Overnight purses increased for Santa Anita winter-spring meet
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Overnight purses will rise by approximately 6 percent to 7 percent in some categories at the 2025-26 Santa Anita winter-spring meeting from Dec. 26-April 5.
In addition, two $100,000 stakes on turf have been restored to the schedule after not being held this year. The Astra Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles will be run Jan. 19. The Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles is scheduled for April 5.
The purses of two Grade 3 races have been reduced from $200,000 to $100,000 – the San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf Dec. 26, and the Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on Feb. 7.
Santa Anita received approval from the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday to conduct two race meetings in coming months – the winter-spring meeting and a spring meeting from April 17-June 14.
Purses for those meetings have two levels, with higher prize money offered at the winter-spring meeting.
In the last year, purses have increased at the three Southern California tracks conducting Thoroughbred racing – Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita – after revenue from betting through account wagering and simulcast locations throughout the state was directed to Southern California tracks and purse accounts at those venues.
Previously, money from account wagering and simulcast locations in Northern California was directed to tracks and purses in that part of the state. Northern California ceased racing last December.
At Santa Anita, overnight purses rose in the final weeks of the track’s winter-spring meeting earlier this year after the consolidation of simulcasting revenue.
For the forthcoming winter-spring meeting, a maiden race will be worth $70,000, a sharp increase of $10,000 from the beginning of the 2024-25 winter spring meeting and $5,000 higher than what was offered later at that meeting.
A first-condition allowance race will be worth $71,000 compared to levels of $61,000 and $67,000 earlier this year.
Not all categories will have higher purses compared to the end of the 2024-25 winter-spring meeting. An $8,000 claimer will be worth $18,000, an increase of $1,000 from the start of the 2024-25 meeting but $2,000 lower than the final weeks of that meeting.
The richest race of the winter-spring meeting is the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, which will be worth $500,000. The race was worth $750,000 from 2021-24 and was reduced in 2025 in an effort to devote money to overnight races.
California tracks operate without the benefit of ancillary forms of revenue, such as slot machines or casinos, that significantly boost prize money at tracks in other states.
Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby told the racing board on Wednesday that the track would like to increase the purse of the Santa Anita Derby but that eliminating a deficit in the purse pool is a priority.
Officials have said in the last year that the purse pool overpayment grew to as much as $6 million. Purses were underpaid by more than $3.92 million at the track’s two meetings in the first half of this year, according to figures the track presented to the racing board.
“The Santa Anita Derby [purse] is something we’d like to get up there,” Newby told the racing board.
“We’re still overpaid. We’ve made quite a bit of progress in the last few years.”
California tracks develop purse structures in conjunction with officials from the Thoroughbred Owners of California.
TOC president Bill Nader told the racing board on Wednesday that an emphasis has been placed on purses for maiden and allowance races at the upcoming Santa Anita meeting.
“We’re not at a point we have the luxury of increasing the upper tier races,” he said. “We’re focused more on the bread and butter, the overnight races.
“In a perfect world, we could do both.”
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