A total of 43 graded events, 18 at Grade I level including the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 1 and 2, comprise the stakes schedule for the Santa Anita fall meet Sept. 27 through Nov. 3.
For the first time, a pair of Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifiers join the traditional opening-day feature, the $200,000 GII Eddie D. S. The $300,000 GI American Pharoah S. for 2-year-old males and its female counterpart, the $300,000 GI Chandelier S., have been moved up to anchor the opening-day program.
“We're excited to get the meet started with these two outstanding Grade I races on opening day,” said Santa Anita Vice President, Racing and Racing Secretary Steve Lym. “It will get the ball rolling in a big way. In addition, the Eddie D. has been upgraded to a Grade II and we've also doubled the purse on it, so we're expecting an outstanding field at five furlongs on turf, which will serve as prep for many horsemen who are hoping to run under the same conditions in the [GI] Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 2.”
Opening weekend will feature an additional five stakes, including the $300,000 GI Rodeo Drive S. (FM Turf) and the $300,000 GI Awesome Again S. (Classic) Sept. 28 followed by the GI Zenyatta S. (Distaff) Sept. 29. Each race offers a berth in their respective Breeders' Cup field.
The sixth and final Breeders' Cup Challenge race, the $300,000 GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship, is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Lym also announced that the downhill turf course will be out of service for the fall meet, with a discussion to take place prior to the 2019-2020 Winter Meeting about its future disposition. The GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint will be contested over five furlongs, but the track will stage a limited number of turf sprints going 5 1/2 furlongs, with a start on the main track.
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