With purse accounts level, California tracks could see increases in 2027

California tracks are on the verge of eliminating a purse overpayment that reached $8 million at the end of 2024, and are positioned to increase prize money at forthcoming meetings and possibly into 2027, according to a leading racing official.

Earlier this month, Santa Anita officials told the California Horse Racing Board that a purse pool deficit of $6 million accrued in recent years has been substantially reduced and is likely to be eliminated by the end of the year.

Santa Anita plans to increase purses in several categories of overnight races for its upcoming fall meeting that begins on Sept. 25.

According to documents submitted to the racing board in May, Del Mar had a surplus of more than $629,000 in its purse account after its 2025 fall meeting.

Del Mar officials said they will hold discussions in coming weeks with the executives of the Thoroughbred Owners of California about purse levels for track’s fall meeting.

The TOC represents owners in purse negotiations. Del Mar’s eight-week summer meeting ended its second week on Sunday.

“We need to see how business goes here and we’ll sit down with the TOC,” track president Josh Rubinstein said over the weekend.

TOC president Bill Nader said in a recent interview that California’s tracks may go into 2027 with “a balanced budget and maybe a surplus” in the purse pool.

“We went into 2025 collectively with overpayments that had hit $8 million, a pretty high mark,” he said.

In early 2025, revenue from betting through account wagering and simulcast locations throughout the state were consolidated and directed to Southern California tracks and purse accounts at those venues.

Previously, part of that money was devoted to Northern California tracks and purses. There has been no racing in Northern California since the end of 2024. During that fall, a meeting at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton failed to meet business expectations. Golden Gate Fields in Albany, the circuit’s leading track, closed permanently in June 2024.

Several proposals to resume racing in that part of the state have been rejected by the California Horse Racing Board in the last 14 months in an effort to preserve prize money levels at Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita, the only Thoroughbred tracks operating in the state.

Santa Anita raised purses in the spring of 2025 as a result of the rearranged division of revenue from simulcasting. The other tracks followed suit.

“What we’ve been able to do in the last two years is raise overnight purses systemically and responsibly,” Nader said.

California derives money for purses strictly from handle. Tracks in a majority of states have an ancillary form of revenue for purses, such as casinos, slot machines, or sports betting. Some of those tracks offer higher prize money than California tracks.

Santa Anita introduced 26 slot machine-styled parimutuel gaming machines in a pavilion in its grandstand in January, but the machines were seized by government officials two days later.

Santa Anita filed a writ of mandate against the state attorney general later that month in an effort to have the machines returned to the track.

“We haven’t given up on the hope that we’ll get our day in court,” Nader said of the machines. “That’s not a closed door.”

California racing recently received a financial boost with an $8 million cash infusion from the state’s general budget for the next two fiscal years for the racing board’s budget.

The racing board has a budget of more than $17.1 million for the fiscal year that began on July 1, according to testimony at a racing board meeting earlier this month. The budget is funded by monies received from racetracks and horsemen’s organizations through revenue generated by handle.

The $8 million in savings over the next two fiscal years will be split between the tracks and horsemen’s organizations, with some of the money going toward purses.

Racing board commissioner Peter Stern, an executive with a San Francisco-based mobile workforce company, was appointed to the board in April 2025 and is widely credited for working with state government officials to acquire funding for the racing board’s budget.

In an interview at Del Mar earlier this month, Stern said state government officials acknowledged the importance of the sport for the state’s economy.

“It comes down to the 26,000 jobs supported through the industry – farmers, ranchers, employees across the entire eco-system,” Stern said.

Stern said an emphasis on equine safety in recent years after a series of fatal breakdowns in 2019 has caught the attention of the state government.

“It’s nice to see them understand what we’re trying to accomplish and support it through and through,” Stern said. “We’ve made incredible strides to reduce the risk for horses and jockeys. We’re thrilled with the progress and hopefully they are as well.”