Santa Anita Dirt Track Needs Work

Santa Anita’s dirt racetrack will be undergoing renovation in the coming months to bring it back to the combination of sand, silt, and clay initially approved when the new dirt surface was installed late last year.

During an informal California Horse Racing Board hearing at Santa Anita May 17, representatives from the CHRB, Santa Anita, and the California Thoroughbred Trainers agreed that the silt and clay content in the dirt surface is now too high. The mixture should be 87.5% sand, 8% silt, and 4.5% clay. But after a month of racing and following bouts of heavy rain, tests last January showed that the combined silt and clay content rose to 18-19%.