Santa Maria Stakes

Santa Maria Stakes
Grade II race
LocationSanta Anita Park
Arcadia, California, United States
Inaugurated1934
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Websitewww.santaanita.com
Race information
Distance1+116 miles (8.5 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationFillies and Mares, four years old & up
WeightAssigned
Purse$200,000

The Santa Maria Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. A race for fillies and mares age four and older, it is contested on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs).

Since the inaugural running in 1934, the Santa Maria Stakes has been contested at various distances:

  • 6 furlongs: 1934–1936, 1938–1940
  • 3 furlongs: 1941
  • 8 furlongs (1 mile): 1946, 1947, 1952–1953
  • 7 furlongs: 1954–1956
  • 8.5 furlongs (1+116 miles): 1957–present

The Santa Maria was run as a handicap from 1952 through 2010 and was raced in two divisions in 1983 and 1984.

There was no race in 1937, nor from 1948 through 1951.

The Santa Maria has been downgraded from a Grade I to a Grade II stakes race.