred horses versus the best bred Thoroughbreds from Florida, will return to both Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Jan. 30, with $1.8 million in purses at stake.

Inaugurated in 2003, the Sunshine Millions program has become a popular fixture on both the Southern California and Florida racing calendars, appealing to fans and horsemen alike.