Major tuning of BEL & SAR stakes/purses
 

BEL SPRING AND SAR MEET STAKES SCHEDULES AND PURSE STRUCTURES

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has released the stakes schedules and purse structures for the 2012 Belmont Park spring and Saratoga Race Course meets. Stakes purses during the 56-day Belmont spring meet will increase approximately $1.9 million, or 26.6 percent, to $9.05 million in 2012, while stakes purses during the 40-day Saratoga meet will increase approximately $2.85 million, or 27 percent, to $13.35 million in 2012.

Purses for overnight races – overnight stakes, allowance, claiming, and maiden special weights – will increase approximately $8.7 million during the Belmont spring meet and approximately $7.7 million during the Saratoga meet. Average daily purses, including stakes and overnight races, will go from approximately $430,000 to $620,000 (44 percent increase) for the 2012 Belmont spring meet and from approximately $670,000 to $930,000 (39 percent increase) for the 2012 Saratoga meet.

“The purse increases for overnight and stakes races for the upcoming Belmont Park and Saratoga meets confirm NYRA’s leadership position in thoroughbred racing,” said NYRA Vice President and Director of Racing P. J. Campo. “The enhanced purses should result in larger field sizes, stimulate additional wagering activity, and increase profitability for NYRA.”

NYRA purse increases are also creating a demand for New York-breds in the marketplace, which is sparking a renaissance in the state’s breeding industry. Breeders from out of state are once again sending their mares to New York, quality stallions have moved to the state, and several large commercial breeding farms have reopened. Purse increases also translate into bigger incentive awards from the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund for individual breeders, who typically cycle the money right back into their businesses. All of this has the wide-ranging positive effect of creating and sustaining agricultural jobs across the Empire state.

The centerpiece of the 2012 Belmont spring meet falls on Saturday, June 9 with the 144th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. Also on Belmont Stakes Day are the Grade 1, $500,000 Manhattan Handicap, the Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game, the Grade 2, $400,000 Woody Stephens, and the Grade 2, $400,000 True North Handicap.

One of the most notable stakes purse increases for the Belmont spring meet is for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap, which will be run on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28 with a $750,000 purse, up $250,000 from last year. Additional stakes on Met Mile Day include the Grade 1, $400,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap and the Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point. Also, the Grade 1, $300,000 Acorn will be run on Met Mile Day for the first time, allowing for optimal spacing between it and the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose on June 23. The final Grade 1 of the Belmont spring meet will be the $600,000 Man o’ War on Saturday, July 14.

I love reading this. Something to get excited about. NYRA is taking over.

The 2012 Saratoga meet will be highlighted by the 143rd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers, the “Midsummer Derby,” on Saturday, August 25. Four of the largest specific-race purse increases during the Saratoga meet occur during Travers weekend. The Grade 1 Ballerina, usually run on Travers Day, will now be run on Friday, August 24 with a $500,000 purse, up $250,000 from last year.

On Travers Day, 3-year-old sprinters will be competing for larger purses, with the Grade 1 Foxwoods King’s Bishop and the Grade 1 Test both being run for $500,000 pots, up $250,000 from last year. Closing out Travers weekend will be the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Sunday, August 25. With a $600,000 purse, up $300,000 from last year, the Personal Ensign is now one of the premier older filly and mare dirt races in the country.

The Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap is the centerpiece of the two-day Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing, scheduled for August 4 and 5 and also including the Grade 1, $300,000 Prioress and the Grade 1, $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. The Test had been previously run on Whitney Day, and now the Prioress has been moved from the Belmont spring meet to take the Test’s place alongside the Whitney. The Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride, previously run on Travers Day, has been moved to the Belmont Spring meet – Saturday, July 7. The Grade 2 Fourstardave, previously run at 1 1/16 miles with a $150,000 purse, will be run at a mile on Saturday, August 11, with a $500,000 purse, making it a signature turf mile race for older horses.

In addition to the aforementioned Grade 1 races during the Saratoga meet are the following: $300,000 TVG Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday, July 21, $600,000 Diana on Saturday, July 28, $600,000 Alabama on Saturday, August 18, $600,000 Sword Dancer on Saturday, August 18, $150,000 New York Turf Writer’s Cup Steeplechase on Thursday, August 23, $750,000 Woodward on Saturday, September 1, $500,000 Forego on Saturday, September 1, and $300,000 Spinaway on Sunday, September 2.

The Fourstardave move is genius. How does that not draw a loaded field? Grade 1 in 2 yrs!!

