Handle, field size rise during Santa Anita winter-spring meet

Santa Anita’s 2024-25 winter-spring meet finished strongly on Sunday with significant gains in handle, attendance, field size and safety.

Bookended by a strong opening week and a robust Santa Anita Derby (G1) weekend, the track’s total all source handle topped $510 million. Horseplayers from around the world responded enthusiastically to the player-friendly modifications to Santa Anita’s wagering menu, with the total handle on Santa Anita races increasing 5% from the 2023-24 winter-spring meet.

The season began on Dec. 26 with the third largest opening-day handle in the track’s 90-year history. The winter-spring meet’s final three-day weekend boasted more than $40.6 million wagered on Santa Anita’s races and attracted almost 50,000 people to the track.

Reported on-track attendance posted a gain of 6% from last year, with more than 340,000 people attending the 49-day meeting, despite losing a weekend in January when the neighboring community was impacted by the Eaton Fires. More than 34,000 were trackside for Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby day, the largest Santa Anita Derby Day crowd in seven years.

“For 90 years, Santa Anita Park has stood strong as a pillar of winter racing and this year only enhanced that position,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita’s SVP and general manager. “Our turf racing thrived this season, and our Racing Office offered an exceptional program to showcase it. On the dirt, the Santa Anita Derby produced the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. We continue to be thankful to the owners and trainers, horseplayers, fans and our staff who combine to make Santa Anita the great race place.”

“The value proposition and positive momentum carries forward to the upcoming 29-day Hollywood meet with a 10% increase to overnight purses,” said Bill Nader, president and CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “California racing is showing renewed life and the transition to a single circuit is fulfilling its purpose.”

The number of starters in each race increased dramatically, with field size increasing 7% over last year with the influx of Northern California horses as the state transitioned to a single racing circuit. In addition to the field size increase, the track was able to offer 61 more races during this year’s winter-spring meet.

Santa Anita Park remains one of the safest tracks in the nation, with 99.9715% safe trips, translating to a fatality rating of .285 per 1,000 starters, which is a 17% improvement from the same time last year. The rating is less than a third that of the 2024 national average of .90 per 1,000 starters as reported by tracks covered by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

The spring meet will open April 18 and continue through June 15. The success of the winter-spring meet has led to a purse increase for the spring meet compared to 2024.