Santa Anita Cancels Racing 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.
