Track executives disclosed the pre-condition book figures during the Feb. 1 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting.

Keeneland expects to write $100,000 MSW races for 3-year-olds and older horses, with 2-year-olds competing for $80,000, according to Gatewood Bell, Keeneland's vice president of racing.

Continuing a condition that Keeneland tried last fall, Bell added that there will also be four maiden-auction races written for $70,000, one for each sex going both short and long.

Back during Keeneland's 2021 spring meet, the comparable MSW purse levels were $79,000 and $60,000 for older and juvenile races, respectively.

Keeneland's $100,000 and $80,000 levels have been in effect since 2022.

Churchill's MSW races for older horses will remain at the $120,000 purse level this spring, according to Ben Huffman, the track's vice president of racing. He did not state an amount for 2-year-old races.

In the spring of 2021, Churchill carded two levels of MSW money. For the lead-in week to the GI Kentucky Derby, the purses were $115,000. After that, MSW races were written for $100,000.

In 2022, Churchill's MSW purses for older horses got raised to $120,000 for the spring meet.

The purse levels stayed that way in 2023, even after Churchill's corporate ownership opted to move the remainder of the meet to another Kentucky track in its portfolio, Ellis Park, in the aftermath of 12 equine fatalities that occurred in the first six weeks of the Churchill season.

Bill Landes III, the chairman of the KTDF advisory committee, who represents the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) association on the KTDF board, briefly addressed both Keeneland and Churchill about potentially increasing those MSW purse levels in the future.

“If things come good for you, we would be amenable to any hike or anything you could afford us,” Landes said.

Braxton Lynch, who also represents the KTOB on the KTDF board, suggested that any available purse money would be better spent on upping the amounts carded for allowance races.

“As much as Bill likes to focus on the MSW numbers, [and] I think we're really lucky to be where we are on the MSW numbers, if we ever got a chance [to] put [a purse] increase somewhere, I'd love to see a bigger gap between MSW and allowance, with allowances going a little higher. They become so much harder to win that I think there should be a little more reward there.”

KTDF board member Rick Hiles, who serves as the president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protection Association, agreed with Lynch.

“I've been saying for years there should be a bigger gap between maidens and the non-winners of two or 'a-other-than' [allowance conditions].”

The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered in the state on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race gaming, plus 1% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.

On Thursday the KTDF advisory committee approved the recommendation of allotment requests that the Churchill and Keeneland purse estimates were based on, but the full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission still has to vote on final approval of the funding.

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“Lucrative purses and outstanding competition make Keeneland's Spring Meet a highlight of the racing calendar for horsemen, horseplayers and fans during the first half of the year,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “We look forward to hosting the country's best horses and their connections here in April.”

A spring fixture for 3-year-olds with an eye on the Kentucky Derby, and an informal Lexington holiday, the Blue Grass has been held at Keeneland since the track's first spring meet in April 1937 and was first sponsored by Toyota in 1996. Run on the first Saturday of the Keeneland season, the race carries a lucrative 100 points for the first Saturday in May for the winner. It leads four others on the day including the GI Madison S., the GII Appalachian S., the GII Shakertown S., and the GIII Commonwealth S.

Running on Keeneland's opening day will be the 86th rendition of the GI Central Bank Ashland S., the GIII Transylvania S., and the Lafayette S. The first named carries 100 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Early nominations for the Oaks and Derby preps are due by Feb. 17, and late nominations are due Mar. 20.

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Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, reported that projection during the Oct. 3 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting.

The overall purse structure, Bach said, will also be “similar” to the previous meet “even though we're adding days and races.”

Bach said Turfway plans on running Wednesdays through Saturdays with a 5:55 p.m. Eastern first post, with the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. program a traditional afternoon racing exception.

Exact 2024 racing dates have yet to be awarded by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, but Turfway's corporate parent, Churchill Downs, Inc., lists Mar. 23 as the date of the 2024 edition of the Jeff Ruby on its “Road to the GI Kentucky Derby” points races calendar.

