Changes to Santa Anita winter-spring stakes schedule a mixed bag

Santa Anita has scheduled 93 stakes worth $16.3 million for its 2022-2023 winter-spring meeting, which runs from Dec. 26 to June 19, a slight decline from a stakes program worth $16.47 million in 2021-2022.

Purses for all stakes will be worth at least $100,000, an increase of $25,000 to $30,000 for nine restricted and overnight stakes. The purses of eight stakes have been reduced, notably the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, which will be worth $500,000. The race was worth $650,000 in March, and in recent years had values ranging from $600,000 in 2019 and 2020 to $400,000 in 2021.

The dates of several notable stakes have been moved from as little as a week to a few months from their placements last meet to provide better spacing through the season and develop new sequences of racing, according to racing secretary Chris Merz.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

The Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares will be run on March 11, the same day as the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes for sprinters. This year, those races were part of a day of six stakes led by the Santa Anita Handicap and Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds.

The Santa Anita Handicap and San Felipe are two of four stakes on March 4 next year.

Santa Anita will run the $100,000 Cinema Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf. It is the third in a sequence of stakes with graduated distances for 3-year-olds on turf. The $100,000 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf has been moved from late February to April 2, while the $100,000 Singletary Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf has been moved from early April to May 7 and will be run at 1 1/8 miles instead of a mile.

“We looked at the 3-year-old turf division, and we didn’t gain enough traction early on in the year,” Merz said of those changes.

The sprint division for fillies and mares has been revamped. The $75,000 Kalookan Queen Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs, run in early January, has been eliminated and replaced with the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs on Dec. 31. The Las Flores, run in March in recent years, serves as a prep for the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes on Feb. 4.

The Santa Anita Derby will be run on April 8, part of a day of five stakes worth $1.35 million. Santa Anita Handicap Day has four stakes worth $1.6 million, while the May 29 Memorial Day program has three Grade 1 races worth $1.3 million.