Del Mar raises purses for upcoming fall meet

Overnight purses at the Del Mar autumn meeting from Oct. 30 to Nov. 30 will rise approximately 10 percent compared to the corresponding meeting in 2024, but will be lower than the 2021 through 2023 seasons.

The 16-day season is highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

A maiden race at the upcoming meeting will be worth $60,000, a sharp increase from a $54,000 purse offered in 2024. A similar race was worth $70,000 at the 2021 and 2022 fall meetings, and $61,000 in 2023.

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The trend is similar with a first-conditional allowance race or a $25,000 claimer.

A first-condition allowance race will have a purse of $61,000 compared to $72,000 in 2021 and 2022, $63,000 in 2023 and $55,000 last year.

A $25,000 claiming race will be worth $34,000, down from $39,000 in 2021 and 2022 and $36,000 in 2023, but higher than a $31,000 purse last year.

Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita, the only tracks operating in the state, have had higher overnight purses since late February following the cessation of racing in Northern California last December.

Revenue from account wagering and simulcast locations in Northern California has been consolidated to Southern California tracks and purse accounts. Previously, monies from those sources were devoted to Northern California racing.

There has been no racing in Northern California since last December.

Handle figures in the state have shown declines in recent years. In 2024, all-sources handle at all tracks in the state was down 7 percent compared to 2023, according to California Horse Racing Board data.

Aside from Breeders’ Cup races, the forthcoming Del Mar fall meeting will offer the same 20 stakes that were on the 2024 schedule. Those stakes will be worth $3.15 million this fall compared to $3.25 million last year. The purse for the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes has been cut from $200,000 last year to $100,000 this year.

After Breeders’ Cup weekend, the majority of the stakes at the fall meeting will be run on the final three days of the meeting, Nov. 28-30. The weekend features seven turf stakes, including two Grade 1 races worth $300,000 – the Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds on Nov. 29, and the Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on Nov. 30.

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