In the recent past, Turfway has experimented with various under-the-lights first post times, and also tried running during some afternoons on Saturdays. This year management wants to establish a more consistent niche, timing-wise.

“We confuse the handicappers if we're all over the place,” Bach said. “We found once we start building a consistent pattern for them, it's better for us,” he noted, citing Turfway's 5:55 p.m. slot as being more profitable.

“We believe we have enough not only in purse money, but horse population to keep us running four days a week,” Bach said.

“We are planning on running nine races a day in December and January,” Bach said, adding that track management will evaluate that number mid-season to see if carding nine races nightly is still sustainable heading into February.

This season will be Turfway's second with its entirely rebuilt racing facility.

Prior to upping MSW purses to $70,000 last season, Turfway paid out $62,000 in MSW purses in 2021-22. The dual meets that season were conducted with temporary trackside amenities as the multi-year grandstand rebuild was nearing completion.

In 2020-21, Turfway paid just $32,000 for MSW races, when the dual meets were heavily compromised by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial phases of the grandstand construction that kept the northern Kentucky oval closed to on-track spectators.

During the 2019-20 season, Turfway paid MSW purses in the $46,000-48,000 range.

The KTDF advisory committee approved the requested recommendation of the Turfway allotment that the MSW purse estimates were based on. The full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission still has to vote on final approval of that funding.

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The newest stakes race is named after the Kentucky Downs Day sponsor, which is a new concept based on teams of horses representing different owners and markets. The jockeys in the race will wear NTL team silks, regardless of ownership.

“We want to encourage new ideas and innovation, especially concepts created with the goal of bringing more people into horse racing,” Ron Winchell, the co-managing partner in Kentucky Downs, said. “The way you get better is to try something different or see if there is a way to tinker with with an old idea to bring it back. We also like the idea of having a handicap race, allowing horses of slightly different levels of ability to compete against each other for a lot of money.”

Horses must be nominated by Aug. 21 so they can be weighted, though there will be no fees, including entry and starter. Weights will be announced Aug. 24.

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The Millions was one of 17 stakes–including nine graded events–that was unveiled Wednesday for the track's upcoming boutique seven-day all-turf meet. With seven races worth at least $1 million, the stakes schedule offers $7.6 million available for all horses and another $6.4 million in KTDF enhancements earmarked for those horses foaled in Kentucky and sired by a Kentucky stallion.

The six other graded stakes offering $1 million in available purses are the GII Kentucky Turf Cup, the GII Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint, GII Franklin-Simpson S., the GII Mint Ladies Sprint, GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf and the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon. Those stakes, all carded for a blockbuster Sept. 9 program, will have base purses of $600,000 with another $400,000 available for KTDF-eligible horses, which reflect the vast majority of horses racing at Kentucky Downs.

“We are laser-focused on securing Grade I races for Kentucky Downs. Our 2023 stakes schedule is another step toward that mission,” said Kentucky Downs Vice President for Racing Ted Nicholson. “Our KTDF money allows us to run North America's richest two weeks of racing, including the potential to run more stakes worth at least $1 million during a meet than any U.S. track outside a Breeders' Cup host. But regardless of where horses are born, our base purses guarantee everyone runs for some of the largest purses on the planet.”

Ron Winchell, who with Marc Falcone are Kentucky Downs' co-managing partners, added, “We want the Mint Millions to be the pre-eminent launching pad to the Breeders' Cup Mile. Turf milers are among the biggest stars in Europe, and we're giving them a million more reasons to come to Kentucky Downs.”

Three other Kentucky Downs' stakes–the Sept. 2 GIII Music City S., the Sept. 2 Gun Runner S. and the Sept. 3 Dueling Grounds Oaks had their purses substantially boosted to $750,000, split evenly between the base purse and KTDF enhancements. The GIII Dueling Grounds Derby, also on Sept. 3, was raised to $750,000 last year.