Hopefully they consulted with Larry Jones and Rick Porter about the changes to the Personal Ensign so they wont have to alter the schedule again.

I love good news. It's so rare these days.

Alan hasn't done his report yet so don't get your hopes too high.

i liked the woodward at belmont going 10f.

:tro:

nyra also offering bonuses to 2 yo's.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...bonus-for-2yos

And the bad side of all of this is that Turfway Park announced they are cutting purses by 25%

They could get approval for instant racing. Management needs to be fired.

altho i feel ky needs to help their racing industry out quite a bit, there are still examples of tracks who aren't in the best area as far as competition who are surviving or even thriving. i think everyone agrees that there are too many tracks-would losing turfway if that should happen actually be a bad thing?
i can't help but wonder if other entities in that state are actually hoping for nothing to happen in the near future in order to weed out some other tracks, and then put muscle behind changing things in order to help them maintain or improve their own holdings. we all know that tracks don't always put the sport first-they are worrid only about themselves. can you imagine the state of the nfl if the teams were 32 individuals only concerned with themselves?

Yes it would be a bad thing for a multitude of reasons and I cannot believe you don't see that.

Kentucky, New York, Florida, and California are the premier states for horse racing. Any thoroughbred track that would close in these states is a serious attack on the industry as a whole.

The sport won't survive if West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, etc. turn into the premier states.

we all know things change. i'd hate to see ky turn its back on one of its greatest industries, but i don't know that turfway going out of business would necessarily be a bad thing. it's been on a slow decline for years.
should there be a better business environment? of course. should turfway and others sit and wait for things to change? of course not. you have to deal with what is, not what you want. obviously other tracks are making it-turfway isn't it. but they're in the same climate as the ones who are making it-it's not all someone else's fault.

Nothing will take Turfway's place. You're assuming Churchill or Keeneland wants the winter dates and I just don't see them having any interest whatsoever in running a winter meet at their respected tracks.

So yes it would be a loss. Turfway is surrounded by casinos and there is no way they can compete without offering, at the very least, slots.

hmmm. yeah, i can see that issue with dates. i'd have to think someone would benefit.
i just hate to see pols sitting on their hands like they are. turfway has a legit gripe, but they can't just sit and wait and hope for the best.

I don't thimk that instant racing will generate enough income to justify the investment that would need to be made. KY downs is a different story because they are in a market with no competition and had a facility that was easily and cheaply converted.

Without a year round or semi-year round circuit the racing in KY overall will continue to erode. People seem to forget that with the less racing that everyone is so hot to try out there still needs to be a place to train the horses and a place for them to run. It isnt like you can put them in a freezer and thaw them out when the racing starts back up again. And the cheaper horses that race in the winter are the ones that least can afford to not race for any length of time. IF Turfway were to close it isnt like the world would end but it would make CD and Kee into complete commuter tracks as trainers would ship out as soon as those meets ended and would be more selective with what horses they sent. In other word as NYRA raises the min claiming price more cheap horses would wind up at KY tracks which isnt going to produce better quality racing.

Everyone cries for a reduction in dates, less racing, bigger fields etc., which on many levels is right. However, a city without a track is a city with a significantly decreased interest in racing. And suddenly, virtually zero chance of cultivating a fan base, whether small or large.

If there was no horse racing at Louisiana Downs, then there would be very little interest in horse racing in Northwest Louisiana. Our business as an OTB would drastically reduce as a result, and the trickle down effect becomes significant.

There are so many different wheels at play when it comes to horse racing, putting a little grease on one but ignoring the others makes it very difficult.

Very true.

A big problem with reducing racing dates and venues is that it in no way guarantees better racing in its wake. Until racing secretaries change the way conditions books are written a reduction in racing days simply means that cheaper races will become an even greater percentage of races carded. It isn't like tracks are going to reduce days and then use 6 horse allowance fields and as long as a few trainers at each track control the vast majority of good horses then the other horsemen will continue to concentrate on the cheaper races. Especially if the reduction in days leads to even higher purses of which the cheap horses are disproportionally rewarded. And this doesnt even take into consideration the owners of the better quality but not quite stakes horses who will often be stuck on the sidelines because the track used a 10 horse 4k claimer instead of a 7 horse maiden special weight. Yeah field size is important but in a game that is having a really hard time finding new investors (and keeping those already involved) there has to be a balance that allows better quality horses to actually get a chance to race without having a parade of short priced, small field shitfests.