maiden special weight purses

Turfway Park, whose Holiday meet begins Dec. 4, has raised the purses for maiden special weights to $80,000 and allowance races will be up to $86,000, Churchill Downs Inc. reported via a release on Wednesday. Registered Kentucky-breds in maiden special weight races are now increased by $10,000 from last year's amount of $70,000. Allowance races will range from $82,000-$86,000, up from the 2023 rate of $72,000-$80,000. "We're excited to offer top-tier racing opportunities at Turfway Park this winter and continue building on Kentucky's strong year-round circuit," said Tyler Picklesimer, director...

Purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to remain unchanged for the third straight spring at both Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs. Track executives disclosed the pre-condition book figures during the Feb. 1 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. Keeneland expects to write $100,000 MSW races for 3-year-olds and older horses, with 2-year-olds competing for $80,000, according to Gatewood Bell, Keeneland's vice president of racing. Continuing a condition that Keeneland tried last fall, Bell added that there will also be four maiden-auction races written for...

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2026, New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching the race's open-company counterpart, which will directly benefit the state's 2024 foal crop and pave the way to compete for some of the richest purses of any state-bred program in the nation, the association said in a release Wednesday. At the 2023 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, maiden races restricted to New York-bred 2-year-olds featured a purse of $88,000 compared to a purse of $105,000 offered for 2-year-olds competing...

Turfway Park purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to stay level at $70,000, the same as last season. The dovetailed 2023-24 meets that run through March will open Nov. 29. Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, reported that projection during the Oct. 3 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. The overall purse structure, Bach said, will also be "similar" to the previous meet "even though we're adding days and races." Bach said Turfway plans on running Wednesdays through Saturdays with a 5:55 p.m. Eastern first post,...

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX - A colt by Practical Joke brought $110,000 to top Monday's single-session Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park. By the numbers, a total of 175 yearlings sold for $3,240,000. The figures represented a decrease from 2022 when 161 sold for a record $3,416,000 in gross receipts. This term, the average was $18,542, while the median was $11,000 and 77 horses reported not sold. Foster Bridewell, Director of Horse Sales for the TTA, said of the auction, "Three of our top five offerings were...

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit have been projected for the summer meets at Ellis Park ($70,000 through 24 dates in July and August) and Kentucky Downs ($150,000 for seven days in September). Those figures were disclosed by representatives of those tracks Wednesday during a meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee. The projected Ellis MSW purses will be a boost from the $60,000 offered in 2022. Kentucky Downs will remain year-over-year level at $150,000 after last bumping up MSW purses...

Turfway Park purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to rise to $70,000 for the dovetailed dual meets that will span Nov. 30, 2022, through Apr. 1, 2023. Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, reported the projection during the Sept. 28 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. He also disclosed that Kentucky's recently rebuilt winter racing venue--with its new grandstand and updated stabling--will be shifting Saturday post times from early evenings to afternoons this season. Bach said Turfway will card 24 total stakes worth $4.35 million in...

Del Mar's eighth fall meeting--starting Wednesday, Nov. 3--will offer horsemen/women a 20% blended raise in overnight purses compared to last year, as well as a continuation of the popular 'Ship & Win' program that has amplified field size and year-round horse population at the track and in the state, Del Mar announced Tuesday. The 15-day stand, which will run through Sunday, Nov. 28, includes the 38th edition of the Breeders' Cup World Championships Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6. "Our summer meet was extraordinary on all fronts," said track...

Projected purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit in September and October will be $135,000 at Kentucky Downs, $125,000 at Churchill Downs, and $78,000 at Keeneland Race Course. Those figures were revealed by representatives of those respective tracks Tuesday during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee. Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' senior vice president and general manager, also said that his all-turf venue will also be raising non-stakes purses across the board by 8% from the amounts that were initially...

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races on the Kentucky circuit are projected to push past the $100,000 mark both during GI Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs and in September at the Kentucky Downs all-turf meet. In addition, Kentucky Downs plans to expand its stakes program to include two new $1 million races in 2021, giving the venue a total of three stakes at that level. (Read more details here). Ben Huffman, the director of racing at Churchill Downs, confirmed during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred...