Nate NEwby

The GI Beholder Mile is being renamed the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile in honor of the multiple champion's late owner, who passed away in August 2021. Hughes, the founder of the Public Storage company and whose silks carried the same purple-and-orange color scheme, owned horses for five decades and was the proprietor of Spendthrift Farm from 2004. Beholder, a daughter of Henny Hughes, was purchased for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September sale and won a record 13 stakes races at Santa Anita, including the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup...

Edited Press Release Santa Anita Park has opened its all-new synthetic Tapeta inner training track manufactured by Maryland-based Tapeta Footings, Inc., effective Saturday morning. Following the Breeders' Cup, the 'Great Race Place' embarked upon an $8 million project to provide horsemen with a state-of-the-art all-weather surface that will complement its one-mile natural dirt main track and serve as a safe and viable component in the conditioning of Thoroughbreds on a year 'round basis. "At Tapeta, our aim is to maintain the surface so that we have a soft cushion below and...

Students who are currently enrolled in the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences Equine Studies Minor program will have the opportunity to intern at Santa Anita in a partnership announced Sunday. "We are truly excited about this new partnership with Cal Poly Pomona," said Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager Nate Newby. "This is a tremendous way for us to introduce up-and-coming young professionals, as well a large group of highly motivated Cal Poly students, to our industry and best veterinary practices in Thoroughbred racing....

With training suspended since Sunday due to historic rainfall from a series of storms, Santa Anita Park, in consultation with its horsemen, postponed Friday's nine-race card to give time for horses to return to a normal routine before this weekend's races. The Friday races will be offered back next Thursday. Per CHRB rules, they will be re-drawn when entries are taken this Saturday. "With training suspended for the last four days, per the CHRB protocols only joggers will be allowed on Thursday and we return to regular training Friday morning,"...

Juan Hernandez, Phil D'Amato and Paul and Zillah Reddam's Reddam Racing emerged as the leaders in the jockey, trainer and owner divisions, respectively, during Santa Anita's Hollywood Meet, which concluded a 28-day run at the Los Angeles area oval Sunday, June 18. With a Sunday three-timer, emerging talent Hernandez continued his stranglehold on the Southern California jockeys' premiership, as he booted home 42 winners during the meeting. Hernandez, whose closing-day victories included the ride aboard new 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic), saluted in 10 added-money events, five more than...

With a 100% probability of rain for this coming Saturday, officials at Santa Anita Park have announced the cancellation of the day's eight-race program. Following discussions with the California Thoroughbred Trainers, Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Horse Racing Board, the races originally scheduled for Saturday will be offered as extras for Sunday, Monday (holiday racing) and Friday, Jan. 20. The GIII La Canada S. is currently listed as an extra for Sunday. Friday, Jan. 20 was meant to be a dark day given Monday's MLK-day program. "With the...

Santa Anita will play host to a charity poker tournament following the live racing program this Sunday, May 29, at 5:45 p.m. PT to benefit the 'Folds of Honor' foundation.  Folds of Honor seeks to support the families of fallen or disabled American military veterans and dependents adversely affected by war. For the tournament, which will take place near the top of the stretch in the Baldwin Terrace Conference Room on the second floor of the grandstand, players will make a $300 donation and will be treated to a full...

The flag has already been planted midway through Santa Anita's current Winter-Spring meet, and prevailing headwinds are still driven by worries over field size. The following table is an analysis of the average field sizes during the first 15 weeks of the Santa Anita Winter meet--a timeframe excluding Santa Anita Derby weekend--over the past five years. In tandem with the above numbers, total handle for the meet thus far--including last weekend--decreased by 1% between last year and this, a number that comes out to nearly $8 million. That's with one...

In spite of six races moved from the turf to the dirt, resulting in 10 program scratches, a total of $2.3 million was wagered on track and total pari-mutuel handle was $19.4 million, making it the third-best opening day figures ever. "We really want to thank the fans for supporting us and the horsemen for going with the changes and participating," said Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager, Nate Newby. "Although it didn't rain yesterday, we had over 4 1/2 inches of rain in the five days leading...

Santa Anita's 2021 Autumn Meeting, which opens Friday, Oct. 1, will now offer a 10% increase in all overnight races as Santa Anita and the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) have reached an agreement that will enable Santa Anita to provide a comprehensive purse increase for the third consecutive race meeting, dating back to the 2020 Autumn Meet. "This is a very significant development and we want to thank everyone at TOC for helping to make this happen," said Chris Merz, Santa Anita Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. "To...

The June California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting put to bed a problem that has been brewing for a few months in the North of California. Due to the fallout from COVID-19, and the ongoing issues surrounding stabling and staff accommodation in the north of California, commissioners voted to switch the three-week State Fair--scheduled to run July 14 to Aug. 3 at Cal Expo--to Pleasanton to be run over a shortened window: July 14 through July 20. Golden Gate Fields has also been allocated an additional two weeks of racing,...

A total of $23,003,159 was wagered on the stakes-packed, 11-race program Saturday at Santa Anita, surpassing the previous record of $20.4 million for the same number of races Dec. 26, 2018, a Wednesday. With the exception of essential licensed personnel, which includes horse owners, the track remains closed to the public. "We want to thank our fans, owners, trainers, jockeys and other stakeholders for supporting our racing program and contributing to a strong opening day," said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. "This has been a...