A Day at the Races : Here’s a Tip on How to ‘Cap Off Your Day--Run for the Thoroughbreds at the Santa Anita Handicap

Everybody knows about the bettor who wagered a horse at 10 to 1.

Right. It finished at half past 2.

And the horses that you follow, they also follow the horses.

Be that as it may, if you plan ahead for this Sunday , you may be in the money at one of the Southland’s biggest horse happenings.

It is the day of the 50th running of the Santa Anita Handicap, the Big ‘Cap, the day when--if you go to the races only once a year--this should be it.

Thanks for the Memories

Not just a million-dollar event, not just the first big run of the year for mature horses, but something of which memories are made. Oh, they’ve started the Breeders’ Cup series, which takes place in the fall with more money at stake, but that is much too new to edge out the ghosts of Seabiscuit, John Henry, Round Table, Affirmed, Cougar II and other famous winners of the Big ‘Cap.

Annually the Santa Anita Handicap (first staged in 1935) attracts the Arcadia track’s largest crowd of its four-month season. In fact, just two years ago, a record 85,527 showed up.

The parking lots open at 8 a.m., the admission gates an hour later. The first of the nine races (the Big ‘Cap is the eighth) is at 12:30 p.m.

This year’s renewal is one of the more competitive in years. Keep your eye on the two hot 4-year-olds, Preakness winner Snow Chief and Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand. Snow Chief holds a 5-2 advantage over his rival in the seven times they have met.

The two, however, have never run outside their own age division.

Which brings a serious handicapper to the thought that perhaps an intruder into this rivalry, a fully mature class horse, such as the 5-year-old Bedside Promise, winner of four of his last five starts, will wind up in the winner’s circle.

For a decent betting price on a live possibility, you might want to consider the steady Eastern invader Broad Brush, a 4-year-old piloted by the aggressive Angel Cordero Jr. The horse has already been flown in and has taken up temporary residence in the stable area.

For the top race, obviously the top jockeys. Bill Shoemaker on Ferdinand, Patrick Valenzuela on Snow Chief, Gary Stevens on Bedside Promise, and Cordero. A field of nine is expected.

Betting at the Windows

The race track, as has been observed, is the only place where windows clean people. Betting or not, peruse our guide to this complex complex of parkland, track, betting booths, food vendors, places to stand, places to sit and places (never enough) to park your car. It should help you with the getting out, getting in, and the action in between.

TRAFFIC--The best route to the horse race is via the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10). Exit at Rosemead Boulevard, Santa Anita Avenue or Baldwin Avenue, and head north. If you’re arriving via the Foothill Freeway (I-210), exit at Rosemead Boulevard or Michillinda Avenue (and head south) or at Huntington Drive (and go west, young man).

If coming by private plane or helicopter, land at the El Monte Airport, about five miles from the track, and have somebody waiting for you in a car or call a cab.

BUSES--Extra buses will be added that day. RTD regular line 79 from Olive Street and Venice Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles will begin service at 6:40 a.m., continuing every 40 minutes. A limited-stop special, line 379, will begin from the same point at 8:50 a.m., continuing at first every 15 minutes, eventually every three to seven minutes, the last such bus leaving at 1:25 p.m.

Allow about 50 minutes travel time if you are catching the special at its starting point.

The specials will begin returning at about 3 p.m., leaving as they are loaded (the bus, not the passengers).

Greyhound will send buses to the track from a number of cities. Call your local terminals for the schedules.

PARKING--Paved parking for 22,000 vehicles (security-patrolled) is available at fees of $2 for general, $4 for preferred (closer to the entrance), and $7 for valet.

Once you have paid for general or preferred, you are on your own. On a less crowded weekday, you can strategically drive to a parking space near an exit--but forget about that on Sunday. Just be grateful if you wind up in the main lot.

Because of the overflow of vehicles, late arrivals are directed to the track interior itself, specifically to the dirt comprising what is known as the chute where the seven-furlong races begin. (If such a race is on that day’s card, it is run early in the day to allow for this special parking after the race.)

Don’t even think about street parking unless you are in the mood for walking a couple of miles both arriving and departing.

Phone Booths Padlocked

By the way, if you anticipate having to make any phone calls, do so before you arrive. Although there are pay telephones on the premises at Santa Anita, state law requires that at all tracks the booths be padlocked an hour before the first race, and remain so until the conclusion of the final race so no race information can be phoned out to, say, a bookie during the program.

ADMISSION AND SEATING--As for getting inside, general admission tickets, available at the gates, are $2.75 (free for children under age 18, accompanied by a parent), and clubhouse admission for all ages is $6. There is no charge for listening to the live mariachi band music outside the main entrance.

A track is one of the last bastions of a peculiar caste system. There is no logical reason for choosing the clubhouse over the grandstand. For one thing, its location is lousy, situated as it is beyond the finish line, which means the race is over by the time the horses reach you. But some people like the idea of mingling with others who can afford to pay a little more.

There also is the private and exclusive Turf Club (heavy on the celebrities, millionaires and high rollers) for which you have to apply and, if accepted, pay annual dues of $600 per person. Members enter the track by a special guarded entrance and sit in the enclosed Turf Club section of the grandstand. No matter who you are, inside the club the men are required to wear jackets and ties, the women dresses or formal pantsuits.

In the grandstand, a T-shirt and jeans will do nicely, thank you.

Place for Celebrities

Like all other sports, horse racing has its celebrity devotees. Many stick to the Turf Club. But, from time to time, in the clubhouse--and even in the grandstand--a patron may sight someone such as John Forsythe, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Bacharach, Tim Conway, Vince Edwards, Vic Tayback, Merv Griffin. Some of them are horse owners.

