Del Mar to raise purses across the board for summer meet

Del Mar is raising overnight purses by approximately 8 percent this summer compared to the corresponding meeting in 2024, the track announced on Wednesday.

The increase in overnight purses puts prize money levels closer to summer meetings in 2022 and 2023.

The 31-day meeting runs from July 18 to Sept. 7, and includes 38 stakes. The stakes schedule does not include the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap, a $100,000 race at 1 1/2 miles that has been put “on hiatus,” according to racing secretary David Jerkens.

The richest race of the season is the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, a $1 million race at 1 1/4 miles on dirt on Aug. 30. The Pacific Classic is a prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

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This summer, some categories will have higher prize levels than others in terms of percentage gains.

A maiden race will be worth $80,000, an increase of 6.7 percent from $75,000 in the summer of 2024. The same race was worth $80,000 in 2022 and $82,000 in 2023.

A first condition allowance race will have a purse of $81,000 this summer, a gain of 6.5 percent over $76,000 last summer. The corresponding race was worth $82,000 in 2022 and $83,000 in 2023.

An $8,000 claimer will be worth $25,000, up $2,000 from last year, or 8.6 percent, and equal to what was offered at the 2022 and 2023 summer meetings.

The track will continue a longstanding program of awarding owners who bring horses to the meeting from other circuits or countries. A horse that has not raced in California in the last 12 months and is not a first-time starter will be eligible for a 50 percent bonus in prize money earned for top-five finishes in overnight dirt races and 40 percent for top-five finishes in turf races.

The bonus is not available in stakes. A $5,000 bonus will be paid to all qualified runners from out of state for starts in dirt races, including stakes, or $4,000 for runners in turf races.

The purse increase is part of a circuit-wide trend.

Last week, Santa Anita announced a purse increase beginning on Feb. 28, utilizing betting revenue throughout the state that will be consolidated and directed to Southern California tracks and purse accounts. Previously, part of that money was devoted to Northern California tracks and purses.

Currently, there is no racing scheduled this year at Northern California tracks, although officials at some venues are pursuing race meetings.

Golden Gate Fields, the hub of Northern California racing, closed permanently in June. A fall meeting at Pleasanton had lower-than-expected handle figures, leading to the cancellation of a scheduled winter meeting.

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