Santa Anita gives purses for winter-spring meeting a substantial boost

Santa Anita is raising purses for overnight races and some stakes for its 2021-22 winter-spring meeting, which begins Dec. 26, the second time in less than a year the track has increased prize money.

According to a statement released Monday, maiden special weight races will be worth $67,000, an increase of $6,000 from the corresponding meeting earlier this year and $12,000 from the 2019-20 season. A first-condition allowance race will be worth $69,000, compared to $57,000 in the winter of 2019-20 and $63,000 last year.

Last November, Santa Anita announced a 10 percent purse increase for the winter-spring meeting, which concluded in June.

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In Monday’s statement, Santa Anita announced that purses for some stakes will be increased this winter, but did not offer specifics. Track officials said in June that a purse increase was expected for the forthcoming winter meeting.

“We wanted to see where we ended up with our projections,” general manager Nate Newby said Monday. “This is good news.

“We wanted to get the word out early so people can plan.”

Track officials are hoping to attract stables new to the winter meet to boost a Southern California horse population that has declined in recent years.

Newby said Santa Anita will ask the California Horse Racing Board later this month for a schedule in 2021-22 similar to the one held in recent years. The proposed season for the 2021-22 meeting will continue through June 19 and will reduce turf racing in spring to allow for a course renovation. Earlier this year, Santa Anita eliminated racing on two Fridays in April. The turf course was not used on one weekend and was used on a limited basis on another weekend in April.

Higher overnight purses allow Santa Anita to compete with sky-high purses at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, which has drawn some Southern California-based stables in recent years. The Oaklawn Park meeting has been expanded and will begin for the first time in December instead of starting in January, which has been the case in recent seasons. Oaklawn Park’s purses benefit from revenue from a track casino.

Prior to the winter-spring meeting, Santa Anita will conduct a five-week autumn meeting from Oct. 1-31. Overnight purses for that meeting are expected to be identical to those of the 2020 autumn meeting.