The remaining six stakes will be worth $500,000, half from the base purse and the rest from the KTDF.

The overall purse structure for the meet is scheduled for $22.82 million–a track record for the 12th straight year since the advent of historical horse racing.

Kentucky Downs maiden races will be worth $150,000 for Kentucky-bred horses. And the track will once again offer a pair of $250,000 allowance races–one for 2-year-old fillies and one for 2-year-old colts–restricted to horses that went through the sales ring at Keeneland's 2022 September Yearling sale. Those 6 1/2-furlong races will be held opening day, Aug. 31, with all runners competing for the entire pot.

Kentucky Downs will run Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 13.

The entire 2023 Kentucky Downs stakes schedule is:

All stakes are on turf and include Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund supplements

Thursday Aug. 31 — $500,000 Tapit Stakes, 3 year olds & up who have not won a stakes in 2023, mile and 70 yards.

Saturday Sept. 2 — $750,000 Music City (G3), 3-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs; $750,000 Gun Runner, 3-year-olds, one mile; $2 million Mint Millions (G3), 3 year olds & up, one mile.

Sunday Sept. 3 — $750,000 Dueling Grounds Derby (G3), 3-year-olds, 1 5/16 miles; $750,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 1 5/16 miles.

Thursday Sept. 7 — $500,000 One Dreamer, fillies and mares 3 years old & up who have not won a stakes in 2023, mile and 70 yards.

Saturday Sept. 9 — $1 million Franklin-Simpson (G2), 3-year-olds, 6 1/2 furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2), 3-year-olds & up, six furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup (G2), 3-year-olds & up, 1 1/2 miles; $1 million The Mint Ladies Sprint (G2), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, 6 1/2 furlongs; $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, one mile; $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon (G3), fillies and mares 3 years old & up, 1 5/16 miles.

Sunday, Sept. 10 — $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile, 2-year-olds, mile; $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, 2-year-old fillies, mile.

Wednesday Sept. 13 — $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint, 2-year-olds, 6 1/2 furlongs; $500,000 Untapable Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs.

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Those figures were disclosed by representatives of those tracks Wednesday during a meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee.

The projected Ellis MSW purses will be a boost from the $60,000 offered in 2022.

Kentucky Downs will remain year-over-year level at $150,000 after last bumping up MSW purses from $135,000 in 2021.

Ellis will be running its first meet under the ownership of the gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), which last September announced a $79-million buy of Kentucky's only Thoroughbred venue in the western part of the state.

Ellis executives said changes for 2023 will include an attempt to run nine races daily instead of eight.

The Ellis racing secretary, Dan Bork, said the stakes program will also be importing the GIII Pucker Up S., which had formerly been run at Arlington International Racecourse until CDI shuttered the historic Chicago track in 2021.

In 2022, the Pucker Up was initially scheduled to be run as part of the GI Arlington Million undercard at Churchill Downs. But the nine-furlong turf race for 3-year-old fillies was one of two races scrapped in an effort to preserve Churchill's slow-to-grow, new $10-million grass course.

Bork said moving the race to Ellis will come with a purse increase to $300,000 from last year's scheduled $200,000, and will place that stakes as the centerpiece of a two-day, seven-stakes turf weekend Aug. 5-6. The remaining six grass stakes will all have purses of at least $200,000.

As far as facility improvements, Jeff Inman, the Ellis general manager, said there is a lot of work going into the “water and drainage situation” that has long been a problem at Ellis.

“Churchill is taking some major steps to come up with a whole solution as opposed to the piecemeal ones that we have done in the past,” Inman said.

Inman also noted that “continued construction work on the grandstands” will start Apr. 6. “We are currently working on our entryway canopy to make a more pleasing entrance.”

CDI will be rebranding the Ellis simulcast presentation to standardize the signal with other tracks in its corporate portfolio, including transferring on-air talent from Churchill Downs to Ellis.

A new video board will be installed in the Ellis infield.

