Santa Anita Purses Reduced From Classic to Spring Meet

Overnight purses will dip at Santa Anita Park when the track begins its spring meet April 21 after a planned one-week pause following the April 9 conclusion of its Classic Meet.

Purse levels across numerous types of races will be reduced, with a maiden special weight race, as one example, dropping from $67,000 to $61,000. Purses for the spring meet, which runs through June 18, will be in line with what they were last fall.

Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby and Thoroughbred Owners of California CEO and president Bill Nader both said the purse changes were strategic, though the track's purse account is operating at a deficit.

"Different meets have different levels," Newby said.

According to Nader, this will be a continued practice in California, with Del Mar having higher purses over its most popular summer meet compared to the fall.

"That will be the new template we will work with in Southern California," Nader said.

Betting is down in California this year amid a challenging year in part caused by unusually wet winter weather that resulted in numerous races being moved from turf to dirt. Unlike other major racing states, purses in California are not bolstered by gaming.

Despite dry weather this past weekend, some scheduled grass races were also moved to the main track due to concerns raised by jockeys about a problematic area of the turf course. It was aerated and received follow-up maintenance, Newby said.