With Daylight Savings Time now upon us, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., is adjusting its post time from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. beginning this Friday, March 19. This Saturday is the first day of spring and just two weeks hence, Saturday, April 3, the best 3-year-olds in the West will line up for the 84th running of the Santa Anita Derby, a race that has produced 18 Kentucky Derby winners and a pair of Triple Crown Champions.
“We’ve got a lot more daylight with time change and by starting 30 minutes later each day, we’re also in a better position on the back end of our cards in terms of competition from eastern simulcast signals,” said Chris Merz, Santa Anita’s director of racing and racing secretary. “For the most part, we’ve usually got beautiful weather this time of the year and this helps us to take advantage of that as well.”
In addition to a shift in post time, Merz also advises that the track will be running on Saturdays and Sundays for two weeks following the Santa Anita Derby.
“We’re going to be freshening the turf course and this is part of our planned maintenance schedule,” said Merz. “For those two weekends, turf racing will be limited. On April 10 and 11, we’ll be carding main track races only and on the 17th and 18th, we’ll run a maximum of two turf races per day.
“This is the perfect time of the year, with all the additional sunshine, to give the course a break and let it rejuvenate. We’ll come back with a comprehensive turf and main track schedule and return to our regular Friday through Sunday racing weeks beginning April 23 through closing day, June 20.”
With the turf course unavailable on April 10, the $75,000 Mizdirection Stakes, for older fillies and mares at six furlongs on turf, will now be run the following week, on Saturday, April 17.
Racing resumes with an eight-race card on Friday. For additional information on live racing, please visit santaanita.com.
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