It was there from the beginning. One of the charter stakes held during Santa Anita's winter/spring meet going back to 1935.

Functioning as a prep race for the Santa Anita Handicap, it saw its share of Thoroughbred legends add their names to its storied history. For example, Rosemont won it en route to upsetting Seabiscuit in the 1937 Big 'Cap. Three years later, the Biscuit himself captured it before riding off into the sunset with his long-awaited Big 'Cap triumph. Eighteen years later, Round Table would count it among his record five stakes wins in one season in Arcadia.

The amount of high-profile names that won it only grew over time: Terrang, Pretense, Ack Ack, Kennedy Road, Ancient Title, Vigors, Flying Paster, Best Pal, Game On Dude, Shared Belief. You will find a win in this race on all their resumes.

And that race is the San Antonio Stakes.

On Opening Day of Santa Anita's 2023-2024 Classic Meet, the 85th San Antonio went off as the sixth race on the program. A field of five horses comprised the lineup:

-Brickyard Ride, a California-bred with multiple stakes wins to his name.

-Mixto, who had recently broken his maiden several weeks earlier (he would go on to win the 2024 Del Mar Pacific Classic).

-Newgrange, who had captured the Grade II San Pasqual Stakes nearly a year earlier and was coming off a third in the Grade III Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar about a month before.

-Stilleto Boy, champion of the 2023 Santa Anita Handicap.

-Subsanador, a multiple group stakes winner in Argentina who was making his North American debut.

Though he was coming off a layoff of nearly five months, Subsanador attracted the most wagering dollars of anyone in the field. He was not the early pacesetter, however. Brickyard Ride went to the front after the gates opened with Newgrange right on his outside. Mixto joined them on the extreme outside while Subsanador raced directly behind that trio. Stilleto Boy went to the inside and passed Subsanador as the field was pretty close together going into the clubhouse turn.

The first quarter mile was timed in 23.26. Brickyard Ride had the clear lead going around the turn and into the backstretch. Newgrange followed closely on the outside, approximately a length in arrears. Stilleto Boy and Mixto were side by side as they trailed Newgrange, and Subsanador was behind them, the group staying bunched together.

It was anyone's race as they passed the half-mile pole. Four furlongs went by in 47.31. Brickyard Ride looked relaxed going down the backstretch. Newgrange was still right there on the leader's outside, while Stilleto Boy continued on the inside. Mixto and Subsanador were at the rear of the pack, battling as the field went into the far turn. They were soon side by side with Stilleto Boy. Meanwhile, Brickyard Ride's lead had decreased; Newgrange was almost level with him, and then they were level as three-quarters of a mile went by in 1:11.11.

After straightening into the stretch, Newgrange was racing in the center of the track while Brickyard Ride continued on the inside. A large gap existed between them. Subsanador and Stilleto Boy were in the center, but they were not making any headway towards the top two. Mixto was last, though not far from either Subsanador and Stilleto Boy.

Despite the wider trip, Newgrange and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. had a slight lead over Brickyard Ride. In the final sixteenth, Newgrange began pulling away. Brickyard Ride was game, but Newgrange was the top horse on the day. After a mile in 1:36.10, Newgrange got to the wire well clear of a charging Mixto, who rallied well and got by Brickyard Ride in the final jumps. Brickyard Ride held on for third, beating Subsanador by a neck. Stilleto Boy faded to last.

Newgrange completed the one and one-sixteenth mile San Antonio in 1:42.79. The dark bay gave trainer Phil D'Amato his first San Antonio win, and he also gave jockey Kazushi Kimura, a regular rider at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack, a win in one of Santa Anita's original stakes races. It was a big win for Newgrange and the connections, and it later turned out to be even more significant.

Almost a year later, in November 2024, Santa Anita announced that the San Antonio Stakes would be renamed in honor of legendary jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. While this tribute was unquestionably long overdue, it also meant that a race that had been around since the start would have a different moniker.

In addition, it meant that the tens of thousands of fans who attended Opening Day at Santa Anita in 2023 ended up seeing a truly historical edition of the San Antonio. They did not know it, but it would be called by that name for the last time that afternoon.

Even so, it has garnered a rich history going back to the days of Rosemont and Seabiscuit. And it goes without saying that the race's rich history will never change.