Details emerge on Golden Gate purse cut; many stakes slashed

Overnight purses have been slashed 25 percent for the forthcoming winter-spring meeting at Golden Gate Fields as the flagship Northern California track deals with a purse overpayment of approximately $3 million in advance of its scheduled closure on June 9.

The reductions affect all levels of races and were made in an attempt to recoup the massive debt caused by a reduction in mutuel handle.

A maiden race worth $30,000 at the autumn meeting that ended on Sunday will have a purse of $22,500 at the start of the winter-spring meeting that begins on Dec. 26.

Purses for a first-condition allowance race have been cut from $31,000 to $23,500 for the upcoming meeting. A $6,250 claimer for non-winners of two will be worth $10,500, down from $14,000.

The stakes schedule has been decimated.

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There were 16 races worth $1.425 million at the 2022-23 winter-spring meeting. For the upcoming season, there will be two stakes worth $275,000 – the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby for 3-year-olds on Feb. 10, and the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile, a $175,000 turf race on April 27.

The purse for the El Camino Real Derby is unchanged from 2023, while the 2024 San Francisco Mile is worth $75,000 less.

The 14 stakes that have been discontinued ranged in value from $50,000 to $100,000 and included such races as the $100,000 California Derby that was part of the undercard of the San Francisco Mile program, and the $100,000 All American Stakes for older horses on Memorial Day.

The terms of allowance races have been changed to reflect lower prize money. At the autumn meeting this year, eligibility for allowance races was based on whether a horse had won a first-place purse of $15,000 other than maiden, claiming, starter or state-bred races. The prize money eligibility has been reduced to $10,000 for the forthcoming meeting.

Details of the revised purse structure were released Tuesday with the publication of the first condition book, detailing proposed races from Dec. 26 through Jan. 7.

The track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, announced in July that Golden Gate Fields would close at the conclusion of the autumn meeting that ended last Sunday. But earlier this year, 1/ST racing officials were urged by the California Horse Racing Board to keep Golden Gate Fields open for another winter-spring season, until June 9, to allow the Northern California racing circuit an opportunity to form a new schedule without Golden Gate Fields.

The 2024 racing schedule in Northern California has been announced through Labor Day weekend and for part of October.

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