purses

Purse levels for maiden special weight (MSW) races at the seven-day Kentucky Downs meet in August and September are once again projected to be $170,000, the same level as last season. Although that number isn't going up in 2025, it's still by far the biggest money outlay for maidens at any North American racetrack, because Kentucky Downs boasts the highest overall purse structure on the continent. At Tuesday's meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee, some board members-as they have in past years-cautioned against the risks of...

February 2025 had 219 race days compared to 252 from the same month a year ago (-13.10%) leading to decreases in most major economic fields. In the same month over month comparison, average field size was up (+3.63%) as was average wagering per race day (+5.85%) and average available purses per race day (+3.49%). Total wagering was down on U.S. races (-8.01%) along with available purses (-10.07%), purses paid (-11.26%), total races (-11.33%) and starts (-8.11%). The stats are similar year over year with minor decreases on wagering (-2.73%) and...

Keeneland Race Course is projecting overall purses for the upcoming April meet to increase in the range of 10-12%, with maiden special weight (MSW) purses for 3-year-olds and up rising to $110,000 after that MSW figure had plateaued at $100,000 for the past three springs. Churchill Downs plans to card 3-and-up MSW races at $120,000 during its April-June meet, a level that hasn't changed since 2022. Executives from both tracks disclosed those spring 2025 purse projections during the Jan. 28 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. Rick Hiles,...

The 2024-2025 stakes schedule at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, will feature 79 added-money events over a total of 78 race dates, topped by the GI Santa Anita Handicap and the GI Santa Anita Derby. The Big 'Cap, worth $400,000 in 2024, will offer prize money of $300,000 this year, while the purse of the Santa Anita Derby has been cut to $500,000 from $750,000. On the flipside, the purses on offer for overnight races are above what was offered last spring and autumn, with four allowance and maiden...

A -1.57% decrease in races and -1.58% in total race days in October lead to declines across the board compared to the same month a year ago.  Wagering totaled $796,468,476, a -2.71% decrease over last year while purses were also down (-1.63% available and -2.44% paid) to match available wagering per race day (-1.16%). Looking at the year to date, while wagering is still down (-2.88%), both available and paid purses are in the green (+0.79% and +0.50% respectively). Race days and total races are both down year over year...

Kentucky Downs's seven-day meet that ended Wednesday again set records for wagering and purses paid out to horse owners for the 12th straight year. Purses totaled $34,624,472 for 76 races, including $13.6 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund available only to registered Kentucky-bred thoroughbreds. That reflects an increase of 38 percent over last year's total purses of $25.06 million paid out for 76 races. Sixteen of the 18 stakes winners were foaled in Kentucky, taking full advantage of the KTDF funding. All-sources wagering totaled $90,181,408, up eight percent over...

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation that will extend the $20 million annual purse enhancement for horse racing in the state, with the appropriation now running through to 2029, the Governor's office announced Friday. Monmouth Park will receive $10 million annually for purses, with the remaining $10 million going toward purses at the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway, as well as money earmarked for bonuses for state-sired horses and breeders' awards. "Given the critical importance of the horse racing industry to not only the state's economy, but to...

July 2024 saw declines across the board compared to the same month last year with only average field size (+0.98%) and average available purses per race day (+3.42%) seeing gains for the month. With race days down to 383 from 423 last year (-9.46%), wagering, available purses, races and starts all saw declines. Race days are down year-to-date (2,173 vs. 2,284) leading to declines in wagering (-3.20%), races (-4.63%) and starts (-3.87%). Available wagering per race day (+1.74%) and average available purses per race day (+8.88 %) both showed gains...

Overnight purses for the upcoming Spring/Summer Meet at Gulfstream Park will be increased in all categories from open handicaps to $6,250 claiming races with conditions. Open handicap purses will rise from $60,000 last season to $74,000; $6,250 claiming races with conditions will jump from $17,000 to $20,000; open allowances will be $10,000 higher than 2023 levels, ranging from $61,000 to $63,000; entry-level allowances for Florida-breds will increase from $43,000 to $48,000; maiden special weight races will increase by $10,000 to $60,000; maiden special weight races for Florida-breds will go up...

Several days of cancelled races due to weather, especially along the East Coast, led to over a 10% dip in wagering from January compared to the same time last year according to statistics released by Equibase. Last month saw 217 race days with a total of 1,853 carded races and $779,860,113 wagered (-10.76%), down from 265 days, 2,280 races and $873,842,469 wagered in Jan. '23, leading to drops in purses paid (-14.94%) and totals starts (-17.36%). On the positive side, despite those cancellations, average wagering was up (+8.99%) as was...

Strong handle during the first seven weeks of the 152nd racing season has prompted a 10% purse increase across the board, in addition to $25,000 added to the purses of 10 stakes, announced Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Tuesday. "We're extremely excited to announce a 10% increase to our daily purse structure along with the $25,000 boost to 10 stakes," Fair Grounds' racing secretary Scott Jones said. "Based on the strong early handle returns and continued support from our owners, horsemen, and horseplayers, we are in a position to...

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...