Santa Anita will run 22 stakes at its fall meeting from Sept. 26 to Oct. 26, with lower prize money available in four races compared to last year.
In 2024, Santa Anita ran the California Crown program on Sept. 28, greatly enhancing the purses of three leading stakes. The Grade 1 California Crown was worth $1 million, an increase of $700,000 from 2023, while the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes and Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship were worth $750,000 compared to $200,000 in 2023.
The higher prize money was derived from a contribution from the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing.
The California Crown promotion has been discontinued. The concept included higher admission costs and ontrack entertainment in an attempt to create a big-day atmosphere.
The California Crown Stakes will revert to its previous name from 1982 to 2011 as the Goodwood Stakes, and will be worth $300,000. The race was known as the Awesome Again Stakes from 2012 to 2023. The Eddie D Stakes and John Henry Turf Championship will be worth $200,000 this fall.
The remainder of the stakes schedule this fall has minimal changes. In the past, the Tokyo City Stakes was run at 1 1/2 miles on dirt early in the meeting, and will now be run at a mile on Oct. 25. With the distance switch, the race was downgraded from a Grade 3 to a non-listed black type race by the American graded stakes committee last month.
The Tokyo City Cup will be worth $85,000 this year, compared to $100,000 in recent runnings. The Tokyo City Cup’s new position on the calendar is designed as a prep for the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt at Del Mar’s fall meeting.
One race has been renamed. The Grade 3 John Harris Stakes will be run for 3-year-old fillies at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on Sept. 27. The race, previously known as the Unzip Me Stakes, honors the memory of the prominent California owner and breeder who died earlier this month. The $100,000 Harris Stakes has graded designation for the first time this year. Harris raced Unzip Me, a 10-time stakes winner.
The bulk of the stakes will be run over the first two weekends, including seven races that are part of the Breeders’ Cup automatic qualifying program for the championship races at Del Mar on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
In a statement released on Thursday, Santa Anita announced that overnight purses will be increased by approximately 10 percent at the autumn meeting.
Overnight purses were higher earlier this year at Santa Anita and the brief Los Alamitos summer meeting, and are higher at the current Del Mar summer meeting.
Revenue from simulcasting and account wagering sources from Northern California have been redirected to Southern California tracks and purse accounts following the collapse of racing in Northern California, allowing for higher prize money levels.
Proposals for brief meetings at county fair locations in Northern California this summer and fall were rejected three times in the spring by the California Horse Racing Board.
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