Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
New turf chute expected to be ready for winter meet
ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita will run turf sprints on a newly constructed backstretch chute as early as opening day of the winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26, senior vice president Nate Newby said Sunday.
Grass was installed on the chute in the final days of September and has shown growth through a recent stretch of warm weather, Newby said. Track superintendent Dennis Moore has supervised installation of the new course.
“Dennis said things were on schedule or ahead of schedule,” Newby said.
The grass is a Bermuda blend. Newby said the new course could “absolutely” be part of the racing program by Dec. 26. The winter-spring meeting will go until mid-June.
The new chute is adjacent to the seven-furlong backstretch chute on the main track and will allow turf sprints to be contested at distances of six and 6 1/2 furlongs. At those distances, runners will start on the new chute and cross the dirt track on the first turn before rejoining the main turf course with slightly less than 5 1/2 furlongs remaining to the finish.
Turf sprints at five furlongs on turf will continue on the turf oval, while sprints at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf will start at their current position on the dirt track. At that distance, horses run for a few strides on the dirt course before joining the turf oval.
The new chute will have a slight left-handed dogleg before joining the turf oval.
“I would guess we would write a lot more six- and 6 1/2 -furlong races, and that’s what people are interested in,” Newby said.
There are no immediate plans to run sprints at about 6 1/2 furlongs starting on the hillside turf course, a distance discontinued in March 2019 after a series of equine fatalities that drew widespread attention. In the last 18 months, turf sprints have been restricted to distance of five and 5 1/2 furlongs.
Cupid’s Claws eyes TAA Stakes
Cupid’s Claws was claimed for $50,000 on Sept. 5 at Del Mar and won the Grade 3 Tokyo City Cup at 1 1/2 miles on dirt at Santa Anita in his next start Sept. 27.
The recent win has left the large partnership that owns the 5-year-old gelding and trainer Craig Dollase planning a start in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at 1 5/8 miles on dirt Nov. 6 at Keeneland.
The race was formerly known as the Marathon Stakes and holds appeal because it’s “13 furlongs for $200,000,” Dollase said. “Why not?
“It gives us an excuse to go.” Cupid’s Claws races for the partnership of Flawless Racing, Masino Racing Stable, Brian Flanagan, and Michael Jarvis. In the Tokyo City, Cupid’s Claws (7-1) pulled clear through the stretch to win by 7 1/4 lengths in his first win on dirt in his second career start on the surface. Cupid’s Claws had raced primarily on turf and four times on a synthetic surface before the Tokyo City.
“He took to the dirt and it all worked out,” Dollase said. “That was the key ingredient for his success.”
Three fined for whip violations
Jockeys Victor Espinoza, Heriberto Figueroa, and Juan Hernandez were fined $100 each by Santa Anita stewards over the weekend for violations of new whip regulations put in place by the California Horse Racing Board at the beginning of the month.
The new rules limit riders to six underhanded strikes in a race. Riders cannot use the whip more than twice in succession before pausing to give a horse a chance to respond to urging.
Espinoza was cited for using his whip more than six times on second-place finisher Lady Noguez in the fifth race Friday. Hernandez was fined for using the whip more than twice in succession on Big Barrel, who finished fourth in Saturday’s fifth race.
Figueroa was cited for using the whip more than six times on Bob and Jackie, who finished third in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on Saturday.