By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2016) —Santa Anita Park plans a complete overhaul of its turf course and officials will meet Feb. 25 to decide details and timing of the plan.
The Stronach Group senior vice president of West Coast operations Joe Morris said Feb. 23 that track executives will discuss details of the plan, including timing. Morris said the course has not been completely redone in 20 years.
Santa Anita will host this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 4-5. Should the track opt to completely renovate the turf course before Breeders’ Cup, the longest gap of time without live racing is July 11 to Sept. 29.
With heavy rains associated with El Nino hitting Santa Anita this year, races have been taken off the course several racing days at the current meet. Beyond the races taken off the main turf course, additional races using the hillside turf course also have been moved to the main track.