Santa Anita Park will begin its winter-spring Classic Meet Sunday with an 11-race card, including six graded stakes races, two days later than originally planned because of rain.
The Arcadia track announced last Sunday the two-day delay of its traditional Dec. 26 Opening Day following a forecast of significant rain in Southern California for Tuesday through Friday.
Because there was no racing on Friday and Saturday, Santa Anita added racing for Monday and Wednesday, New Year’s Eve.
There will be three $300,000 Grade 1 stakes races Sunday — the Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, the La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs and the American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
There will also be three $200,000 Grade 2 stakes races — the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles; the San Gabriel Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the Mathis Mile Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf.
Nysos is the 3-5 morning line favorite in the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes, his first race since winning the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The 4-year-old has won six of seven starts and finished in a dead heat for second in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes May 3, a neck behind Mindframe.
Nysos is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Flavien Prat, whose 73 victories in stakes races are the most among North American jockeys in 2025.
Prat received the 2024 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey.
Post time for the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes is approximately 1:37 p.m. It will be run as the sixth race.
The card will be streamed at www.santaanita.com/racing/
The first post is 11 a.m., with gates opening at 9 a.m.
Fans with paid admission will receive a wall calendar featuring Hall of Fame trainers while supplies last.
Premium box seats are sold out. Loge box seats are $40. General admission is $20 at the gate and $10 if purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com/live-racing-at-santa-anita-park-arcadia-california-12-26-2025/event/09006351B4596129
Santa Anita will also conduct a craft beer festival where for $42.60, including fees, purchasers will receive six beer tastings, a five-ounce Santa Anita tasting cup, a $5 betting voucher, betting tip sheet and open grandstand seating.
The VIP package also includes a food voucher for up to $20 and a reserved picnic table on the trackside apron. It costs $74.55 person with a minimum of three tickets and maximum of 10 required to be purchased.
Food and beverage service will begin at 11 a.m.
The Winter Family Fun Zone is another Opening Day attraction. It includes inflatable jumpers, carnival games, trackless train rides, pony rides, face painting, arts and crafts and a piñata candy smash.
It will also be in operation Thursday, New Year’s Day.
The 48-day meet runs through April 5. From Jan. 9, racing will be held Fridays through Sundays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 19) and Washington’s Birthday (Feb. 16).
It includes three Road to the Kentucky Derby races — the $200,000 Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (Feb. 7), the $400,000 Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes (March 7) and the $500,000 Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby (April 4).
The top-five finishers in each race of the 36-race series that began Sept. 13 receive points, with the top 17 point-earners getting a spot in the Kentucky Derby.