Purse’s Are Up, Handle’s Increasing and Early Speed is Winning at Santa Anita

Week seven is now completed at Santa Anita Park as they raced four days this past week which included President’s Day on Monday. All three of the weekend days managed to have 10 races. And while racing was being cancelled at New York and Arkansas due to weather concerns, it was fast and firm at the Great Race Place.

Good news came from the Racing Office that effective February 28 all overnight purses will be raised by 8%. The increase is possible because in late March all revenue from racing throughout the state will be directed to Southern California with the closing of Pleasanton in Northern California. In addition, overall handle is up 7% at the current meet.

Purses will continue to increase throughout the year at both Del Mar and Los Alamitos as well and the Spring meet here at Santa Anita (April 16 to June 16) will have a 10% increase in purses vs. 2024. Better purses mean keeping more of California horses in California, as too many owners/trainers are shipping east due to the fatter purse money at places like Arkansas and Kentucky where casino wagering and historical racing machines are firmly in place at the tracks.

Overall, the main track favored early speed this past week, at least in the first half of every day’s race card, but there were so many favorites winning over the weekend, it was difficult to get a good handle on the track.

The turf course played fair the last 3 days, and that’s a change. For most of the meet, the course has favored off the pace runners, but when the rains came and the surface was rated “good” with some decent moisture in the ground, speed has hung on much better, even in two turn races.

On Monday the first 9 winners on the card were all single digit winners with $9.80 being the best price in race 9. But in the 10^th, on a course rated as firm (even though it still had a fair amount of moisture in it) an 18/1 shot easily wired the field at a flat mile and paid $38.80. So pace still makes the race on the turf. Racing returns this Friday with a good 9 race program and the entire week looks like fast and firm with the temps warming up to the low 70’s by the weekend.