Santa Anita drops 11 stakes, cuts other stakes purses

Santa Anita has eliminated 11 stakes, and reduced purses for three major races – the Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap, and Santa Anita Oaks – for the forthcoming winter-spring meeting from Dec. 26 to June 15, the track announced on Thursday.

Overall, prize money in the stakes program has been reduced by $1.675 million from the 2023-24 meeting. In a statement, the track indicated that some of those monies will be redirected to overnight purses.

The Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 5 will be worth $500,000, a decline from $750,000 from 2021 through 2024. The race was worth $400,000 in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic when several stakes were run for lower purses. Aside from 2020, the Santa Anita Derby purse is the lowest since the race was worth $500,000 in 1994.

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The Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1 will be worth $300,000, a decline of $100,000 from 2024. The purse will be the lowest for the historic race for older horses since 1978. In the last decade, the Santa Anita Handicap purse has ranged from $400,000 in 2021 to $1 million in 2015 and 2016.

The Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 5 will be worth $200,000, a decline of $100,000 from last year. The race was worth $400,000 from 2014 to 2019 and from 2021 to 2023. In 2020, the race was worth $200,000 during the season affected by the pandemic.

For the forthcoming season, 11 races that were worth $100,000 at the 2023-2024 meeting are not part of the schedule – the Angels Flight, Astra, Desert Code, Lady of Shamrock, Providencia, and Singletary on turf; and the Lazaro Barrera, Californian, Kona Gold, Spring Fever, and Tiznow on dirt.

The purses of five stakes for California-breds on Jan. 11 have each been cut by $25,000. The California Cup Derby, California Cup Oaks, and Unusual Heat Turf Classic will be worth $175,000, while the California Cup Sprint and Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint will have purses of $125,000.

The meet begins on Dec. 26 with a program that includes six stakes, including three Grade 1 races worth $300,000 – the American Oaks for fillies on turf, the La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, and the Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs.

The program includes a newly-named race – the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr., Stakes at 1 1/16 miles in honor of the retired Hall of Fame jockey. The race, which has a purse of $200,000, was previously known as the San Antonio Stakes.

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