South Coast Botanic Garden – Palos Verdes, CA
July 1, 2024Go, Garbo, Go!
Winter Corgi Nationals at Santa Anita Park – Arcadia, CA
February 2025
Ever since we got our new corgi, Garbo, in February 2024, we have been looking for ways to keep her entertained and exercised. We waited impatiently for the Winter Corgi Nationals at historic Santa Anita Park to roll around this year, as we were positive she quite possibly could be the fastest corgi alive (we’re such parents)! Although we were confident, Garbo was a little apprehensive on the way to the track.
Corgi Nationals is an annual event put on by So Cal Corgi Nation, which is probably more well known for their Corgi Beach Days (frequently attended by more than a 1,000 corgis!). They host two racing events and two beach days each year as well as other fun events for corgis and their owners. From the website, “Corgi Beach Day & Corgi Nationals … the biggest corgi parties on the planet!” How could we not attend? 
The first Corgi Beach Day was in 2012 with 15 attendees. There are now two Corgi Beach Days each year in Huntington Beach, California, one in April and again in September. I just saw an announcement that the event has outgrown its usual space on the Huntington Dog Beach so they are relocating to the Huntington Beach Pier this year as it has a parking lot with 3,000 spaces. That’s a LOT of corgis!
Corgi Nationals started in 2018 and (again from the website) “is now the most attended festival event at Santa Anita Park and the largest Corgi Racing Festival in the world!” Corgi Nationals are held every year on President’s Day Weekend and Memorial Day Weekend. The festival is set up in the racetrack infield with food trucks, kid activities, photographers, merchandise booths (including a cool doggie backpack), Queen’s Best Stumpy Corgi Rescue and even blaring music with a special Corgi Nation rock and roll song.
In January, we entered Garbo in a lottery to see if she could secure a racing slot and subsequently learned they had more than 800 entries for 100 spots this year! We did not get a spot, but purchased VIP tickets and planned on attending to try Garbo in the “Corgi Speed Zone,” where you can time your dog to see if they have a need for speed. (With the VIP ticket you also get Corgi National t-shirts as well as a racing coupon for a $5 bet.)
We arrived at Santa Anita Racetrack early for the 11 a.m. opening. The day was beginning to heat up and the parking lot was already starting to overflow with corgis and their humans. Some in costume, some in racing silks and many with hats and sunglasses (the dogs, not their humans).
The group in front of us had traveled all the way from Arizona to attend, and even got into one of the races. That corgi was definitely dressed for success. Attendees of the event have come from as far away as New York.
MaiTaiTom Tip: Arrive early and bring chairs so you can stake out a seat around the corgi racing area. There is no reserved seating so if you don’t grab a spot early it will be difficult to get an unobstructed view of the races. (The semi-finals and finals are run on the main track near the end of the racing day)
In the VIP area they do have tables and umbrellas set up for some shade, but with all the people surrounding the racing area it is difficult to see the corgis race even if you are standing up. They also had a row of tables and umbrellas facing the horse race track so you can watch the horse races from that vantage but, again, you cannot see the corgis from that area.
After going through security, we hustled onto the infield in search of the Corgi Speed Zone.
Tracy’s aside: Now, many of you may not know this, but Tom is the MOST COMPETITIVE PERSON ON EARTH. When one of our previous corgis (Frankie) competed in agility, he was the fastest of the group. When he finished, Tom yelled out (so the world would know), “That’s my boy!!!!!”
The pressure was on for Garbo, but she was more interested in pre-time trial treats.
Yeah, those are lip smackin’ good.
The plan was for me to hold Garbo while Tracy waited at the other end screaming her name and Go! Go! Go! It works like a charm at home, plus we had the secret weapon … hot dogs. Our girl, like most corgis, will do ANYTHING for food. Her first finish time of 3.389 was the fastest of the first group that morning, but she was quickly topped by the very next dog. So back to the end of the line to try again. [From Tracy: Check out Tom’s face in this photo while he watches Garbo run… competitive? Just a little.]
In the her next attempt, Garbo improved her time to 3.272 …
… but now her tongue was hanging out and it was really starting to heat up so we decided it was probably best to call it a career, at least for this year. BTW the best time posted in the Speed Zone was 2.113 by Tony. Go, Tony, Go!
Although tired, after the race she started practicing for next year.
At the end of the course there was a professional photographer (@la.pet.photo) who snapped several nice photos of our girl. We purchased more than a few shots (many in this post), because we obviously don’t have enough photos of her. (https://www.oneandonlyproduction.com/about)
After the Speed Zone we wandered about checking out the food trucks and merchandise booths. The corgi races had started but it was too hot and we couldn’t see anyway, so Tracy and Garbo waited in the shade while I took the tunnel under the race track to the other side to place our bet of the day on Style Cat. In the past, we’ve always had good luck with Cat horses, once winning $3,300 on a Cat Thief/Budroyale exacta during a Breeder’s Cup race. Not bad for a ten dollar bet.
As for Style Cat, I believe he’s still running.
It was a very fun event, even if you don’t have a corgi. Plus, there’s horse racing. (this, unfortunately, is not Style Cat)
If you come early you can take the Seabiscuit Tram Tour of the stables and other areas not usually frequented by the public. When we took the tour in 2015 we saw American Pharoah in the stables wearing his Triple Crown Winner blanket. I would redo that post but how often do you get to see a Triple Crown Winner in person? There have only been 13.
By now it was a little after 1 p.m. and time to take Garbo home. As you can see, Garbo was pretty exhausted. Tracy had to carry her from the infield tunnel out to the car. Where’s that backpack when you need it? Back home, by evening, Garbo was so tired she couldn’t even finish her wine.
If we enter again next year, I think we need to do some serious pre-conditioning of both Garbo and us.
