Nate NEwby | Horse Racing Free Tips

Santa Anita Cancels Friday Program Due To Heavy Rain Forecast

With strong rains predicted to hit Southern California over the next several days, Santa Anita Park has made the decision to proactively cancel its Friday program, effective Tuesday morning. Friday's entries were originally scheduled to close this past Sunday, but track management opted to wait until Tuesday in order to better evaluate the weather forecast.

In addition to Friday's cancellation, given the amount of rain predicted over the next few days, two turf stakes, the Grade 2 San Marcos on Saturday and the $75,000 Baffle on Sunday, will now be shifted to next week. The 6 ½ furlong Baffle will be run on Friday, Feb. 5, and the mile and one quarter San Marcos is now set for Saturday, Feb. 6.

“The models are showing us three straight days of rain, with the heaviest hitting around noon on Friday,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We've discussed it with our stakeholders and cancelling Friday in advance provides horsemen, fans and employees the best scenario to plan accordingly.”

Santa Anita will schedule extra races throughout the next racing week to make up for those that were originally scheduled for this Friday.

With entries scheduled to be taken Wednesday, Jan. 27, racing will resume at Santa Anita this Saturday, Jan. 30. A pair of important main track stakes, the Grade 3, $100,000 Robert B. Lewis, a key prep to the Santa Anita Derby and the Grade 2, $200,000 San Pasqual, an iconic precursor to the Santa Anita Handicap, will highlight Saturday's racing.

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$23 Million In Opening Day Wagers Sets New Record For Santa Anita

With an 11-race card that included six stakes, all run in idyllic weather conditions, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., set an all-time opening day record pari-mutuel handle of $23,003,159 on Saturday, eclipsing the previous opening day benchmark of $20,491,016, which was established over 11 races run on Dec. 26, 2018.

Aside from essential licensed personnel, which includes owners, Santa Anita remains closed to the public and thus almost all of its total handle on Saturday was wagered via ADW platforms and a smattering of brick and mortar satellite locations that have remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Santa Anita, which opened on Dec. 25, 1934, and was closed for three years during World War II, staged its 84th opener on Saturday, with first post time at 11 a.m.

“We want to thank our fans, owners, trainers, jockeys and other stakeholders for supporting our racing program and contributing to a strong opening day,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior vice president and general manager. “This has been a difficult year for a lot of people and we are happy to be able to provide world-class racing for those watching and playing the races from home.

“We can't wait to welcome our fans and our employees back to The Great Race Place when protocols allow everyone to enjoy our tremendous sport in person. In the meantime, we are thankful to be able to operate as we are currently.”

With five graded stakes, three of them of the Grade 1 variety, the highlight of the opening day program came in the Grade 1, $300,000 Runhappy Malibu, as Bob Baffert-trained Charlatan powered to a tremendous 4 ½ length win under Mike Smith and thus thrust himself into a potential role of Horse of the Year candidate in the approaching new year.

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Record Opening Day Handle at Santa Anita

A total of $23,003,159 was wagered on the stakes-packed, 11-race program Saturday at Santa Anita, surpassing the previous record of $20.4 million for the same number of races Dec. 26, 2018, a Wednesday. With the exception of essential licensed personnel, which includes horse owners, the track remains closed to the public.

“We want to thank our fans, owners, trainers, jockeys and other stakeholders for supporting our racing program and contributing to a strong opening day,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “This has been a difficult year for a lot of people and we are happy to be able to provide world class racing for those watching and playing the races from home.

“We can’t wait to welcome our fans and our employees back to The Great Race Place when protocols allow everyone to enjoy our tremendous sport in person. In the meantime, we are thankful to be able to operate as we are currently.”

The post Record Opening Day Handle at Santa Anita appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Nate Newby: ‘A Better Day-To-Day Product’ Is Key To Santa Anita’s Success

Santa Anita's new general manager Nate Newby spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week about his vision for the Arcadia, Calif. track. The long-time racing executive has been with Santa Anita for approximately 20 years, and is committed to improving the Southern California racing product.

A regular at handicapping tournaments over the years, Newby plans to use the handle and field size statistics to measure success in this new role. The track's groundbreaking safety initiatives will continue to be a primary focus, as well.

“Southern California and Santa Anita have over the years been the gold standard of racing,” Newby told latimes.com. “We have the quality, we have the best horses in the world and that shows in the premier events — the Triple Crown races and Breeders' Cup. Putting on a better day-to-day product for our horse players is key. My top priorities, 1 and 1a, are continuing our safety initiatives, making sure we're safe for both horses and riders.”