Santa Anita raises purses for 20 stakes at 2021-2022 meeting

Santa Anita has raised the purses of 20 stakes for its 2021-2022 winter-spring meeting from 2020-2021 levels, with significant increases for Grade 1 races for older horses and Triple Crown preps.

The track released its stakes schedule on Thursday for the marathon meeting, which runs from Dec. 26 to June 19, 2022. The meet will have 15 programs featuring three or more stakes.

Three Grade 1 races for older horses have had purses boosted by $200,000 or more. The Santa Anita Handicap on March 5, the track’s leading race for older horses, will be worth $650,000, an increase of $250,000.

The Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares will be worth $500,000, an increase of $200,000. The Beholder is one of six graded stakes on the Big Cap program, having previously been run on the second Saturday of March.

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Three Grade 1 races for older horses on the Memorial Day program on May 30 received purse boosts. The Shoemaker Mile on turf has been increased $200,000, to $500,000. The Hollywood Gold Cup and Gamely Stakes have been increased $100,000 each, to $400,000.

The richest race of the meeting is the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 9, a key prep for the Kentucky Derby. There are seven stakes on April 9 – five graded stakes and two six-figure stakes for California-bred 3-year-old sprinters.

Two prep races for the Santa Anita Derby have had purses increased $100,000. The Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 6 will be worth $200,000, while the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 5 will be worth $400,000.

The San Felipe was worth $400,000 from 2015-2018 and in 2020. The race was not held in 2019 when the track was briefly closed for renovation and inspection following a series of fatal injuries.

The San Felipe had a purse of $300,000 when it was run this year.

With an emphasis on grouping stakes on one day, Santa Anita will have eight weekends during the season with only one stakes.

Racing secretary Chris Merz said grouping stakes on so many days is an experiment to see if it will increase business.

“It’s a five-year study to move races around on the big days,” he said.

There will be no racing on the weekend of April 16-17 to allow for turf course maintenance and a break in the lengthy season. Santa Anita officials told the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday that it also may not race on the weekend of April 23-24, depending on the availability of horses and other factors, such as the the condition of the racing surfaces.

The track has scheduled nine stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, which has not been used for sprints since March 2019 because of safety concerns. A limited number of turf sprints on the hillside will be run at the upcoming autumn meeting, which runs from Oct. 1-31.

The richest hillside turf race is the $250,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes on Jan. 1, a Grade 2 race that has had its purse increased $50,000.