Del Mar raising purses for 2021 summer meet

Boosted by strong handle from account-wagering sources, Del Mar will offer significantly higher overnight purses compared to recent years at its 31-day summer meeting from July 17 to Sept. 6, the track announced Thursday.

Including stakes, the track expects to distribute approximately $700,000 per day.

Del Mar, and other Southern California tracks, have benefited from a rise in account-wagering handle during the coronavirus pandemic, which forced customers to bet from phones or computers. Tracks have limited attendance largely to owners with horses racing on a given day.

Del Mar slashed overnight purses by 20 percent prior to the start of its 2020 summer meeting, but retroactively restored half of the reduction shortly after the start of the season following better than expected account-wagering business.

For the upcoming meeting, a maiden special weight race will be worth $70,000, compared to $55,000 in summer 2020. A $40,000 claiming race will be worth $47,000, compared to $37,000 last summer.

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“There’s some good news in Southern California,” Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens said in an interview Thursday.

“Horsemen have stuck with us, and we’re happy to announce these increases. It should be well received.”

The track has had higher overnight purses in the past than what will be offered this summer. A maiden special weight race was worth $75,000 in 2014, the same year a $40,000 claiming race was worth $53,000.

In addition to higher overnight purses, the track has increased an incentive program paid to owners of horses sent to California from other states or countries.

Horses are eligible for a one-time participation bonus of $4,000 and a 40 percent bonus for purses earned for top five finishes in overnight turf races throughout the summer meeting, provided the horse has not raced in California in the last 12 months and is not a first-time starter. The bonus will increase to 50 percent for purses earned in overnight dirt races. Bonuses are not paid for purses earned in stakes.

Jerkens said Thursday that a new clause has been added to the program allowing horses from other circuits that are not first-time starters to have one race at Santa Anita in May or June and remain eligible for overnight purse bonuses through the Del Mar summer meeting.

If an eligible horse is claimed during the Del Mar summer meeting, the owner who brought the horse to California will earn bonuses from purses through that season, and not the owner who claims the horse, Jerkens said.

The program was enacted in 2011 to lure race-ready horses to Del Mar and the Southern California circuit.

This is the second purse increase in as many meetings at Del Mar. The 2020 autumn meeting had a 10 percent increase compared to 2019.

Santa Anita boosted overnight purses by 10 percent prior to the start of its current winter-spring meeting, part of an agreement between that racetrack, Del Mar, the Thoroughbred Owners of California, and some account-wagering services.

Del Mar is expected to announce its summer stakes schedule in the coming weeks.