Unlike other sporting events such as baseball, football and basketball, many if not most of the patrons prefer being on their feet--if for no other reason than to work off nervous energy.

For those with an incurable nesting instinct, some reserved seats will go on sale when the admission gates open at 9 a.m. on race day ($2.25 in the grandstand, $2.50 for clubhouse loges). But the probability is that if you don’t have yours by now, you shouldn’t count on getting any.

When the gates open, however, a limited number of free grandstand seats will go to those who claim them first (usually by the unwritten law of leaving a newspaper or cap on top of the seat). Thousands of free unreserved seats will be available on benches in the infield and paddock gardens.

Don’t underestimate the value of positioning yourself near the stretch turn, where the going will still be congested, but less so than if you are near the finish line. Knowledgeable fans know that the jockeys often make their decisions on the turn (whether to try to sneak through on the rail or take the safer but less ground-saving route on the outside). Quite often, this is where the race is decided.

Stand With Rail Birds

If you want to be a true rail bird, standing at the rail and thrilling to the sound of the pounding hoofs and the shouted urgings of the jockeys, better be among the early arrivals in order to find a space.

On the other hand, being higher, such as on the second floor, affords a better overall view of the spectacle.

Give a thought also to heading for the infield, which has not only all the amenities and betting opportunities of being in the stands, but, out in the open air, in the opinion of many it somehow seems to be more relaxing, more spacious, more laid back. Family groups often prefer being in the infield.

Much of the crowd will be standing shoulder to shoulder on the sloping tile apron in front of the stands.

One way or another, wherever you are, you should be able to see the race, either by watching the track itself, or one of the 205 closed-circuit television monitors, which also show the odds between the races.

WAGERING--Oh, by the way, some people at a track like to bet. There are cynics who refer to horse racing as animated roulette, but you won’t be running into too many of those Sunday.

Because of the circumstances, there will be no early bird wagering, such as is otherwise conducted from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Also, public viewing of the morning workouts won’t be offered.

All 925 betting windows will be in use, some of them as early as 9 a.m. As pertains to the feature race, there will be win, place and show wagering, and the race is included in the Pick Nine, Pick Six and Daily Triple challenges.

The record crowd two years ago bet more than $12.5 million, so expect some long lines and jostling. Any race can be bet at any time in advance at any window (in any amount of $2 or over), so it will be a good idea to avoid the last-minute rush for the main event.

If you have already done your homework with the Daily Racing Form, or have bought one of the tout sheets available inside the entrances, you will have time to kill before the bugle call for the first race, and what sometimes seems like that interminable half hour or so between races.

Handicapping Seminar

Panic not. The Fans Forum, a handicapping seminar conducted by guest experts, will be held at 11 a.m. in the east paddock gardens. And, during the racing program, Santa Anita’s own radio station, KWIN, at 830 on the AM dial in the grandstand area and 1500 in the infield, will broadcast opinions regarding the horses, plus the call of each race.

Rental radios will be available at $2 apiece.

FOOD--Man shall not live by only betting his bread; some of it has to be used to obtain nourishment during the approximately five hours of taking in the day’s events.

As is true where any large crowd congregates, the bad news is that you will stand in line to buy food and/or drinks. The good news is that there will be no shortage of places to do it.

Barbecue sandwiches, hamburgers, egg muffins, pasta, chicken sandwiches, salads, chili, soups, fish and chips, Mexican dishes, beef stew, carved sandwiches--all are available at stands and in rooms throughout the facility. And for hard-core sports nuts, the old standbys of hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream, soda, beer and mixed drinks can be obtained just about everywhere, including the Wine Shed in the infield.

Regulars will tell you the best buys are the $3.95 hand-carved beef, ham, corned beef and turkey sandwiches. And, unless you like chewing on ice, tell the counter person to either go easy on it or leave it out entirely of the soft drink you are ordering. Less ice, more drink, and vice versa.

The popular Clockers’ Corner, which usually offers breakfast fare in the crisp morning air to those who come out to watch the morning workouts, will of necessity not be open Sunday for the meals.

But handicapping breakfasts are offered at nearby restaurants--such as David Copperfield’s in the Santa Anita Fashion Park (400 S. Baldwin Ave.), Alexander’s Brass Rib in Pasadena (3768 E. Colorado Blvd.)--at various times and at various prices. You can drink coffee, wolf down a Danish, and listen to guest experts (jockeys, trainers, sports writers) speculate about speculation.

Then there are those race-goers who go the bargain route entirely by bringing their own picnic coolers to the track.

By the nature of things, for some the day will end with the eating of crow.

GETTING OUT--After the races, most people will head home. The exit routes are usually well policed and well marked with cones to allow the weary wagerer as efficient a departure as can be achieved at any of the Southland’s sports facilities.

Some fans, however, will choose to park nearby and let the rest of the world go by for a while. The Derby at 233 E. Huntington Drive in Arcadia used to be owned by jockey great George Woolf and is a refueling hangout favored by many, as is the North Woods Inn at 7247 N. Rosemead Blvd. in San Gabriel, where the baked potatoes are the size of a jockey’s cap.

ET CETERA--If you have children along, you might want to take them via one of the tunnels to Anita Chiquita, a supervised play area in the infield.

Otherwise, be patient while standing in the betting lines. Nothing at the track is a sure thing, but the odds are that you will make it to the window before the race is run.

For the first two races, maybe luck will give you this day your daily double.