The Palos Verdes Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for four-year-olds and older over a distance of six furlongs on the dirt track held annually in late January or early February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event currently carries a purse of $200,000. History The event is named after one of the first California land grants known as Rancho San Pedro consisting today of the Pacific coast cities of Los Angeles harbor, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and other cities in Los Angeles County including Rancho Palos Verdes which is approximately 50 miles from Santa Anita Park. Pre World War II (1936) The first running of the event known as the Palos Verdes Handicap was on 25 February 1936. The event was for three-year-olds and older for a purse of $1,200 with seven starters. The event was won by Mars heiress Mrs. Ethel V. Mars's Milky Way Farm Stable – The Fighter, trained by Robert V. McGarvey and ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Alfred M. Robertson by a margin lengths in a relatively fast time of 1:11 flat on a drying track. The Fighter was the only three-year-old in the field and was preparing for the U.S. Triple Crown events. Later in May, The Fighter ran in the 1936 Kentucky Derby where he was prominent early in the event but faded to finish eleventh. Post World War II The event would not be held for fifteen years and was reinstated by Santa Anita Track Administration as part of the stakes program for the opening week of the 1951–52 Winter Meeting. The event would grown in prominence in the 1950s and would become an Opening Day feature for the track's Winter Meetings. The first time the event was held on an Opening Day was on 26 December 1953 and 62,000 were on hand to see 18/1 longshot Heliowise winning by the shortest of margins and setting a new stakes record of 1:09. The following year Imbros carried a remarkable 128 pounds giving eighteen pounds to the fine sprinter Berseem (second place) and Hour Regards (third place) and would equal the track record for the six furlongs distance of 1:09 flat. Ten years later Imbros's son, one of California's all-time favorite horses, Native Diver would win the first of his two victories in the event. Other notable winners from this era were