Santa Anita opening day gets pushed to Sunday

Holiday storm delays ‘extended Christmas,’ but there are plenty of storylines to follow.

- By Jay Posner

GENARO MOLINA

Los Angeles Times y JOCKEY Juan Hernandez rides Carmelita's Man to victory during opening day at Santa Anita Park in 2021.

Los Angeles native Aron Wellman has been to Santa Anita Park enough times to know opening day is different.

“It’s sort of an extended Christmas gift or bonus,” said Wellman, who founded and runs Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which owns Santa Anita Derby and Preakness winner Journalism, among dozens of other horses. “You know, as an owner, as a fan, a handicapper, a gambler, I think the quality of the competition, the big races, the big fields, the prestige and just sort of the electric buzz surrounding the day.

“The opening-day card is annually one of the best days on the racing calendar.”

That date is traditionally the day after Christmas, but for the second time in seven years, the forecast of heavy rain caused Santa Anita officials to postpone “extended Christmas” by two days.

The revised opening-week schedule for Santa Anita’s “Classic Meet” will feature racing Sunday and Monday, a day off Tuesday and full cards Wednesday through Jan. 4, The regular three-day racing weeks begin Jan. 9 and continue through April 5, with racing every Friday through Sunday plus holiday cards on Jan. 19 and Feb. 16.

Unfortunately for those involved in the sport, not every day can be opening day and the “fun factor drops off in a hurry,” as handicapper, owner and “Thoroughbred Los Angeles” radio co-host Jon Lindo put it. Familiar issues include the declining horse population, bettors turned off by computer-assisted wagering, no ancillary revenue from other sources (like slot-machine imitator Historical Horse Racing) to boost purses and a shortage of recognizable equine and human stars.

Here are some storylines to follow over the next several months:

Big races with big stakes on big days