Oak Tree Day At Santa Anita On Oct. 4 Includes Fan Giveaways, Horsemen’s Incentives To Complement Blockbuster Card

OAK TREE DAY AT SANTA ANITA ON OCT. 4 INCLUDES FAN GIVEAWAYS, HORSEMEN’S INCENTIVES TO COMPLEMENT BLOCKBUSTER CARD

On-track promotions include free drawing from $30,000 Cherry Tree with $5,000 grand prize for 1/ST Reward members

ARCADIA, CA (Sept. 13, 2025)—For the second year in a row, Santa Anita Park and the Oak Tree Racing Association have joined forces to provide Oak Tree Day for fans and horsemen on Saturday, Oct. 4 at The Great Race Place. Bolstered by a $100,000 contribution from the Oak Tree Racing Association, Oak Tree Day at Santa Anita will include purse incentives to horsemen and fan giveaways to go with blockbuster card featuring five stakes with Breeders’ Cup implications.

On Oak Tree Day at Santa Anita, on-track patrons who are members of Santa Anita’s 1/ST Reward program can pick from an assortment of Oak Tree Giveaways, including vintage Trevor Denman bobbleheads, Oak Tree water jugs, Oak Tree backpacks and the popular Oak Tree steins with paid admission, plus a free chance to draw from a $30,000 Cherry Tree, which has a top prize of $5,000. If a fan is not already a 1/ST Rewards member, free registration will be available the day of the event at giveaway locations or by visiting the Rewards Center at Santa Anita. All giveaways are available while supplies last.

For horsemen, the Oak Tree Association has contributed $50,000 towards the purse of the GII Oak Leaf Stakes, which is a “Win and You’re In” for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Additionally, Oak Tree will also again present a “Best Turned Out Award” after every race with the groom of each winning horse receiving $500.

“We’re always happy to support California racing,” said Oak Tree President Dr. Rick Arthur. “We welcome this way to support the actual live racing as compared to the charitable efforts we continue to offer through our Oak Tree Charitable Foundation.

“And more importantly, the Best Turned Out Award is consistent with our long-term charitable goals in supporting horsemen. Particularly the grooms, who are underappreciated in a lot of ways.”

The Oak Tree Racing Association was founded in 1968 by California horsemen as a non-profit corporation with the mantra of “horsemen helping horsemen.” From 1969 through 2009, Oak Tree conducted a fall race meet at Santa Anita each year with profits going to support a variety of horse racing-related charities. While the race meet no longer exists, Oak Tree has continued its support of the horse racing industry. Since its founding, Oak Tree has distributed more than $30 million to racing-related causes.

Arthur is joined on the Oak Tree board of directors by Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, and owners-breeders Bo Hirsch and Tom Capehart. Hirsch is the son of Clement L. Hirsch, a founding member of Oak Tree and its first president.

As for the Oak Leaf Stakes, it was one of the original stakes races at the Oak Tree Meet. In 2012, the race was renamed the Chandelier Stakes before reverting to the Oak Leaf in 2024 in honor of the Oak Tree Racing Association.

“For many of us who have been around for a while, the fall meet at Santa Anita is always the Oak Tree Meet,” said Arthur, a retired veterinarian who served as California’s Equine Medical Director from 2006 to 2020. “When you look at the horses who have won the Oak Leaf, you look at Phone Chatter and Halfbridled. You look at Serena’s Song. Plus a whole bunch of other wonderful horses. It’s been a tremendous race over the decades.”

Joining the Oak Leaf on Oak Tree Day are the GI American Pharoah presented by DK Sports, an automatic qualifier to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; the GII Rodeo Drive for fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on turf, which provides the winner an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf; and both the GIII Chillingworth for fillies and mares at 6 ½ furlongs on dirt and the Speakeasy Stakes for 2-year-olds at five furlongs on turf.

The Chillingworth Stakes also has ties to Oak Tree as it is named in honor of Sherwood Chillingworth, a longtime Oak Tree executive vice president. After Chillingworth died in 2019, Santa Anita named the race in his honor the following year.

Tickets for Oak Tree Day can be purchased at santaanita.com. You can also find more information by calling (626) 574-RACE.