United States Eventing Association

Santa Anita Park Confirmed As Venue for Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 Equestrian Events

Santa Anita Park, located in proximity to the Los Angeles city area, has been confirmed as the venue of the equestrian events of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28).

“Santa Anita Park will be a spectacular venue for the LA28 Olympic equestrian events,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said. “The FEI has very fond memories of Santa Anita, which had hosted the equestrian events at the 1984 Olympic Games. The venue is set to offer a breathtaking stage for all the Olympic equestrian competitions and the proximity to LA City will undoubtedly attract many spectators to Santa Anita. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with LA28 to deliver spectacular equestrian events at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.”

“I would like to thank the FEI on behalf of the IOC for the active engagement in all the discussions regarding the venue,” IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said. “We have created a strong partnership with the Organizing Committee and the city of Los Angeles, which enjoys the full support of the local equestrian community.”

"We have the utmost confidence in the LA28 Organizing Committee, and we anticipate exceptional equestrian sport will take place at this special legacy venue from the 1984 Olympic Games. We are also extremely pleased that the IOC has confirmed the athlete quotas across the disciplines for 2028 and they remain unchanged from 2024,” said Bill Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of US Equestrian.

Santa Anita features an on-course veterinary clinic and has hosted some of the major Thoroughbred events in the U.S. including the Breeders Cup. The famous champion racehorse Seabiscuit won his last race at Santa Anita in 1940. The facility also hosts a CSI3* as well as a FEI Jumping World Cup Qualifier CSI5*-W, which this year will take place in November.

Santa Anita covers 320 acres and includes a 1,100'-long grandstand that seats 26,000 spectators. The track infield area, which resembles a park with picnic tables and large trees, can accommodate a crowd of 50,000. The Park has 61 barns that can house more than 2,000 horses.

On April 11, Galway Downs Equestrian Center, a multi-discipline venue in Temecula, California, acknowledged that they would not be the LA28 equestrian venue. Galway Downs and five other sports venues outside the Los Angeles city limits were unanimously approved on March 26 by the Ad Hoc Olympic and Paralympic Committee of the Los Angeles City Council. Proposed venues were initially announced in June of 2024, as amendments to the 2028 Games’ venue master plan. This included proposing Galway Downs as host of equestrian and para equestrian events.

The LA28 Ad Hoc Olympic Committee’s vote to approve new venue proposals was ratified by the entire Los Angeles City Council on March 28, but did need final approval by the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board.

Galway Downs owner Ken Smith said, “We are extremely surprised that we were suddenly removed from consideration. We don’t understand how, based on the March 28 City Council’s vote of approval, that this could happen. When we started this process more than four years ago, we understood the equestrian venue selection for LA28 would be a highly competitive, evolving process. Being selected as the proposed equestrian venue put Galway Downs and Temecula Valley on the world stage. We’re very proud of that, and we’re just getting started. Galway Downs will continue to host elite national and international competitions as well as additional sporting events."

The venue for the Para Equestrian events will be announced at a later date following the review and approval of the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board.

The LA28 Olympic Games will take place from July 14-30, 2028, and the Paralympics are scheduled from Aug. 15-27, 2028.

Details on the LA28 Olympic equestrian events and quota places are available here.