Santa Anita Reschedules Races, Set for Five-Day Weekend

Santa Anita Park, which canceled racing this weekend due to the Los Angeles County fires, will host five straight days of live racing starting Jan. 16 and ending with a special Martin Luther King Jr. holiday program Jan. 20. Highlighting the week ahead is California Cup Day Jan. 18, which features many of the best horses bred or sired in California. California Cup Day will have five stakes for statebreds worth $775,000 in total prize money. They are the $175,000 California Chrome California Cup Derby, $175,000 Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks, $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic, $125,000 Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint, and $125,000 Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint on the hillside turf course. All the racing action at Santa Anita starts on Thursday with a 10-race card beginning at 12 p.m. PT. That program was originally scheduled to be held this past Friday. Then the following day on Friday, Santa Anita will host an eight-race program with first post at 12:30 p.m. On California Cup Day, in addition to top stakes action racegoers can also enjoy Santa Anita's popular Burgers & Brews festival. Burgers & Brews features an assortment of gourmet burgers from some of the best vendors in Los Angeles. Ticket packages for Burgers & Brews start at just $19 when purchased online at Santaanita.com.