MoreThan Just Great Racing

Santa Anita Park is known as the Great Race Place. On Saturday, there was great racing and much more.

The racing featured trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Rafael Bejarano teaming up to win three of the five Grade I stakes races on the 11-race card, with Bejarano, for good measure, adding another stakes victory in the final race of the day.

The big win of the day for the team of Baffert and Bejarano was with Game On Dude in the Awesome Again Stakes, formerly the Goodwood.

Next up for Game On Dude will be the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3, the second day of the two-day world championships at Santa Anita. Game On Dude could be the favorite in that race.

Baffert and Bejarano also won the Chandelier Stakes with Executivepriviege and the FrontRunner Stakes with Power Broker. The Chandedelier was formerly the Oak Leaf and the FrontRunner was formerly the Norfolk.

Bejarano capped off the day with another stakes victory aboard Byrama in the UnZip Me, giving him four for the day.

And Bejarano had his four-win day despite taking a nasty spill the day before. But he was able to work a horse Saturday morning for Baffert, who said, "He looked great."

He looked pretty good later in the day too.

Someone else who had a good day was 75-year-old patron Ed Clark of Marina Del Rey. As part of a CashCall promotion sponsored by J. Paul Reddam, Clark's name was drawn and he got to make a $1,000 win bet with house money on the day's final race.

Of course he went with Bejarano's horse, Byrama, and won $3,600.

Despite Saturday being a rather warm day, a crowd of 17,565 showed up. That was the biggest crowd in the brief two-year history of the Santa Anita Autumn Meet, formerly the Oak Tree Meet.

The day that featured an appearance of the USC marching band, a first for Santa Anita, began with the unveiling of a life-sized Zenyatta statue in the paddock area.

The Zenyatta statue, created by Nina Kaiser, is the third at Santa Anita. The others are of Seabiscuit and the great horse John Henry.
Zenyatta, the amazing female horse, won her first 19 races before finally losing by a nose in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

On hand for the ceremonies, in addition to Kaiser, were Zenyatta’s owners, were Jerry and Ann Moss. Record producer Jerry Moss represents the M in A&M Records. Herb Alpert represents the A.

Also at the unveiling, in addition to a huge crowd, were trainer John Shiffeffs and his wife, stable manager Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs.

The day was also highlighted by another one of Santa Anita’s Gourmet Food Festival.

After the seventh race on the 11-race card came the debut of Santa Anita’s new official song, “My California,” written and composed by the track’s new marketing chief, Jimmy Dunne, who is also an award-winning songwriter.
Coming up with idea for creating a song for the racetrack was CEO Mark Verge.

“In the great horse racing tradition of the Kentucky Derby’s ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ and the Preakness’ ‘Oh, Maryland,’ we wanted to have a song that spoke to our story,” Verge said.

Said Dunne: “For many generations, so many Californians have shared a unique and passionate story of having an extraordinary dream in life, and coming to California to risk it all to make that dream a reality. I tried to capture that in the song.”

“My California” was first performed by hit-singer Ferras, then here game the USC band out from the grandstands playing the USC fight song.  Fans were be invited to sing along as the words appeared on the infield TV screen.

These are the words to “My California,” the official song of Santa Anita:

How I longed for California
And the gold I dreamed I’d find
I risked it all to know my truths
And taste her sweetest wines
When I breathe in California
And I bathe in her warm sea
I close my eyes and visualize
The thrill of what may be
She sings from top Mount Whitney
Her heart – the redwood trees
Her soul, my friend, just look around
Her soul is you and me
How I love my California
She’s a land where dreamer’s dream
I will to make a better place
For those that dream like me
I will to make a better place
For those that dream like me