Champions of Champions purse reduced to $600,000

The purse of the Champion of Champions on Dec. 14 at Los Alamitos, the nation’s leading race for older Quarter Horses, has been reduced from $700,000 to $600,000 because of increased fees the track must pay the California Horse Racing Board in the current fiscal year, the track announced in a statement last week.

In June, the racing board adjusted the financial obligations tracks must pay the regulatory agency to finance its operation. The year-long Los Alamitos evening meeting for Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds paid $593,130 in the fiscal year that ended June 30 and will pay more than $1.28 million in the current fiscal year, according to budget projections discussed at the racing board’s meeting in June.

The racing board’s budget is funded entirely through the sport and does not derive revenue from the state government. Overall, the racing board has a projected budget of $18.2 million for the current fiscal year. Major tracks such as Santa Anita ($7.9 million) and Del Mar ($4.97 million) will pay for a majority of the budget.
At that meeting, racing board executive director Scott Chaney described the increased contribution from Los Alamitos as “a major change.”

The allocations were changed for the current fiscal year following the permanent closure of Golden Gate Fields in June. Golden Gate Fields paid for approximately 12 percent of the racing board’s budget in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The Champion of Champions was worth $750,000 in 2023. The track announced a purse of $700,000 for 2024 when the stakes schedule for the current season was published last winter.

The field for the Champion of Champions consists of the winners of major stakes through the year and qualifiers in time trials run in November. So far this season, Empressum, Jess Good Wine, and London Toby have won major stakes at Los Alamitos and Remington Park and have been issued invitations.

Empressum won the 2022 Champion of Champions and was second to Flash Bak last December.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.