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Santa Anita Racetrack, located at 285 W. Huntington Drive, is the oldest racetrack in Southern California. The 'first' Santa Anita Racetrack was opened on December 7, 1907, but closed two years later. In 1933, Hollywood director Hal Roach and San Francisco dentist Dr. Charles Strub formed the Los Angeles Turf Club and raised funds to build a new track. Designed in an Art Deco style by Gordon B. Kaufman, the 'new' Santa Anita Park opened December 25, 1934. In 1942, racing at Santa Anita was suspended and Santa Anita was used as a Japanese American internment center from 1942-1944. A downhill turf course was added in 1953, and in the 1960s major renovations included a much-expanded grandstand as well as additional seating. In 2007 the park added a synthetic 'cushion' track to the existing turf course. The Park contains 61 barns, which house more than 2,000 horses, and an equine hospital. Photograph caption dated February 12, 1964 reads, "Racing fans line the rail as a field of thoroughbreds race by on the El Camino Real Turf Course at Santa Anita Park, winter racing center, centrally located 14 miles from downtown Los Angeles in Arcadia."
Santa Anita Park (Arcadia, Calif.) Racetracks (Horse racing) Race horses Horse racing Jockeys Horses Men Spectators Mountains--California, Southern San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.) Arcadia (Calif.) Portrait photographs Group portraits
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