Santa Anita will run 22 stakes during 16-day meet for fall 2026

Santa Anita will offer seven automatic qualifiers for this year’s Breeders’ Cup among the 22 stakes offered during the 2025 autumn meet which begins Sept. 26 and ends the track’s 90th year of operation.

The seven Breeders’ Cup challenge races will be run the first two weeks of the 16-day meet.

The legacy of California owner-breeder John Harris will be honored with the renaming of the Grade 3 John Harris Stakes to be run Sept. 27. Harris, who died July 2, was a stalwart in the state for decades, serving on the boards of California and national racing organizations and in accepting accolades for his high-quality runners. The Harris Stakes will be for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside turf course. It was known as the Unzip Me Stakes in honor of the 10-time stakes winner of $959,228 who was co-owned and bred by Harris in partnership. 

“John Harris has been synonymous with California racing,” said Nate Newby, senior vice president and general manager of Santa Anita. “It is appropriate to honor him with a stakes race in appreciation of all he has done for our sport in the state. We will miss seeing John in the Santa Anita winner’s circle, but the impact of his stewardship will long be remembered.”

The name Goodwood will be restored to the 2025 running of the autumn meet’s top race for older horses. The 1 1/8-mile Goodwood Stakes (G1) on Sept. 27 is a win-and-you’re-in race for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Oak Tree Racing Association founded the race in 1982 through its partnership with Goodwood Racecourse in England and it ran with that name for 30 years, producing multiple champions including Breeders’ Cup Classic winners Tiznow and Ferdinand. The Goodwood offers a purse of $300,000, which equals that offered for 10 of the last 11 runnings of the race. As the California Crown last year, it was worth $1 million.

Opening Saturday also will feature an additional Breeders’ Cup challenge stakes with the City of Hope Mile (G2) on the grass.  A pair of Grade 2 races on the turf, the 1 1/4-mile John Henry Turf Championship (G2) and the 6 1/2-furlong Eddie D. Stakes (G2), will be joined by the newly named John Harris Stakes to complete the quintet of Sept. 27 stakes.

Sept. 28, will be headlined by another pair of Breeders’ Cup challenge stakes, including the Zenyatta Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on dirt and the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2). Straight No Chaser, who won last year’s Santa Anita Sprint Championship, went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and the Eclipse Award for his division.

Key steppingstones to the Nov. 1 & 2 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar also will be the focus of the second week of the Santa Anita autumn meet. Oct. 4 will offer three Breeders’ Cup qualifiers among the five stakes scheduled that day. The 2-year-olds get their chances at win-and-you’re-ins with the American Pharoah (G1) for the males and the Oak Leaf (G2) for the fillies.  Each race is at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. Citizen Bull won last year’s American Pharoah before winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and being named champion 2-year-old male.

The Rodeo Drive Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares going 1 1/4 miles on the turf provides another win-and-you’re-in opportunity awarding the winner an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The Chillingworth (G3) for fillies and mares and the Speakeasy for 2-year-old turf sprinters complete the five stakes to be offered Oct. 4.

Santa Anita will host a pair of Grade 3s at one mile on turf for 2-year-olds Oct. 5. They are the Zuma Beach (G3) for the males and the Surfer Girl (G3) for fillies. Both are preps for their divisions’ Breeders’ Cup races on the turf. 

The five-week season will wrap up with a pair of graded stakes which anchor the closing weekend. They are the Twilight Derby (G2) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Oct. 25 and the Autumn Miss (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf on Oct. 26.

Overnight purses for the autumn meet will see an increase averaging 10% percent over the 2024 season. This marks the third consecutive Santa Anita Park meet with a purse increase as the sport continues to evolve since the shutdown of Northern California racing after last fall.