Santa Anita increases purses for fall meeting
Santa Anita has increased overnight purses by approximately 10 percent for its upcoming autumn meeting, the third time in the last year the track has increased prize money.
Last November, the track raised purses for the 2020-21 winter-spring meeting. Earlier this month, Santa Anita announced a purse increase for the 2021-22 winter-spring meeting.
The autumn meet runs from Oct. 1-31 and covers five weekends. This is the third consecutive autumn meeting with an increase in overnight purses.
This year, a purse for a maiden special weight race will be $61,000, compared to $50,000 in 2019 and $55,000 last year. A first-condition allowance race will have a purse of $63,000, an increase of $6,000 from 2020. The same type of race was worth $51,000 in 2019.
Strong handle at Santa Anita in the last year has helped boost prize money.
The autumn meeting opens with a three-day week from Oct. 1-3 with 14 stakes, most of which are prep races for the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar.