Purses trimmed at Santa Anita winter-spring meet

Santa Anita will begin its winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26 with overnight purses slightly lower than the corresponding meeting last year.

The purses will equal what the track offered earlier this year at the spring and autumn meetings.

This winter, a maiden race will be worth $65,000, compared to $67,000 last winter and $61,000 at the fall meeting that ended on Nov. 5.

The purse of a first-condition allowance race has declined from $72,000 last winter to $67,000 this winter. The race was worth $63,000 at the spring and autumn meetings.

For lower-level races, some prize money levels have declined by $1,000.

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A $16,000 claimer for non-winners of two will be worth $25,000, $1,000 less than last winter and $1,000 more than the spring and autumn meetings. Similarly, a $20,000 claimer for maidens this winter will have a purse of $23,000, down $1,000 from last winter.

Last month, Santa Anita announced significant purse reductions of $2.275 million to the stakes schedule for the winter-spring and spring meetings that run through June 16.

The reduction in purse levels have been caused by declines in wagering in the last year.

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