Kentucky Downs will race seven days again in 2023 after going from six dates to seven in 2022.

Ted Nicholson, the senior vice president and general manager at Kentucky Downs, said to expect the standard 10 or 11 races on weekdays, and 11 or 12 on weekends.

Nicholson said the hotel on the property will finally be open for the first time during a race meet.

Nicholson said Kentucky Downs “had tornado damage on a couple barns, so we're in the process of shoring those up.”

A new horsemen's “perch” is being built for 2023. Nicholson said it will be located between the paddock and the stewards' stand, with the weighing-in scale for riders being moved elsewhere to fit in the two-story, 25-by-25-foot viewing stand.

“It will allow for horsemen to go up and watch the race and get a better bird's-eye view of it than what they've been getting,” Nicholson said.

The KTDF advisory committee approved the recommendation of allotment requests that the Ellis and Kentucky Downs purse estimates were based on, but the full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission still has to vote on final approval of the funding.

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Chip Bach, Turfway's general manager, reported the projection during the Sept. 28 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. He also disclosed that Kentucky's recently rebuilt winter racing venue–with its new grandstand and updated stabling–will be shifting Saturday post times from early evenings to afternoons this season.

Bach said Turfway will card 24 total stakes worth $4.35 million in purses over the course of its holiday (19 dates over Nov. 30-Dec. 31) and winter/spring (48 dates over Jan. 1-Apr. 1) meets.

Turfway's signature race, the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S., will see a purse boost from $600,000 to $700,000, Bach said, noting that management is “not only adding stakes, but we're also putting a little bit more meat on the bone for those stakes as well.”

Night racing will remain a staple at Turfway on Wednesdays through Fridays, with an expected 6:15 p.m. first post, Bach said. The afternoon post time for Saturdays is listed as 12:45 p.m. on Turfway's website.

Rick Hiles, the president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, expressed a minor quibble with the timing of the first races on the evening cards. He said 5:30 p.m., which had been used in previous years, worked much better for both patrons “and the horsemen shipping, especially in inclement weather.”

Bach promised he'd look into a possible change to 5:30 p.m. But he added that “Turfway has changed. I can't base things on what happened six or seven years ago, because we had some really tough racing going on there. We used to really get killed in those first two races, going up against a lot of tracks that were going on at that time.”

However, Bach also stated that Turfway's quality of racing has evolved to a point where it might be better able to withstand the competition in that tight bridge-signal simulcast window.

“I think our product, it should be very good right now,” Bach said. “Again, that's why we're stepping into the afternoons on Saturday. We feel we can compete. It's going to take some time to win back some of the handicappers out there that aren't used to seeing us during the day. But I think we have a great opportunity to get back to where we were.”

Last season, Turfway paid out $62,000 in MSW purses. The dual meets were conducted with temporary trackside amenities as the multi-year grandstand rebuild was nearing completion.

The previous season of 2020-21, Turfway paid just $32,000 for MSW races, and the dual meets were heavily compromised by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial phases of the grandstand rebuild that kept the northern Kentucky oval closed to on-track spectators.

During the 2019-20 season, Turfway paid MSW purses in the $46,000-$48,000 range.

Separately, Austin Schmitt, the vice president of finance at Churchill Downs Racetrack, told KTDF board members that for his track's November meet, “Our purse levels per race type are planned to be similar as we are executing upon in September, so our [MSW races] are about $120,000.”

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The 14-day September meet, which runs from Sept. 15-Oct. 2, will include 11 stakes races worth a total of $3.36 million. The line-up is led by the $400,000 GII Lukas Classic for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $300,000 GIII Ack Ack S. for 3-year-olds and up at one mile–a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” race for the GI Dirt Mile–Oct. 1.

The meeting also hosts the first races on the Road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks series with the $300,000 GIII Iroquois S. and $300,000 GIII Pocahontas S. on Sept. 17. Both races will also award points on the Breeders' Cup “Dirt Dozen” series for their respective divisions.

