Overnight purses will increase by an average of 8 percent at the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, effective Feb. 28, the track announced on Tuesday. The increase comes despite a purse overpayment of approximately $6 million accrued in recent years, officials said recently. The increase is possible because in late March revenue from betting through account wagering and simulcast locations throughout the state will be consolidated and directed to Southern California tracks and purse accounts at those venues. Previously, part of that money was devoted to Northern California tracks and purses. In its statement on Tuesday, Santa Anita cited higher all-sources handle at the current meeting as another reason for higher prize levels. The purse increase begins with the start of the fourth condition book, which details proposed races through mid-March. The current meeting ends on April 6. Beginning Feb. 28, purse levels will be restored to the corresponding meeting in early 2024. Some categories will have greater percentage increases than others. :: Playing Santa Anita? Get the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. A maiden race will be worth $65,000, an increase of $5,000 from earlier this year, but down $2,000 from the 2023 winter-spring meeting. A first-condition allowance race will be worth $67,000, a $6,000 increase from 2024 but lower than the $72,000 offered for the same race in 2023. A $10,000 claimer for fillies and mares will be worth $23,000, an increase of $3,000 from earlier this year, but a decline of $1,000 from 2023. The track’s spring meeting, from April 18 to June 16, will have an increase of approximately 10 percent in overnight purses from the corresponding 2024 season, the track said on Tuesday. In late March, revenue from Northern California simulcasting will be fully redirected to Southern California following the closure of training at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Currently, some of those monies are dedicated to financing stabling costs at Pleasanton. Last month, Northern California racing officials announced that Pleasanton will cease operating as a training center on March 25. No race meetings are currently scheduled for Northern California this year. An autumn meeting at Pleasanton in 2024 had lower-than-expected handle figures, leading to the cancellation of a proposed winter-spring meeting. Instead, Santa Anita has offered a small number of races each week for Northern California-based horses and provided free round-trip shipping from Pleasanton. Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., the hub of Northern California racing since the closure of Bay Meadows in 2008, closed permanently last June. Stables based at Pleasanton have been dispersing in recent weeks to Southern California, while others are planning to move to Emerald Downs in Washington State when the track opens its stable area later this month. Other barns have sent horses away from the West Coast. With a boost in simulcast revenue, purses are scheduled to increase through the year at Southern California racetracks. “I fully anticipate there will be purse increases not only throughout 2025, but into 2026,” said Bill Nader, the president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. The TOC is the state’s official representative for horsemen and worked in conjunction with Santa Anita officials on the details of the forthcoming purse increase. Nader said on Tuesday the purse increase is being handled in a “fiscally responsible way.” “We can repay that deficit and be on a parallel path so that we can systematically raise purses,” he said. “I think we’re on the right path now.  We have a good message to disseminate through this announcement.” Nader said there is a possibility the Santa Anita purse deficit could be considerably reduced through 2025. “It depends on the business results,” Nader said. “There are a lot of factors that come into play.” California tracks do not have a secondary source of revenue to supplement purse levels, such as casinos or historical horse racing machines. California officials are exploring legal ways to install HHR machines, but implementation is not considered likely in the short-term, officials have said. An upcoming purse increase reverses a trend from recent years when prize money fell because of lower than expected handle, leading to purse overpayments. :: Santa Anita Clocker Reports are available every race day. Access now. Lower purses at Southern California tracks have come at a time when venues in Arkansas and Kentucky are offering significantly higher purses and have lured some owners and trainers to move horses out of California. Tracks in those state benefit from secondary sources of income to aid purses. Prior to the current Santa Anita meeting, the track eliminated 11 stakes and reduced purses for stakes by $1.675 million from the 2023-2024 winter-spring meeting. Track officials said in November that some of those monies were to be redirected to overnight purses, which also sustained some reductions compared to last year. Del Mar and Los Alamitos also reduced overnight purses at their 2024 meetings. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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