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next years breeders cup there i believe and LA is one big US city i havent visited yet
Heard good things about the course and it looks terrific on the website
Anyone been there?
Interesting to hear comments
Santa Anita is great Clive. It was home to my first Breeders’ Cup – 1986 when Dancing Brave blew out – and obviously we did well there last time with Islington, Six Perfections and High Chaparral all winning.
The course is lovely – up to the North East of LA in Pasadena – and the backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains is stunning as long as the fires don’t cause problems. Even back in 2003 they had bad fires that year as well.
If you’ve any specific questions just post them up or PM me.
My much travelled colleague describes it as the best racecourse he has ever visited – although 2003 ranks as only the second-best Breeders’ Cup he has attended.
He stayed in Pasadena, and it was necessary to hire a car due to public transport strikes/inadequacies.
Lots more to do round there anyway, than there was at Lone Star.
Havent been to the racetrack, but Pasedena itself is very nice. The Sheraton Pasedena is a good hotel and Colorado Blvd is where most of the shopping / nightlife action is.
Great stuff all and will do Adrian…much appreciated
Strikes me that this is a trip i must make. Pasadena looks like a good option too
Santa Anita is great Clive. It was home to my first Breeders’ Cup – 1986 when Dancing Brave blew out – and obviously we did well there last time with Islington, Six Perfections and High Chaparral all winning.
You saw Dancing Brave Adrian? You lucky ducky
I only ever saw him on video and I thought he was fantastic.This is his Arc http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sQGDJeTuelA
Yes KT unforunately in those days the USDA used to make the European horses work once the track was closed to locals. He got absolutely cooked in the heat. The one horse that did well in 1986 was Last Tycoon but Robert Collet shrewdly brought him in at the last moment and he only cleared quarantine on the night before the race.
Now things are more relaxed and they even let us work on the turf before the renovation.
The track has the same configuration at Monmouth but we’ve got a good record there.
In 1993 we had the shock win of Arcangues for Andre Fabre/Jerry Bailey.
In 2003 Six Perfections won the Mile, Islington beat L’Ancresse and Yesterday in the Filly and Mare Turf whilst High Chaparral dead heated in the Turf with Johar with Falbrav 3rd.
Santa Anita is one of my favourite venues for Breeders’ Cup as long as it doesn’t get too hot. The barn area is very attractive although the quarantine barn is quite a long way from the track and the grandstand can cope with the massive crowd you can expect.
You can expect the races to start and finish much earlier than usual for a big day. In 2003 the first race was 9.40am, with the first Breeders’ Cup race at 10.20am. The last race – the Classic – was run at 2.35pm which meant plenty of time for people to catch flights home after racing.
On my music forum I have a friend who works there. Not sure exactly what he does but it’s something to do with graphic design and logos and publications etc. Totally irrelevant to your question but I pricked up my ears at your mention of Santa Anita! He’s always posting on the board when he should be working and knows sod all about the horses.
The track is stunning. I was there as a child on holiday at about age 7 – in fact, it was my first time at the races, which must be rarity for someone born and raised in the UK, and it made such an impression that I can still remember the horses my dad backed for me – Moolah’s Memory, which was unplaced, and King’s Flier, which placed at big odds and won me enough to buy a new fishing reel. If there’s a database of US racing that goes back to the 70s, I could probably pinpoint the exact day.
Was back for the Breeders’ Cup last time it was there and the track and setting didn’t disappoint. Have to say I took against LA with a vengeance though. It’s a typical US sprawl of a place, very little centre with any character, unlike, say, New York, Chicago or San Francisco. The smoke from the bush fires mixed with the normal smog to produce a permanent fug that you couldn’t quite escape or forget about – you could, quite literally, taste the air, and it did not taste good. Bush fires don’t happen every year, but the smog is permanent (I can remember seeing it from a hilltop as a child, hanging over the whole city) and getting worse.
Will be back again next year though if fate spares me, just hope the bush fires don’t return too.
hey Mr Frisk,
My experience of the city was a little better but then I did go shopping and sightseeing
so you didn’t go to Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills? that’s a must!!. or a bus tour to see all the stars’ beautiful houses, like Tom Jones, Liz Taylor, Al Pacino – his was gorgeous, so was Marilyn Monroe’s old house, oh there were so many….
the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard…and the area called Venice with it’s little canals, Venice Beach and it’s famous boardwalk, oh and not forgetting Santa Monica…..
"Santa Monica is known for having a large population of British and Irish expatriates, which accounts for the numerous pubs in the city. Some bars are as likely to show English Premiership games as they are American Football games".…and as for all the shopping malls….don’t take your wife!
A great racetrack. The 1993 Breeders’ Cup was my first taste of American racing. I managed to lose my passport and money and ended up borrowing money from a friend to get me back home and ended up backing Arcangues with a part of it
There were fires the week before the 1993 Breeders’ Cup as well-which I think was held a week later than in 2003-so it does seem that its that last week in October thats bad there.
The closest hotel to the track is the Santa Anita Inn-which is right across the road from the entrance to the track-but I think it may already be full. Wherever you stay you must go into eat at the Derby restaurant on Huntington Blvd and go into the 100 to 1 which is a crazy bar situated next to the Santa Anita Inn.
Following on from Peng’s posting you may also like to try a nearby watering hole – the Drinker’s Hall of Fame – if only for the great name!
Personally I’m not keen on the 100-1 as too dark and depressing for me. In the old days though it was a must do – if only to sit at the bar and talk with the legendary Woody Stephens – who had his own bar stool there.
Great stuff everyone. Didnt expect so many responses…
Shows what a good forum this is
Oh and when at the track you must get a drink or more at Nola’s Bar. Not least because she’s very friendly but a lot of the tracks "faces" tend to hang out there.
The bartender Nola Ferraro is a long-time friend of Bob Baffert and Mike Peagram who named one time Kentucky Derby contender "Preachinatthebar"-and other horses- in honour of born-again Christian Nola.
Baffert said of her " When you go to Nola when you, get a drink, you get a little bit of blessing at the same time"
Baffert said of her " When you go to Nola when you, get a drink, you get a little bit of blessing at the same time"
How sweet! I would never have associated Baffert with such a quote
Well Adrian may well be right about the 100-1. After spending virtually all of Saturday night in there with my friend and her co-workers from HRTV I came to the conclusion that it was dingy, full to bursting and most importantly realized that we could no longer keep up with the youngsters in the drinking stakes.
Nola lectured me about yesterdays vote on the EU Constitution in the House of Commons. Apparently it’s mentioned in the Book of Revelations.
Not that it will be open in time for this years Breeders’ Cup or 2009 but the Los Angeles metro Gold Line will soon be extended with a stop about 1/2 Mile away from the track where Huntington Drive meets Santa Anita blvd and by 2014 the line will be extended to Ontario Airport
An extremely interesting thread, especially as I was planning to attend this year!
Internet checks haven’t got me very far: can anyone tell me the best way to buy tickets, get to the track, etc?
San Francisco was always my west coast favourite, and, in fact, I turned down trips to LA several times.
Pasadena appeals,however, I have to say.Advice and suggestions, welcome.
I only ever saw him on video and I thought he was fantastic.
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