Santa Anita to Increase Purses Beginning April 26

Santa Anita Park and the Thoroughbred Owners of California will increase purses for all non-stakes races through the next six weeks, the track announced April 20.

The purse for each non-stakes race will be increased by $10,000. The increase will go into effect April 26 through June 2, after which the program will be evaluated for the remaining three weeks of the spring meet, which extends through June 23.

"We know the last few months have been tough on everyone, especially our horsemen and owners, so working with the TOC, we came up with an aggressive plan to boost all non-stakes purses for the next six weeks," said Tim Ritvo, COO of The Stronach Group. "This has also been difficult on our customers, and we are working hard to improve the product to thank them for their continued support." 

"It's important to all of California horsemen for Santa Anita to (finish) this meet on a strong note," added TOC chairman Nick Alexander. "We appreciate the purse supplements to be funded directly by The Stronach Group and welcome the opportunity to match those funds from the TOC purse account. This will result in over $1 million of additional purse money for horsemen at Santa Anita in the next six weeks.

"Our hope is this is the first step in returning to the traditional four-day-a-week racing program at Santa Anita for our horsemen and fans."