Improved handle and attendance numbers for Santa Anita Park this winter and spring have provided a toehold as California looks to build around an approach that sees racing concentrated in Southern California.
Earlier this month, Santa Anita reported a 10% bump in handle on its winter-spring racing compared with the 2023-24 season and a 4% attendance increase. The handle bump is tied to a 5% increase in field size, due in part to the consolidation of California racing into a single circuit. The influx of horses from Northern California has provided opportunities to compete at Santa Anita this season.
"This is a year of transition for California," said Thoroughbred Owners of California president and CEO Bill Nader for the BH Monday podcast that went live June 23. "When we moved to a single circuit, we tried to incorporate the North into our race tracks here in the South: Santa Anita, now Los Alamitos, and soon to be Del Mar, and it's worked."
He noted that with the closing of Golden Gate Fields in December, the circuit had to quickly pivot.
"I think we've done it successfully. When you look at the influx of Northern California horses into the population here in Southern California, that's helped create a spike in field size, which is great," Nader said. "I look at it through the lens of the customer, the bettor, and what they expect of California.
"California has such a great history, a great tradition, a great reputation, and a great brand. But one of the weak points that people have been pointing to for years has been relatively small field sizes. It's something that I think the entire industry struggles with right now in America, but we've been able to see an uptick, and I think that's been great."
Studies have shown field size to be a driver of pari-mutuel handle. Those larger fields are especially important in California, which is one of the few racing states not benefiting from added-gaming money.
"It shows that we're showing some renewed life. We're being more competitive and giving customers, hopefully, a better product," Nader said. "That's driven handle up, and that's been a good thing."
Nader went on to note that the increased handle has been spread through all segments of the betting public, as opposed to high-volume players accounting for the increase.
"I think that's more healthy and more sustainable, and again, we hope that in the second half of the year, we can continue to build on that momentum," Nader said, later adding, "Pari-mutuel handle is the key for us. That's going to drive purse increases. And this has been a tremendous year in that regard, because on February 28, we implemented the first purse increase at Santa Anita. And it had been a downward trend here in purses, and now we're back up. We're coming back up.
"From February 28 all the way through December 31 of this year, every race that's run in California will have a higher purse as compared to the same race last year. So that's part of the success story."
