When condition book three for the Santa Anita winter/spring meet came online Jan. 29, conspicuously absent were any races for Thursday, Feb. 6. Track officials confirmed Friday that racing has in fact been canceled for that afternoon, meaning there will be no live Thursday programs until Feb. 27. In January it was announced that the track would be dark Feb. 13 and 20. There is holiday racing scheduled for Monday, Feb. 17.
The California horse population has been on the decline for some time and the local product has faced increased competition from tracks like Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs and Churchill Downs in Louisville, which offer purse money well in excess of that in California. According to Daily Racing Form, the average number of starters per race through the first 17 days and 148 races of the meet is 7.56 versus an average of 7.72 in 2018-2019, when 197 races had been run over the course of 21 days.
Aidan Butler, The Stronach Group (TSG)'s chief strategy officer, downplayed the significance of the move.
“It's only a day we're taking off–it's not an elaborate change,” he told the TDN's Dan Ross. “We have a bunch of flex days we can use, and looking at the inventory, at this moment in time it seems better to tighten it up a little bit and have better days and fuller fields than spread it out. It's all about product quality at the end of the day.”
When asked whether the reduction of a day alone would be enough to boost field sizes, Butler said that “it'll help.”
“It's a baby step but it's a smart step,” he added. “We're looking at what races are filling. There are lots of opportunities between grass and turf, and at certain times of the year, you have more of some than others. You also have to give everyone a shot to run. That's the aim of the game.”
In 2019, Santa Anita officials agreed to shave 12 days off its 104-day schedule. The cancellations of Feb. 6 and 13 will bring the total to four, DRF reports.
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