Santa Anita Park Boosts Purses for Two Juvenile Stakes

Santa Anita Park announced May 22 that a pair of closing-day juvenile stakes, the Fasig-Tipton Debutante and the Fasig-Tipton Futurity, will now feature purses of $100,000 each, up from their original purses of $75,000. 

Both races, to be run June 20, will be contested at five furlongs on Santa Anita's main track and serve as a prelude to Fasig-Tipton's 2-year-olds in training sale at Santa Anita. The only North American 2-year-old sale to be held on dirt in the month of June, the Fasig-Tipton sale will be conducted June 23, with an under-tack preview on June 21.

The sale date is advantageous to regional buyers, as it allows them to purchase horses and immediately pursue races for 2-year-olds that are carded in earnest each summer.

"We've boosted the purses on both of these races to $100,000 because we want to continue to provide tangible incentives for those owners and horsemen that are investing in our future," said Chris Merz, Santa Anita director of racing and racing secretary. "We'll have all of these sales horses on the grounds here during our final week of the meet and this is going to attract a great deal of interest. 

"It's important for everyone to know, they can come to the sale, inspect the horses, and there will be opportunities to race not only here at Santa Anita in the fall, but at Los Alamitos and Del Mar as well."