Santa Anita offering bonuses to out-of-state shippers at fall meet
Santa Anita is enhancing a bonus program paid to out-of-state shippers at its autumn meeting later this year in an effort to increase field sizes.
Horses that have not raced in California in the preceding 12 months will be guaranteed a $5,000 bonus in their first start of the meeting, and will receive a 35 percent bonus on purse earnings for first- through fifth-place finishes in overnight races. Last year, a similar plan paid $3,000 and 35 percent bonuses.
This year, out-of-state runners in stakes will receive the $5,000 bonus, but will not be eligible for the 35 percent purse enhancement.
First-time starters are not eligible for any bonuses.
A similar program has been in place at Del Mar since 2011 and at Santa Anita in recent years.
Horses from out of state that have one start at the Del Mar meeting, which begins on July 22, will be eligible for bonuses for their first start of the Santa Anita autumn meeting, provided they do not race between the end of the Del Mar meeting on Sept. 11 and the start of the Santa Anita meeting on Sept. 30. The clause prevents eligible horses from racing at California tracks such as Golden Gate Fields or Los Alamitos during that span.
Field sizes are a concern at California tracks. Through Sunday, field sizes at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting have not kept pace with the corresponding meeting in 2020-2021. Fields have averaged 7.09 runners per race compared to 7.31 runners per race last year during the corresponding period. The entire 2020-2021 meeting averaged 7.24 runners per race.