Earlier first post, more races

ARCADIA, Calif. – Get ready for earlier post times and possibly more races at Santa Anita this spring.

Beginning with the March 11 program, the first after the shift to daylight saving time, first post on Sundays will be 11:30 a.m., an hour earlier than on the original schedule. Post times from Thursdays through Saturdays will change to noon, an hour earlier than on recent weekdays and a half-hour earlier than on most recent Saturdays.

The change is to allow for additional races and for cross promotions with Gulfstream Park in Florida, according to Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita.

“We want to try to build a Sunday brunch,” Ritvo said of the post time change. “We want to coordinate the times a little better and maybe coordinate bets a little.”

The possible addition of races will be assessed on a day-today basis, depending on the strength of entries, he said. Last Saturday, Santa Anita offered a 10-race program compared to a nine-race program on the corresponding day in 2017.

Ritvo said additional races could be added on weekdays “as long as the inventory is there.”

“If we can add races that would be the goal.”

The number of race-ready horses has been a critical issue at Santa Anita in the last year. The track canceled four days of racing last April and June because of a lack of entries.

To avoid a similar circumstance, track director of operations John Perrotta is scheduled to go on a scouting mission to Eastern tracks in an effort to lure trainers to California.

“We’d like to provide incentives, help guys with rent,” Ritvo said. “Hopefully, we can get some young guys to come out here and get set up.”

The incentives will be financed by the racetrack and the California Marketing Committee, a fund designed to promote California racing derived from satellite handle.

The winter-spring meeting has been blessed with ideal weather conditions since opening day on Dec. 26, and virtually no rain. The conditions are a reverse from last year, when rain plagued the early part of the meeting. Three days of racing were canceled in January and February of 2017 because of inclement weather.

With better weather, all-sources handle has shown considerable growth this year, according to Ritvo. Through Sunday, average handle was $10,160,989 for 36 days of racing compared to $9,345,426 for the first 34 days of racing of the 2016-17, a gain of 8.7 percent.

Through Sunday, fields averaged 8.2 runners per race, compared to 7.52 through a similar period last year. The entire 2016-17 winter-spring meeting had an average of 7.59 runners per race. Larger fields typically result in more betting.

Ritvo said the meeting began with a deficit in the purse pool, which has been recovered. The purse pool has a surplus, but there are no plans for a purse increase, Ritvo said.

“The purse account is in good shape,” he said. “We’d like to add races rather than increase purses.”