Best Bets: Saturday 12/26

Noon: Horse Races

Was Santa good to you? If not, maybe the ponies will be. Opening day at Santa Anita includes not only nine thoroughbred races, but also an appearance by the Budweiser Clydesdales and live mariachi music.

* Opening Day at Santa Anita, 285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia. Gates open at 9 a.m., first post at noon. $5, $8.50 clubhouse, $15 Turf Club or box seats. Children 17 and under, free when accompanied by an adult. (626) 574-7223.

All day: Museums

Two prominent museums will be more accessible over the holidays as both the Norton Simon Museum of Art and the Huntington Library extend their regular hours. The Norton Simon in Pasadena houses an extraordinary collection of Eastern and Western art from the early Renaissance through the modern period with works by Rembrandt, Degas and Van Gogh, among others. And currently on view at the Huntington in nearby San Marino: “The Wisdom of the Trail: Jack London, Author and Adventurer,” “The Great Experiment: George Washington and the American Republic” and “Antiquity Revisited: English and French Silver-Gilt From the Collection of Audrey Love.” Both museums will be open daily through Jan. 3.

* Norton Simon Museum of Art, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Museum hours through Jan. 3: daily, noon to 6 p.m. Admission: adults, $4; seniors and students, $2; children under 12, free. (626) 449-6840. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Museum hours through Jan. 3: daily, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission: adults, $8.50; seniors, $7; students, $5; children under 12, free. (626) 405-2141.

8 pm: Pop Music

For some it’s a time of winter wonderlands and snowy sleigh rides. In Southern California, surf’s up. Two archetypal surf bands, the Chantays (with three original members) and the Surfaris (with two), crank up the reverb at the Coach House, each boasting a 1963 classic--”Pipeline” and “Wipe Out,” respectively.

* The Chantays and the Surfaris at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, 8 p.m. $13.50. (949) 496-8927.

8 pm: Music

Two great December traditions are celebrated in voice and dance when the Lula Washington Dance Ensemble and choir combine their celebrations of Christmas and Kwanzaa in a “Gospel Kwanzaa Celebration.”

* Lula Washington’s “Gospel Kwanzaa Celebration,” Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles. $25 to $30; students and seniors, $15. Also Sunday, 3 p.m. (323) 343-6600.

8:30 pm: Latin Jazz

Percussionist Bobby Matos’ six-piece Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, featuring such rhythmically-wise musicians as saxophonist Michael Turre, conguero Robertito Melendez and trombonist Steve Baxter, embraces a wide array of musical forms from Africa and the Western Hemisphere. The band looks to its next album when it moves into the landmark Catalina Bar & Grill for two nights of live recording.

* Bobby Matos Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble, Catalina Bar & Grill, 1640 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. $12. Also Sunday, 8 p.m. (323) 466-2210.

All day: Movies

OK, nearly everyone’s seen “Citizen Kane,” but if that’s the only Orson Welles film you’ve caught, be sure to check out his two best films noir: “The Lady From Shanghai” (1948), which stars his then-wife Rita Hayworth as the ultimate femme fatale, and “Touch of Evil” (1958), a tense character drama played out in a hellish California border town.

* “The Lady From Shanghai” and “Touch of Evil,” New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Thursday through Saturday. $3 to $5. (323) 938-4038.

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FREEBIE: Kwanzaa Candlelighting Ceremony in Bradley Court of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at 1 p.m. (323) 290-6636.

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Johnny Blas plays Latin jazz at Borders Books, 2110 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, 8 p.m. (562) 799-0486.