Santa Anita has cut purses of 23 stakes, including six Grade 1 races, raised the purses of five stakes, and eliminated three stakes for its 2023-2024 spring-summer meeting that runs from Dec. 26 to June 16. Overall, 90 races will be offered, led by the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, a $750,000 race for 3-year-olds that is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4. Purses for stakes have been reduced by $2.275 million. The Santa Anita Derby purse is unchanged from 2023, but four Grade 1 races that were worth $500,000 will have less prize money next year. :: DRF's Black Friday Sale: Get 20% off (almost) everything in the DRF Shop. Code: BF2023 The Santa Anita Handicap, the track’s annual signature race for older horses on dirt; was reduced to $400,000, while the Frank Kilroe Mile and Shoemaker Mile on turf, and Beholder Mile for fillies and mares on dirt will have purses of $300,000. Two Grade 1 races with $400,000 purses in 2023 – the Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares on turf, and the Hollywood Gold Cup on dirt - will be run for $300,000 in 2024. The decline in purses is a reflection in a reduction in handle earlier this year, according to California Horse Racing Board statistics. Three Grade 1 races on Dec. 26 will have purses of $300,000, the same as in late 2022 – the La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds, and American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf. The track has altered its schedule of stakes leading to the Santa Anita Derby, eliminating the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, a $100,000 race at a mile that was run in early January. Instead, the series of graded stakes for 3-year-olds will begin with the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs on Jan. 6, a $200,000 race previously run in February. The Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes will be run at a mile instead of 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 3, leading to the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 2. The San Felipe purse has been cut from $400,000 to $300,000. The purse for the Lewis Stakes is unchanged at $200,000. The Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles – the leading race of the season for 3-year-old fillies on dirt – will be run on April 6 with a purse of $300,000, a decline of $100,000 from 2024. Two $100,000 stakes at five furlongs for 2-year-olds in June – the Fasig Tipton Debutante for fillies and Fasig-Tipton Futurity - are not on the 2023-2024 schedule. The five stakes with purse increases were run for $75,000 at the 2022-2023 meeting and will be worth $100,000 for the upcoming season. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.