Santa Anita Race Track

I was just reading my friend's William's Active Rain Post on the Grand Opening of The Races at Del Mar and thought that I'd share our local Santa Anita Race Track which was featured in 365 Things Around Pasadena™

So... here's a bit of history:

Day 228 of 365 Things Around Pasadena™ brings us to Arcadia and Santa Anita Park.

photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe

Opened Christmas Day, 76 years ago, this is the oldest racetrack in Southern California. Designed in the Art Deco style by architect Gordon B. Kaufman, this Park has quite a colorful history.

It was originally part of "Rancho Santa Anita" and was owned by former San Gabriel Mission Mayor-Domo, Claudio Lopez, named after a family member "Anita Cota". The ranch was later acquired by rancher, Hugo Reid, a Scotsman. Later, it would be owned by Gold prospector Lucky Baldwin. He initially founded a racetrack adjacent to the present site in what is today, Arcadia, outside of the city of Los Angeles in the 1904 but it closed in 1909 and burned in 1912.

Read the full post here - Horsing Around in Arcadia