If race horse "California Chrome" wins the Belmont Stakes tomorrow to complete a Triple Crown sweep, then this could help the racing industry. The industry will try to turn attention attracted by the first Triple Crown in 36 years into a revival of the sport's popularity. Santa Anita Park executives hope a crowd of 30,000 will show up Saturday to watch the Belmont on TV screen. Betting at Santa Anita Park has declined 40% between 2002 and 2011 before ticking up the last two years.
Santa Anita meet opens: no fans but record betting. Santa Anita park began its 84th winter-spring meet yesterday with no audience, but had a record-breaking opening day in betting handle, as $23,003,159 was wagered on the 11-race card. The old record of $20,491,016 was set in 2018. First-year General Manager Nate Newby hopes fans will be allowed back soon. Until such time only essential personnel and horses' owners are allowed to attend races.
Santa Anita Park cancels Friday racing due to recent storms. Friday's card will be redrawn Saturday and held February 15. Santa Anita Park V.P. and General Manager Nate Newby said more than 10 inches of rain fell in Arcadia since Sunday afternoon.
Santa Anita Park officials hail dramatic drop in horse fatalities. Officials called the safety record a 62.5% improvement over the previous year and 74% improvement since spring of 2019, when 42 horses died, sparking debate about safety issues at the track and about horse racing in general.
Santa Anita Park ready to open 84th winter-spring meet with new turf course. The new turf chute will accommodate sprints up to 6 1/2 furlongs. Nate Newby is the new General Manager, who began as an intern in 2002. COVID-19 repercussions make it difficult to run the track but there have been no fatalities over Santa Anita's main track during afternoon racing in 2020, following a disastrous 2019, when 37 horses had to be euthanized.