The parent company of Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, and Santa Anita - 1/ST Racing - announced on Friday a lucrative bonus program for owners that will begin this spring and link three major dirt and turf races at each venue over an eight-month period. The dirt series will consist of three Grade 1 races – the Preakness Stakes for 3-year-olds at Pimlico on May 18, the newly-enhanced California Crown at Santa Anita on Sept. 28, and the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25, 2025. Should the Preakness winner go on to win the California Crown and Pegasus World Cup, the winning owner would receive a $5 million bonus in addition to prize money earned in each race. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The purse for the Preakness Stakes has been increased from $1.5 million to $2 million, while the $1 million California Crown at 1 1/8 miles will replace the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes on the Santa Anita stakes calendar, according to 1/ST’s statement. The California Crown will be part of a day of activities at Santa Anita designed to replicate the atmosphere of the Pegasus World Cup day at Gulfstream Park, which 1/ST Racing has aggressively marketed to a younger demographic. The turf series will consist of two stakes for 3-year-olds and older this year - the Grade 3 Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico at 1 1/8 miles on May 18, and Grade 2 California Crown John Henry Turf at 1 1/4 miles on Sept. 28 – with the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 25, 2025. The owner of a horse that sweeps those three races will receive a $2.5 million bonus. Purses for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf will be the same as offered in recent seasons. The purse for the Dinner Party Stakes will be increased from $200,000 to $500,000 this year, while the John Henry Turf Championship will be increased from $200,000 in 2023 to $750,000 later this year. The Santa Anita program will include an enhanced purse for the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. The race was run for $200,000 in 2023 and will have a purse of $750,000 this year, according to Friday’s statement. Aidan Butler, the president of 1/ST Racing, said in an interview on Friday that the additional dollars for enhances purses will come from the parent company, and not from purse accounts of the respective tracks. Santa Anita’s purse account has a deficit of approximately $4 million that led to a reduction in prize money for stakes and overnight purses at the current winter-spring meeting that began in late December. “This is money from 1/ST,” Butler said. “This is not money from the purse account. “It’s a commitment we made. We’ll market. We’re excited to promote and market a big day.” The Sept. 28 program at Santa Anita had an ontrack crowd of 10,133 last year, according to figures released to the media. The attendance was the highest for a non-Breeders’ Cup program at the track’s autumn meeting. Butler said he was encouraged by Gulfstream Park’s business for the Pegasus World Cup program earlier this year. According to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form, all-sources handle was $47.04 million, a gain of 7.2 percent over a handle of $43.89 million in 2023. “Off the success at Pegasus, and the hospitality and the races, it proves we should do more big days,” Butler said. “Santa Anita, with the size and scale of the place, is perfect to host a big day. I’m super excited to see it.” In addition to the purse bonuses for the races, there will be a handicapping tournament through the 1/ST mobile app linking the three dirt races. Anyone who can successfully select the first four finishers of the Preakness, California Crown, and Pegasus World Cup will receive $5 million. If no one selects the superfecta in all three races, a difficult assignment, the entry with the most overall selection will receive a $100,000 cash prize, Friday’s statement said. Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the new purse for the California Crown John Henry Turf. The purse will be $750,000 in 2024. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.