Ellis Park Offering Record Purses at 2019 Summer Meet

Ellis Park | Coady

Ellis Park will offer the highest purses in the track's 97-year history at its 2019 summer race meet, including a record nine stakes that could be worth at least $100,000 each.

Purse money and supplements for Kentucky-bred horses are projected to average $330,000 a day at the 29-date meet that runs June 30 through Labor Day.

With the KTDF bump, the GIII Groupie Doll S. for fillies and mares Aug. 11 will be worth $125,000.

Five turf stakes will be held Aug. 4 on the second annual Kentucky Downs Preview Day, largely funded with purse money transferred from Kentucky Downs to Ellis Park in an agreement with the Kentucky division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

“We have made purse increases across the board, including our maiden races going up from $42,000 to $50,000 for Kentucky-breds, which are the vast majority of our horses,” said racing secretary Dan Bork. “We understand that to keep horse owners in the game, they have to have at least a shot to make money or break even, whether they have stakes horses or those racing at the bottom level. Kentucky horse racing is back on an upward trajectory, and Ellis Park is an important cog.”

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