Santa Anita kicks off Autumn meet Friday, Sept. 30

After a four-day break following the close of the Fairplex meet in Pomona, the excitement of Thoroughbred racing returns to Southern California's 'grande dame' of racing, historic Santa Anita Park.

Santa Anita kicks off its 2011 Autumn Meet Friday, Sept. 30 with a nine-race card featuring the $100,000 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares going about six and one-half furlongs down the unique El Camino Real turf course.

For more information, please check out my latest update on Examiner.com. Best of luck and happy racing!

Santa Anita morning

California Autumn sunrise over the track.

Aspiring jockeys meet Hall of Famer Mike Smith at Santa Anita

 Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith shared some thoughts with a group of aspiring riders, all students of Frank Garza Jockey School in Somis, California, during their visit to Santa Anita Racetrack, where they posed for a photo at Clockers' Corner. Joining instructor Frank Garza were Kirin Arnold, Cambrea Bartholomew, Jonathan Iuliucci, Ricky Gonzalez, and Vladimir Jensen.

Garza, owner and president of the school, has worked in the horse racing industry for more than 40 years. He won his first match race at the age of ten, and in 1967 began riding professionally on the California circuit for trainer Henry Moreno. Garza rode for 13 years throughout the United States.

Students at his school can choose from a variety of programs aimed at careers as jockeys, exercise riders, grooms and trainers. There are both resident and non-resident programs. For more information about the school, take a look at frankgarzajockeyschool.com.