The Daytona Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 run annually in mid February at Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

 in Arcadia, California

Arcadia, California

Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....

. A Listed race, it was upgraded to a Grade III

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 event for 2009. http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/48193.htm. The race is open to horses age four and older and is contested on Santa Anita's downhill turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 course at a distance of about 6½ furlong

Furlong

A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....

s.

Due to course conditions, the 2005 and 2006 editions of the Daytona Handicap were taken off the turf and run on the dirt track.

Records

Speed record:

• 1:12.49 - Tsigane (2004)

Most wins:

• No horse has won this race more than once.

Most wins by an owner:

• No owner has won this race more than once.

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• No jockey has won this race more than once.

Most wins by a trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

:

• No trainer has won this race more than once.

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2009	Desert Code	5	Aaron Gryder Aaron Gryder Aaron Tod Gryder is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.Growing up fifteen minutes away from the Santa Anita racetrack, as a boy Gryder had no contact with horses other than his father and his grandparents' interest in attending the nearby races...	David Hofmans David Hofmans David E. Hofmans is an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. Born and raised in Los Angeles, as a boy his father brought him to watch horse racing at area tracks. While a student at Pasadena City College he became friends with Gary Jones...	Tarabilla Farms	1:12.58
2008	Cheroot	7	Martin Pedroza	Darrell Vienna	Charlotte M. Wrather	1:12.82
2007	Night Chapter	6	Brice Blanc Brice Blanc Brice Blanc is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Blanc attended a jockey's apprentice school in his native France then, encouraged by trainer Ben Cecil, in October 1993 emigrated to the United States where he settled in Southern California and began racing at area tracks...	Robert J. Frankel	Frankel/Diamond Pride, LLC	1:12.57
2006	Siren Lure	5	Alex Solis Alex Solis Alex O. Solis is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California...	Art Sherman	S. Kesselman/T & M Melkonian	1:16.20
2005	Royal Place	5	Garrett Gomez Garrett K. Gomez Garrett Keith Gomez is an American thoroughbred jockey.-Early career:Gomez learned to ride by watching his father, Louie, who was a jockey at many tracks in the Southwest United States...	Rafael Becerra	K. K. Sangara	1:14.03
2004	Tsigane	5	David Flores David R. Flores David Romero Flores is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.His father was a jockey and an exercise rider in Southern California....	Julio C. Canani	Prestonwood Farm	1:12.49