Oak Tree Racing History

Santa Anita Park that was established in 1934 is the oldest racetrack of Southern California. Santa Anita Handicap earned the nickname – the ‘Big Cap’ due to its large amount of purse handling; it was raced for the first time in Santa Anita Park during February 1935. Photo finish technique was implemented in those early years at Santa Anita for recording dead heats. Seabiscuit, one of the popular horses in this racetrack, won the Santa Anita Handicap in 1940 even at his last start. Between the years – 1942 and 1945, Santa Anita was used as a camp for Japanese-Americans. The 1960s brought about a major renovation of Santa Anita Park, including a much-expanded grandstand as well as major seating additions. During summer Olympics of 1984, Santa Anita was used as the site of equestrian events. The Santa Anita horseracing event draws massive crowds every year. As soon as the renovation work of the Santa Anita Park was completed, a group of horsemen including Clement Hirsch established the non-profit Oak Tree Racing Association. During that time, Oak Tree eventually had no facilities – and rented Santa Anita Park for an autumn meeting in 1969. Since then, Oak Tree has been operating the autumn meet – stretching from the end of September to the middle of November - at Santa Anita Park. Many big events take place during this time including preparatory races for the Breeders’ Cup. Oak Tree has been privileged in organizing Breeders’ Cup on three occasions – in 1986,1993 and 2003; interestingly this venue has also been chosen for the 2008 and 2009 Breeders’ Cup races.