Santa Anita Park will return to a four-day race week beginning March 31, and will operate on a Thursday through Sunday schedule for the remainder of its winter/spring meeting which concludes April 17.
“Our horse inventory here in Southern California is well below what it has been in recent years,” said Santa Anita president George Haines in a release. “Accordingly, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to return to a four-day week for the rest of the meet. We want to ensure we’re offering our fans a quality product and at this time, this is the best way to meet that objective.
“We’re very confident that by running four days a week, we can offer the horsemen plenty of opportunities to run and offer our fans fuller fields which provide more betting opportunities.”
Haines also noted that Santa Anita’s “Free Fridays” promotion will remain in effect for the rest of the meet.
“We expect that our ‘Free Fridays’ will gather momentum and be strong for us as we look forward to the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (gr. I),” said Haines.
First post time on all weekdays will be at 1 p.m. and weekend post time will be 12:30 p.m., with the exception of Santa Anita Derby Day April 9, when first post will be at 12 p.m.
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