Santa Anita to cut purses by 10 percent

Oct 21, 5:00 pm EDT

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP)—A downturn in wagering as a result of the sluggish economy is forcing Santa Anita to slash its overnight purses by 10 percent at the Oak Tree meeting.

The reductions take effect Saturday.

Track officials said Wednesday that through the first 16 days of racing, Oak Tree’s overall pari-mutuel wagering was down 12 percent compared to last year.

The meeting began Sept. 30 and runs through Nov. 8, including the Breeders’ Cup world championships on Nov. 6 and 7, the two richest days in thoroughbred racing.

Oak Tree director Sherwood Chillingworth said unemployment in Los Angeles County is near 13 percent, which has negatively affected wagering.

Updated Oct 21, 5:00 pm EDT
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6 Comments

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  1. Cam527
    6. Posted by Cam527 Sun Oct 25 4:24am EDT

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    I don't go to the track anymore. I sit home and play TVG. I know I'm not helping the tracks, but it's what I do. I do plan on going to the Breaders Cup on Sat.. I wish I could go more often, but it is expensive. And I won't have the people on TVG to help me.
  2. Buffalo1
    5. Posted by Buffalo1 Fri Oct 23 2:40am EDT

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    Wow - those Woodbine purses are through the roof!
  3. Sam
    4. Posted by Sam Thu Oct 22 3:01pm EDT

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    Post 3. I made a mistake when I stated the number of horses those Yankee trainers are sending here to Woodbine. I should have stated how many races they have entered their horses at Woodbine instead.
  4. Sam
    3. Posted by Sam Thu Oct 22 2:35pm EDT

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    Already you are seeing a trend of more horsemen racing their horses at Woodbine in Canada. Steve Asmussen is starting to race more horses here (210+), Vladimir Cerin (50+), Robert Frankel (20+), and Neil Drysdale (15+) represents this new trend. They have figured out that Woodbine has the best purses in N. America. Check out todays purses at Woodbine and Santa Anita. This is the typical purse structure for weekday races at both tracks:

    WOODBINE
    (Race 1) Md Sp Wt . . . . . . . $69,000
    (Race 2) Allowance . . . . . . . $72,200
    (Race 3) Md 32,000 . . . . . . . $35,300
    (Race 4) Claim $32k . . . . . . .$48,600
    (Race 5) Claim $20k . . . . . . .$32,000
    (Race 6) Op Cl $62k . . . . . . .$76,800
    (Race 7) Claim $50k . . . . . . .$56,400
    (Race 8) Claim $12.5k . . . . . $20,100

    SANTA ANITA
    (Race 1) Alw 40,000s . . . . . . $22,000
    (Race 2) Alw 40,000s . . . . . . $23,000
    (Race 3) Md Sp Wt . . . . . . . . $40,000
    (Race 4) Claim $50k . . . . . . .$33,000
    (Race 5) Claim $10k . . . . . . . $12,000
    (Race 6) Cl $12,500N2L . . . . $13,000
    (Race 7) OC25k N/X . . . . . . . $42,000
    (Race 8) Md 32-28k . . . . . . . $17,000

    This past weekend, we had the Canadian International (Gr I, Purse $2 Million), won by Robert Frankel's horse Champs Elysees. There was also the $1Million EP Taylor (Gr I), and the Nearctic $500,000 races. Ofcourse Santa Anita also has stakes races on weekends, which I enjoy watching, but other than the stakes races, Santa Anita is way behind Woodbine in terms of purse structure, and they're gonna cut those purses another 10 percent? . . . Oh well I don't mind seeing more of Frankel, Asmussen, Drysdale, Pletcher, and etc. horses.
  5. starlight
    2. Posted by starlight Thu Oct 22 11:10am EDT

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    This is sad, yes, but it's a sign of the times. Racetracks are no different than any other kind of entertainment venue, and they suffer when the economy goes south, as it has in the last year or so. Perhaps some good will come out of this at some point.
  6. RobertH
    1. Posted by RobertH Wed Oct 21 9:27pm EDT

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    Keep your attention towards Oaklawn Park , Hot Springs, AR . The purses may be rising .

    RH
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