Racing during the September meet will be run exclusively on the dirt course to allow the track's new Bermuda-hybrid turf course to continue to mature to its ultimate potential. Turf racing is projected to return for the Fall Meet, which will be held Oct. 30-Nov. 27.

The Fall meet will host 15 stakes events worth $4.95 million. The meet is anchored by the Nov. 25 $750,000 GI Clark S.

Churchill will host its 18th annual “Stars of Tomorrow” during the Fall meet, with the $200,000 GIII Street Sense S. and the $200,000 Rags to Riches S. highlighting the opening-day card Oct. 30 and the $400,000 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. and $400,000 GII Golden Rod S. scheduled for Nov. 26.

Churchill Downs will host the Claiming Crown Championship Series for the first time Nov. 12. The 24th renewal of the event will feature eight races worth $1.05 million.

The condition book of scheduled races for the September meet was released online Monday and features 135 races and a record $13,791,000 in prize money, for a daily average of $985,071. Maiden special weight races have a $120,000 purse, while allowance races range from $127,000 to $141,000.

All purses, including claiming races, include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

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Kentucky Downs will bump any of those purses to $1 million, including money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF), if a Grade or Group 1 winner starts in that stakes race. The increase will match the purse structure for Kentucky Downs' three existing $1 million races, with $550,000 in association money that every horse runs for regardless of where it was born and an additional $450,000 in KTDF supplements.

“This is just another step as Kentucky Downs works to improve its racing program and to reward horse owners who make this great industry possible,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' Vice President for Racing. “We've been fortunate to receive graded designation for a number stakes in recent years, and now the objective is to get them upgraded. The ultimate goal is to get a Grade I designation.

“In that regard, money talks–or certainly helps. The KTDF makes it possible for us to have $1 million races for Kentucky-breds, which dominate racing. But we also want to make the base purse attractive to horsemen who have quality horses that weren't born in the commonwealth.”

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Track executives disclosed the pre-condition book figures during Tuesday's Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting.

“The MSWs for older horses are going to be $100,000. And the [MSW races for] 2-year-olds are going to be $80,000,” said Keeneland's vice president of racing, Gatewood Bell.

At Keeneland's 2021 spring meet, the comparable MSW purse levels were $79,000 and $60,000.

Mike Ziegler, the senior vice president and general manager at Churchill, told KTDF board members that, “We have yet to finalize our purse structure for the upcoming meet. I expect them to be probably right in line with where they were in the fall, which was at $120,000 for [MSW races].”

In the spring of 2021, Churchill carded two levels of MSW money. For the lead-in to the GI Kentucky Derby, the purses were $115,000. After that, those races were written for $100,000.

Bell also outlined the allowance purse structure for Keeneland's April meet: Starting at the 1x condition, purses will be $110,000, with consecutive bumps upward of $10,000 for each the 2x, 3x, and open allowance levels, maxing out at $140,000.

Rick Hiles, the president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said, “I think it's great. Just don't leave out the claiming races. Make sure the guys that are running their horses in the claiming races every day are well-compensated, too.”

Bell said he agreed, and that Keeneland's condition book–which will come out later this week or sometime next week–will reflect claiming purse increases “just to help bolster those races that [don't] qualify for the KTDF funds.”

When prodded by KTDF advisory committee chair Bill Landes, III to give a glimpse of what purse levels might look like in the fall when Keeneland hosts the Breeders' Cup, Bell said the “hope [is] that it'll carry from the spring right into the fall and look fairly similar.”

When Churchill follows Keeneland in the spring rotation, it will open this year with a new turf course in place. Construction and seeding of that surface prevented Churchill from carding grass races last fall.

Ziegler noted that Churchill will be adding three Wednesday programs in June, making for two five-date weeks of racing and one six-date week that concludes with a Monday, July 4, holiday card.

It was not discussed at the meeting how that outlying six-date final week might adversely affect the available horse population at Ellis Park, which has a scheduled July 8 opening.

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