A proposal from the Indiana Thoroughbred Breed Development (ITBD) to return the purse levels of all Indiana-bred and -sired stakes races to a minimum of $100,000 was approved by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) at a meeting held July 15 has been approved. The increase applies to 22 stakes event and is being made retroactive to the beginning of the stakes season, which kicked off May 19.
Ten stakes have already been contested and the winning connections from those races will receive an additional $25,000 coming directly from the ITBD portion of the purse account. A half-dozen stakes yet to be run with listed purses of $100,000 will be raised to $150,000, including the Governor's S., the Indiana First Lady S., To Much Coffee S., Cardinal S., Unreachable Star S. and the Lady Foghorn S.
“Seeing this addition to our already healthy stakes schedule is a great boost to our racing program,” said Eric Halstrom, Vice President and General Manager of Racing. “Indiana Grand is fortunate to have such great partnerships with both the state and the horsemen's organizations. This level of stakes purses brings us back to where we were in 2019, and it's a great incentive for future investment and participation in the state bred program.”
Jessica Barnes, Director of Breed Development, worked closely with the horsemen's organizations and Indiana Grand for the proposal to the IHRC. The increase will boost the state-bred stakes for 2021 by more than $850,000.
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