On Christmas Day 1934, the venerable Art Deco track in present day Arcadia first presents horse racing. Santa Anita is arguably the oldest horseracing track in California. Lucky Baldwin, whose nickname stems from his propitious mining investments in the Comstock Lode, builds a racetrack adjacent to the current site in 1904. It closes in 1909, the year of Baldwin’s death, and burns in 1912. After California voters approve Proposition 5 in 1933, legalizing pari-mutuel wagering on horse races, a group of Northern California investors search for a site to open a new track.
A group of Southern California investors have a location but need more funds. The groups form the Los Angeles Turf Club and reopen Santa Anita on Christmas Day, beginning a 65-day season. The stands are filled with almost 30,800 spectators including movie stars Clark Gable, Will Rogers and Al Jolson, according to the December 26 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Not surprising since Hal Roach, a Hollywood producer since 1915, is one of the principal investors in the Turf Club. Jolson is also a turf club shareholder as is Bing Crosby. The first Santa Anita Handicap in 1935 has a $100,000 purse – the largest ever offered.
Proximity to Hollywood makes Santa Anita a convenient movie location. The racetrack scenes in The Marx Brothers’ 1937 A Day at the Races are shot there. The 1949 movie The Story of Seabiscuit almost has to be shot at Santa Anita since the track is the scene of some of the famous thoroughbred’s greatest successes – and defeats.
Racing is suspended from 1942 through 1944, and the track becomes an “assembly center,” housing 19,000 Japanese Americans before they are relocated to detention camps. Among them is 5-year-old George Takei, the actor best known for his portrayal of Lt. Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek. Of the “assembly center,” the Los Angeles Times says:
“The Army covered Santa Anita’s parking lot with row after row of identical barracks covered with tar paper. The camp was divided into seven districts and included several mess halls, a hospital, stores, a post office, classrooms, and makeshift churches in the track’s grandstand.”
Opening day is now December 26. The Santa Anita Derby in April has a $750,000 purse.