For the second consecutive year, recent Hall of Fame inductee Steve Asmussen claimed the lion's share of the $100,000 bonus offered by the Maryland Jockey Club to trainers for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend at Pimlico.
Asmussen, who led with 82 points, earned the $50,000 bonus after annexing the Chick Lang S., GIII Maryland Sprint and James W. Murphy S. and was third with Tenfold (Curlin) in the GI Preakness S.Saturday. He also captured the Skipat S. on Friday's Black-Eyed Susan Day program. Graham Motion finished second with 45 points, garnering a $25,000 bonus. Motion won the GIII Stella Artois Gallorette S. Saturday and the GIII Pimlico Special Friday.
To be eligible, trainers had to have a minimum of five horses compete in the stakes races (15) during Preakness weekend. Points were accumulated for finishing first (10 points), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and having a starter (one) among the 15 stakes (eight graded), worth $3.7 million in purses.
A $50,000 Bonus was also offered for trainers having the most points in non-stakes races contested over Preakness weekend, with points accumulated in similar fashion. New York-based Linda Rice finished first with 22 points, earning the top bonus of $25,000. Also collecting bonus money were Maryland-based trainers Mary Eppler (19 points, $10,000); James Lawrence (18 points, $7,500); Cal Lynch (16 points, $3,250); Dale Capuano ($16 points, $3,250) and Motion (15 points, $1,000).
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