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Santa Anita tweaks stakes schedule Santa Anita unveiled the stakes schedule for its winter-spring meet on Friday, two days after announcing the retooled Sunshine Millions program. Led by the Grade 1, $300,000 Malibu Stakes on opening day, December 26, the schedule features nine Grade 1 events over the course of its 79-day meet which will conclude April 22. The seven-furlong Malibu will be one of four stakes offered on opening day, joined by the Grade 2, $150,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes, the $100,000 California Breeders Champion Stakes and the $100,000 California Breeders Champion Stakes for fillies. The Malibu's companion race for three-year-old fillies, the Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes, has shifted from opening day to December 31. It no longer serves as the opening leg of a three-race La Canada series, for the middle leg, the Grade 2 El Encino, is conspicuously absent from the schedule. The Grade 2 La Canada, a 1 1/16-mile test for newly-turned four-year-old fillies, has accordingly moved up to January 22. The stakes for sophomore fillies of 2012 have also been shuffled. The Grade 1, $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks has been delayed to March 31, prompting shake-ups in its preps. The Grade 2 Santa Ynez has been shortened from seven to 6 1/2 furlongs on January 15, the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel has been shifted to January 28, and the Grade 1 Las Virgenes has been pushed back a month to March 3. The Santa Ysabel is part of the revamped Sunshine Millions Day, along with the Grade 1 Santa Monica Stakes and three $100,000 California-bred stakes. The Crystal Water for older horses at 1 1/16 miles, the Sensational Star for older horses at 6 1/2 furlongs down Santa Anita's hillside turf course and the Valentine Dancer for older fillies and mares at one mile on turf, will complete the stakes lineup on a card that will offer more than $1 million in purse money. As usual, the meet is punctuated by its signature Grade 1 contests -- the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 3 and the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby over 1 1/8 miles on April 7. The distance of an important prep for the Santa Anita Derby, the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes, has been trimmed. Run in 2011 at 1 1/16 miles, the Sham will now be run at one mile on January 7. A chain-reaction of changes involves the turf division. With the Grade 2 San Luis Obispo off the program, the graded races that had preceded it have now been pushed back several weeks from their typical dates. The Grade 2, $150,000 San Gabriel, once a late December staple, will be run on January 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Grade 2, $150,000 San Marcos gives up that spot on the calendar for its new date, February 11. The Grade 2, $150,000 Arcadia for turf milers will be held about two months earlier, on February 4. It therefore replaces the Grade 3 Thunder Road as the principal course-and-distance prep for the Grade 1, $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on Big 'Cap Day, March 3. Santa Anita's traditional closing day feature, the iconic Grade 2, $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap for older horses at 1 3.4 miles on turf will be carded as the meet's final race on April 22. Santa Anita Vice President of Racing Rick Hammerle commented on the new schedule. "We've made several adjustments to our schedule and we feel this line-up is going to be very appealing to our horsemen," Hammerle said. "We moved the La Brea from opening day to December 31 and we added a couple of $200,000 California-bred stakes on March 31, the Echo Eddie for three-year-olds and the Evening Jewel for three-year-old fillies. "Beyond our stakes schedule, we hope to be able to provide plenty of opportunities for three-year-olds to break their maidens and to eventually be considered stakes-caliber horses. We're optimistic that we're going to have a good meet."
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