Santa Anita makes change to San Antonio purse structure

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita has changed the conditions of the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7 in an attempt to draw opponents for California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, and Shared Belief, the 2013 champion 2-year-old male.

All runners will receive a minimum of $20,000 in prize money. Typically, horses that finish fifth would receive 2 percent of the purse, which would be $10,000 in a race with the value of the San Antonio.

“We want to try to get a representative field,” racing secretary Rick Hammerle said. “It’s on national TV.”

California Chrome and Shared Belief may not have many rivals. Bayern, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic here on Nov. 1, has been limited to jogging for most of this month because of an abscess in a foot.

On Friday, trainer Bob Baffert said there was “no news” on Bayern’s condition.