maiden special weight purses | Horse Racing Free Tips

For Third Straight Spring, MSW Purses at Keeneland and Churchill Projected to Remain Level

Purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to remain unchanged for the third straight spring at both Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs.

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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NYRA Raises Purses For 2024 New York-Bred Foal Crop

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2026, New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching the race's open-company counterpart, which will directly benefit the state's 2024 foal crop and pave the way to compete for some of the richest purses of any state-bred program in the nation, the association said in a release Wednesday.

At the 2023 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, maiden races restricted to New York-bred 2-year-olds featured a purse of $88,000 compared to a purse of $105,000 offered for 2-year-olds competing in an open-company maiden event.

While this purse increase will impact only the 2024 New York-bred foal crop, NYRA intends to further expand purse parity for additional categories of New York-bred races in the future.

In 2022, NYRA conducted 556 races exclusively for registered New York-breds with purses totaling $42,366,000. Among those races were 56 stakes with $8,725,000 of purse money on offer. NYRA holds three high profile NY-bred showcase days annually, highlighted by New York Showcase Day at Saratoga Race Course. In 2023, Saratoga Showcase Day was run on the Sunday of Travers Weekend and featured a whopping 113 NY-breds competing in 11 races, including six stakes worth a combined $1.25 million.

As a result of the partnership between NYRA and FOX Sports, nearly every NY-bred contest is broadcast live to a national audience on the FOX Sports family of networks. Both Saratoga Live and America's Day at the Races, which are produced by NYRA, have generated sustained ratings growth since they were launched nationally in 2016.

“The New York-bred program is critically important to the future of thoroughbred racing in New York State,” said Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “This new purse structure increases the value of the upcoming foal crop of New York-breds, and reflects NYRA's commitment to the owners, breeders and trainers who choose to breed and race in New York.”

Beyond the rich purses offered by NYRA, a variety of owner, breeder and stallion awards are available to those who breed and race in New York. These lucrative incentives serve as a significant benefit to thoroughbred breeding farms across the state, which create and sustain thousands of jobs in every corner of New York.

“This initiative is a strong signal to the bloodstock market on why you should breed and foal in New York, and own a New York-bred to race,” said Najja Thompson, Executive Director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders. “New York-breds compete and win at the highest levels, and NYRA's consistent support guarantees more opportunities than ever for New York State's breeders and owners.”

New York State has adopted rules that expand the reach of the New York-bred awards and benefits by clarifying a pathway for non-resident mares to gain residency status. According to the rule changes, a non-resident mare purchased in foal through public auction is deemed a resident mare provided the mare is purchased for at least $50,000 in the public auction; is present in the state of New York within 15 days after a sale in North America and 60 days at any public auction sale abroad; the foal is foaled in New York; and the mare thereafter is continuously in residence in New York from within 120 days after her last cover in the year of conception of another foal and remains in residency until foaling.

“It pays to participate in the New York-bred program,” added Thompson. “And bringing a mare back to New York is a valuable proposition, especially for the 2024 foaling season.”

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Turfway MSW Purses Projected to Hold Steady at $70,000

Turfway Park purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to stay level at $70,000, the same as last season. The dovetailed 2023-24 meets that run through March will open Nov. 29.

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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Practical Joke Colt Tops Texas Yearling Sale

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX – A colt by Practical Joke brought $110,000 to top Monday's single-session Texas Thoroughbred Association (TTA) Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park.

By the numbers, a total of 175 yearlings sold for $3,240,000. The figures represented a decrease from 2022 when 161 sold for a record $3,416,000 in gross receipts. This term, the average was $18,542, while the median was $11,000 and 77 horses reported not sold.

Foster Bridewell, Director of Horse Sales for the TTA, said of the auction, “Three of our top five offerings were Texas-breds, so that was good to see,” he said. “This was one of our largest catalogs in the history of this sale and we had buyers from several key quadrants–Kentucky, Ocala, California and across the Lone Star State.”

A Practical Topper For Al Pike

Offered as hip 122, the dark bay was purchased by Al Pike, acting as agent. The Apr. 30 foal is out of SW Jan's Perfect Star (Imperialism), dam of UAE Jebel Ali Sprint hero Road Bloc (Street Sense). The native Texan from Palestine, and his wife Salley, relocated this past summer to Highlander Training Center, outside of Dallas. A regular on the pinhooking scene, Pike frequents a bevy of juvenile sales, including OBS March, Fasig-Tipton Midlantic and the Texas 2-Year-Old In-Training Sale.

Practical Joke colt (hip 122) | Olivia Friesen/TTA Sale

Pike said he saw this yearling as an opportunity.

“This one is for me and partners,” said Pike. “I thought he was a stunning Practical Joke, beautiful horse, and I think he's going to grow to be really special. It's just the Practical Joke that sold it and he had some pedigree too. I just thought he was a beautiful colt. This will be one to pinhook for the spring and we'll probably look to go to OBS March.”

Bred by Michael and Linda Mazoch of Texas, the colt was consigned by Scott Mallory, agent.

“He came from Buena Madera and they always do an excellent job in preparing the horses for the sale,” Mallory said. “And it makes it a whole lot easier when you get to the sale because they are well presented. With the recent success of Practical Joke, we kind of thought he'd be fairly popular with the sale. He vetted good, handled himself well up there. And with Texas coming up with the $40,000 maiden special weights, we knew that would add an extra bid or two. I didn't quite think he'd bring $110,000, but I'm happy about it. We thought he'd sell well–I thought he'd sell for $70,000 or $80,000, but $110,000 is excellent.”

Vekoma Colt Takes Home Silver

Late in the session, hip 260, a chestnut colt by Vekoma, brought $90,000 from pinhooker David Scanlon. Out of Winning Saga (Tale of the Cat), the May 12 foal was raised and prepped at Elm Tree Farm in Kentucky and consigned by agent Scott Mallory, who also consigned the topper.

“This colt just showed well the whole time, he had a great disposition, he just looks like he is going to turn into a really beautiful 2-year-old and he was bred by Dr. Fred Willis from Louisiana,” said Mallory.

Competitive Edge Colt Reminds Asmussen of Ryvit

The third highest-priced yearling of the session was taken home by Steve Asmussen's KDE Equine for $85,000. Hip 24, consigned by Highlander Training, was bred by Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas.

Ryvit schooling at Saratoga with Erik Asmussen up | Sarah Andrew

The Feb. 16 foal is the first foal out of unraced Better Than Mo (Uncle Mo), who counts MSW More Than Most (Indygo Mountain), MSW Worldventurer (Wimbledon) and GIII Miss Preakness S. scorer Red Ghost (Ghostzapper) as half-siblings. His third dam MGISP Alysbelle (Alydar) is a full-sister to Horse of the Year Alysheba.

Asmussen indicated Monday's purchase was prompted by another Texas sale graduate, GIII Chick Lang S. victor Ryvit (Competitive Edge).

“A couple of years ago, I got Ryvit out of this sale,” explained the Hall of Famer. “I think that there are blue collar horses and they have to earn their keep. And it had everything to do that he reminded me of Ryvit. Just a very sturdy and athletic-looking horse and, hopefully, we can create a similar circumstance.”

On behalf of his client Whispering Oaks, Asmussen also purchased hip 110, a Louisiana-bred colt by Spun to Run out of SP Hilarious Brown (Big Brown) for $80,000, in addition to a dark bay filly by Competitive Edge out of Conquest Bebop (Scat Daddy) (hip 51), who also brought $80,000.

Complete sales results can be found here.

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