Santa Anita Park has canceled live racing Jan. 4 as the final round of strong storms pushes out of Southern California. The storm has dropped more than 10 inches of rain on the Arcadia, Calif., track since an atmospheric river began pummeling the West Coast Dec. 23.
"The weather is set to improve significantly by Monday, and we don't have any rain in sight for the next 10 days or so," Santa Anita Park general manager Nate Newby said. "We are grateful for the support of our stakeholders these last two weeks. It hasn't been easy, but the safety of the horses will always come first. We're looking forward to building on the strong momentum from our first few days and getting back to business."
Racing returns to Santa Anita Jan. 8, which is the first of two announced makeup days due to the rain cancellations. First post time Thursday will be 12 noon PT and will feature two turf stakes races. The track has also added Jan. 15 to the racing schedule.
The storm initially led to the delay of Santa Anita's Classic Meet from its traditional Dec. 26 date to Dec. 28. The weather then forced cancellations of Santa Anita's Dec. 31, Jan. 1, and Jan. 3 cards. The track held all eight of its scheduled races Jan. 2. California tracks operate under a strict inclement-weather policy that often results in cancellations during wet conditions.
The Santa Ynez Stakes, a race offering qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs that was canceled Saturday, will be held Jan. 10. The Las Flores Stakes (G3), which had been carded Sunday, will be held Jan. 11.
SYNTHETIC TRAINING TRACK PROVING VALUE AMID RAINSTORMS
The all-weather, synthetic training track Santa Anita installed last March has proven its worth during a rainy start to the 2025-26 racing season. On the all-weather training track, which is made of Tapeta Footings and was installed at a cost of approximately $8 million, training has gone on largely uninterrupted.
On Saturday, 69 horses were able to register high-velocity workouts on the training track despite the wet conditions. Among that group were all three of trainer Phil D'Amato's stakes runners that are entered to run Thursday in either the Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) or Eddie Logan Stakes.
"It's of the utmost importance," D'Amato said of having a synthetic training track. "Given California's rules and regulations, I don't think we could do without it. They did a great job of ironing it out and getting it to where it needs to be. It's a huge asset for California racing."
On Sunday, despite the main track again being closed, multiple horses that are entered in next weekend's stakes races were able to record timed workouts. Explora, the expected favorite in the Santa Ynez Stakes worked 5 furlongs on the training track in 1:00 for trainer Bob Baffert. Also working for Baffert were Beutane, Desert Gate, and Greenwich Village, who are all nominated to Saturday's San Vicente Stakes (G2); and Himika, who is expected to run in the Las Flores.
Other notables working on the training track Sunday included Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Super Corredora for trainer John Sadler. Super Corredora worked 5 furlongs in :59 4/5 as she targets the Las Virgenes Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies going a mile Feb. 1.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
