Santa Anita's winter stakes schedule set with eight Grade 1s

Santa Anita Park, which will open for its 82nd Winter Meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 26, has announced its Winter Meet Stakes Schedule, which will include a total of 60 added money races, highlighted by 34 graded stakes through Sunday, April 7.

A pair of Grade 1 stakes at seven furlongs, the $300,000 Malibu and the $300,000 La Brea, will headline the opening day program Dec. 26 and be complemented by the Grade 2, $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile on turf and the Grade 2, $300,000 San Antonio Stakes at a mile and one sixteenth.

The Grade 1, $300,000 American Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and one quarter on turf, will serve as Santa Anita’s final top-level offering of the year on Saturday, Dec. 29.

The Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby will be run on Saturday, April 6.  Won by this year’s undefeated Triple Crown hero Justify, the Santa Anita Derby has now produced a total of 18 Kentucky Derby winners.

First run in February, 1935, the Grade 1, $500,000 Santa Anita Handicap, which was won this past March by Horse of the Year candidate and recent $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic champ Accelerate, will be contested for the 82nd time on Saturday, March 9.

Santa Anita’s Winter Meet racing will again be comprised of 60 racing dates, while the track’s total Winter/Spring offering, to run through Sunday, June 23, will offer fans and horsemen 102 combined racing days, dating back to Dec. 26.

SANTA ANITA’S GRADE 1 STAKES ROSTER

Dec. 26: $300,000 Malibu Stakes

Dec. 26: $300,000 La Brea Stakes

Dec. 29: American Oaks (turf)

March 9: Santa Anita Handicap

March 9: Frank E. Kilroe Mile

March 16: Beholder Mile

April 6: Santa Anita Derby

April 6: Santa Anita Oaks  

Go here for a complete roster of Santa Anita’s Winter Meet stakes.