Guaranteed Participation Purses will be increased from $351 to $500 in Southern California and from $300 to $450 at Golden Gate Fields starting on Jan. 1, 2020, the Thoroughbred Owners of California announced Tuesday.
“The TOC appreciates the intense economic pressure that Thoroughbred owners in California have been under in the past year,” said TOC chairman Nick Alexander. “We have experienced flat purses and rising costs of business, including the new safety reforms that the owners have been required to fund on their own and a substantial increase in CHRB expenses that are funded 50% from the statewide purse accounts and which will exceed $14.5 million this year. TOC's decision to increase participation purses is meant to assist owners with these expenses and encourage them to continue to run in California.”
Alexander concluded, “Looking to the future we are hopeful that working with the CHRB and the racetracks we can come up with a more equitable sharing of expenses so that we have enough owners and racehorses in California to allow our sport to grow and thrive in the future.”
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