Santa Anita Park has announced name changes for 15 stakes, six of
them Grade 1 events, effective with the opening of the 2012 Autumn Meet on
September 28. The affected stakes had all been identified with the Oak Tree
Racing Association’s meet formerly held at the Arcadia, California, track.
“This has been an important process for all of us involved with live racing
here at Santa Anita,” Rick Hammerle, Santa Anita Vice President of Racing, said.
“We did a lot of research and tried hard to make sure each name had a
tangible meaning, either geographically, historically or culturally. We feel
good about the new names, and we’d like to sincerely thank all of our fans that
participated in the ‘Name That Stakes Contest’ to rename the former Harold C.
Ramser Sr. Stakes. It will now be the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes and will be run
on October 27.
“We’re also excited to be honoring one of the all-time best Cal-breds, with
the Lava Man Cal Cup Classic on October 13.”
A good number of the renamed stakes will serve as preps over the track for
the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which Santa Anita will host on November
2-3. Moreover, the races formerly known as the Goodwood, Lady’s Secret, Yellow
Ribbon, Norfolk, Oak Leaf and Ancient Title are all Breeders’ Cup Challenge
races for their respective divisions.
Here is the list of Autumn Meet Stakes (excluding Breeders’ Cup races), with
their prior names where applicable, and the dates they will be run:
| Name (and Grade) | Former Name | Date | ||
| Eddie D. Stakes (Grade 3) | Morvich | Sept. 28 | ||
| FrontRunner Stakes (Grade 1) | Norfolk | Sept. 29 | ||
| Awesome Again Stakes (Grade 1) | Goodwood | Sept. 29 | ||
| Rodeo Drive Stakes (Grade 1) | Yellow Ribbon | Sept. 29 | ||
| Zenyatta Stakes (Grade 1) | Lady’s Secret | Sept. 29 | ||
| Chandelier Stakes (Grade 1) | Oak Leaf | Sept. 29 | ||
| John Henry Turf Champ. (Grade 2) | Clement Hirsch | Sept. 30 | ||
| Arroyo Seco Mile (Grade 2) | Oak Tree Mile | Oct. 6 | ||
| Santa Anita Sprint Champ. (Grade 1) | Ancient Title | Oct. 6 | ||
| Swingtime Stakes | Same | Oct. 6 | ||
| Tim Conway Stakes | Jack Goodman | Oct. 6 | ||
| L.A. Woman Stakes | Louis Rowan | Oct. 7 | ||
| Zuma Beach Stakes | New | Oct. 8 | ||
| Surfer Girl Stakes | New | Oct. 8 | ||
| Lava Man Cal Cup Classic | Cal Cup Classic | Oct. 13 | ||
| California Cup Distaff | Same | Oct. 13 | ||
| California Cup Sprint | Same | Oct. 13 | ||
| California Cup Juvenile | Same | Oct. 13 | ||
| California Cup Juv. Fillies | Same | Oct. 13 | ||
| Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes (Grade 3) | Same | Oct. 20 | ||
| Autumn Miss Stakes (Grade 3) | Harold Ramser Sr. | Oct. 27 | ||
| Breeders’ Cup World Champ. | Nov. 2-3 | |||
| Twilight Derby (Grade 2) | Oak Tree Derby | Nov. 2 | ||
| Damascus Stakes | Same | Nov. 3 | ||
| Goldikova Stakes (Grade 2) | Las Palmas | Nov. 4 |
First post time on most racing days, including opening day, September 28, is
1 p.m. (PDT). First live race post time on Breeders’ Cup Friday, November 2, is
11:15 a.m. First post time on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, November 3, is 10:05 a.m.
To make dining and seating reservations for the upcoming Autumn Meet, fans
are encouraged to visit
www.santaanita.com, or call (626) 574-RACE.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com