Any breed incentive program can promote how much money a horseman can make if they hit the proverbial lottery ticket with a high-level runner, but the true strength lies in what it can do for the rank-and-file.
In that regard, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund presents one of the strongest incentive structures in the country.
Through a combination of contributions from wagers placed on live and historical horse racing, the KTDF supplements purses in races within the Bluegrass State for registered Kentucky-bred and -sired horses. During the last fiscal year, the owners of record for registered horses benefitted from $41 million in additional purse monies paid out through the KTDF.
Open races within the state are eligible for KTDF funding from stakes races down to the claiming ranks, and the benefits for lunchpail runners are just as apparent as they are for the main-eventers.
The biggest beneficiary of the fund-earners who have not run in a KTDF-supplemented stakes race so far this year is Purple Dream, who has made $93,785 in KTDF earnings for owner Brownwood Farm.
The 5-year-old son of Point of Entry has run exclusively in Kentucky during the 2023 racing season, winning two of five starts – all in the allowance or optional claiming ranks – as a Brownwood homebred with trainer Paulo Lobo.
Purple Dream started the year at Turfway Park, finishing a close second in a six-furlong allowance on Jan. 14. He found the winner's circle at Turfway in his next start, a March 18 allowance optional claiming race going 6 1/2 furlongs, where he closed from near-last and drew clear by 1 1/4 lengths.
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In that race, Purple Dream received the winner's share of a $78,000 purse; $39,000 of which was supplied by the KTDF. Kentucky's purse structure has risen dramatically across the board over the past decade, due in large part to the advent of historical horse racing in the state, of which three-quarters of one percent of all money wagered is deposited to the KTDF.
After finishing fifth at Keeneland's spring meet, Purple Dream spent the summer at Ellis Park, where he finished second in a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance optional claimer on June 25. He was bested on that day by Mischievous Rogue, who ranks second on the year by non-stakes KTDF earnings with $91,970.
In his most recent start, Purple Dream once again displayed a late surge to win a 6 1/2-furlong Kentucky Downs optional claiming race on Sept. 3 by three-quarters of a length.
The boutique Kentucky Downs meet has been an especially lucrative place for KTDF-eligible horses to make money for their owners in stakes races, with $6.4 million in Fund money bolstering the track's already impressive $7.6 million in stakes purses during the 2023 meet. However, that increase in value went down the class ladder, as well.
The race won by Purple Dream offered a base purse of $95,000, which bumped up to $180,000 after an additional $85,000 in available KTDF money.
Purple Dream is a son of Point of Entry, who qualified as a KTDF-eligible sire by standing at Adena Springs in Paris, Ky., at the time of the horse's conception. Brownwood Farm held up its end of the bargain by foaling the horse out in Kentucky and completing the appropriate registration.
Purple Dream is out of the Uruguayan-born T. H. Approval mare Golden Crown. He hails from the family of Brazilian Group 1 winner Namasse.
Leading Non-Stakes KTDF Earners Of 2023, Through Oct. 1
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