THREE NEW HORSE SHOW ARENAS NEARING COMPLETION IN SANTA ANITA PARK’S INFIELD

Arenas will be used for the first time in November for The Lugano Diamonds Split Rock Jumping Tour

Arcadia, CA (September 5, 2024) – Horsemen returning to Santa Anita Park this weekend will notice a different look to the track’s famous infield. Three huge horse show arenas are nearing completion in the fabled ground. Construction began earlier this summer, just after the conclusion of Santa Anita’s Classic Meet on June 16. Dennis Moore, 1/ST RACING’s renowned track surface consultant, is overseeing the project in conjunction with the team from Equestrian Services International (ESI), whose all-weather footing is used at premium venues throughout the world.

The Main Show Arena, in northwest section of the infield, measures 150’ x 300’. A massive Secondary Show Arena will augment it just behind the main tote board on the east side that totals almost 140,000 square feet. The Main Schooling Arena in between the two measures 125’ x 250’.

The arenas, with state-of-the-art footing and construction, will be used for the first time in November in collaborations with The Lugano Diamonds Split Rock Jumping Tour. The event will feature two weeks of back-to-back international competition beginning Nov. 13-17 with the Los Angeles National, followed by the inaugural Santa Anita CSI5*-W, featuring the $400,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Los Angeles CSI5*-W qualifying event. Entries for the show opened on Monday, Sept. 2. The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Los Angeles is expected to attract many of the riders who competed in this year’s Olympic Games as it offers qualifying points for the 2025 FEI Jumping World Cup Finals in Basel, Switzerland.

For more information on the show, please see https://www.splitrocksantaanita.com/

The construction will not impact the morning training or afternoon racing for the nearly 2,000 Thoroughbreds who will return to Santa Anita Park this weekend in preparation for the Autumn Meet which will open on Friday, Sept. 27. In addition, the ample size of the infield provides enough flexibility to allow for popular family events to be held during the racing season. Temporary stabling for the show horses will be added to the north parking lot closer to the prestigious event, which Santa Anita has earned the annual allocation of through 2027.

The partnership with The Lugano Diamonds Split Rock Jumping Tour and the significant investment to transform the infield into a world-class equestrian venue is part of 1/ST’s mission to innovate and engage the next generation audience by partnering with renowned equestrian events on a series of collaborative partnerships that will cross over and connect the world of Thoroughbred racing with the world of equestrian sport.

This November’s event will mark the return of the international show jumping world to Santa Anita Park since the racetrack was the host venue for the Equestrian Events of the 1984 Olympic Games.