The San Juan Capistrano Stakes is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of run on the turf track held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in June. The event currently offers a purse of $100,000. It is one of the longest Graded grass race in America. History The event was inaugurated on 9 March 1935, when Head Play defeated Top Row and Ladysman on a muddy track by 2 lengths in a time of 1:51 before a crowd of 45,000 on the closing day of Santa Anita meeting. In 1937 an even greater crowd came to witness Seabiscuit set a new track record for the miles winning by 7 lengths. The event in 1940 only it was limited to three-year-olds and for three-year-olds and older in all other years prior to 1968. From its inception through 1953, the race was contested on dirt, then in 1954 it was converted to a turf event. The San Juan Capistrano is run around four turns, and begins at the top of Santa Anita's downhill chute, normally used for -furlong sprint races. From the start point, horses begin their descent down the hill. Within the first two furlongs of the race, horses turn right – one of only two locations in North American horse racing that a right turn is used (the other is at Kentucky Downs). After a brief straight run, there is a gentle turn to the left until the horses cross the dirt course and enter the main turf oval. Horses then run one full lap of the turf course to complete the distance. In 2016 the Santa Anita's downhill chute was under repair, and the race was run on the flat turf oval, at miles. In 1964, the San Juan Capistrano Handicap was run in two divisions. In 1965 the became an invitational event and was named the San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap. With the increasing emphasis on speed horses bred to compete in the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic distance of miles on dirt, during the last two decades longer races run on grass or dirt in North America have been in decline. Once a Grade I event, the about miles San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap now holds a Grade III classification. Since 2007, the winner of the San Juan Capistrano has received ballot-free entry into Australia's