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Royal Ascot Purses Increased To $7.13 Million For 2021

Prize money for Royal Ascot 2021 is today announced at £6 million (US$7.13 million) over the week – a 66% increase on the £3.61m (US$4.21m) offered in 2020. The Royal Meeting will take place from June 15 to 19 and the full order of running with race values for the extended program announced in January is available here.

The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes, which takes place in July, will be run for £875,000 (US$1.04m) (2020: £400,000 (US$475,500)).

Guy Henderson, Chief Executive Officer at Ascot Racecourse, said:

“In 2020 we had hoped to offer record prize money of more than £8 million (US$9.51m) at the Royal Meeting. In the event the pandemic made that impossible and we have now spent nearly a year racing behind closed doors with trading income down 80 percent. This year's prize money of £6 million represents 75 percent of what we had originally planned for 2020.

“With restricted attendances in 2021 and pandemic insurance cover no longer available, the business will need to absorb a significant loss this year in order to deliver our wish to support the industry with the most prize money that we can prudently afford. Whilst Covid-19 has knocked back our long term financial trajectory by several years, our aim is to make the largest steps we can towards getting prize money levels back on track as soon as possible.

“Without owners we would have no racing. We are very grateful for their commitment and thank them for their support. We look forward to being able to increase prize money further as soon as it is possible for us to do so.

“We are also very grateful to our official partners, QIPCO and Longines, as well as our official suppliers, sponsors, broadcast partners and betting media partners. All of their support is deeply appreciated.

“We at Ascot much look forward to being able to welcome back our racegoers in June and delivering a special week of racing, both for those who are able to be with us on site and the many millions who will be with us in spirit through our broadcast and digital channels.”

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Gulfstream Boosts Overnight Purses 10 Percent Beginning March 3

Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. announced Friday that it will increase all overnight purses 10 percent effective Wednesday, March 3.

Mike Lakow, Gulfstream's Vice President of Racing, said the increase is due to the quality of the live program throughout the Championship Meet.

“We are pleased to be in a position to raise purses for horsemen who have been so supportive during this racing season,” he added.

Gulfstream enters the ninth weekend of its Championship Meet with nine stakes (eight graded) Saturday highlighted by the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2), $200,000 Davona Dale (G2), and $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2). The three races will be three of the five graded stakes making up the Rainbow 6. The Late Pick 4 Saturday will include all graded stakes.

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Belmont’s Spring/Summer Meet To Offer Highest Ever Overnight Purses

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will offer its highest ever overnight purse schedule at the upcoming 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet slated for Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, July 11.

The condition book for the Belmont spring/summer meet is available online now at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/horsemen. Hard copies of the condition book will be available in the race office next week.

“NYRA is pleased to be able to offer the highest overnight purse levels in the history of Belmont Park,” said Martin Panza, NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. “These increases come at an important time in support of horsemen and will drive the industry forward as we emerge from the challenges wrought by COVID-19.”

Significant increases were made across most race categories which will see horsemen at the Belmont spring/summer meet compete for some of the highest purses in North America.

Open maiden special weight races at the Belmont spring/summer meet will feature a purse of $90,000 and horsemen participating in the claiming ranks will compete for purse money ranging up to $100,000.

New York-bred maiden special weight races will offer a purse of $75,000, while horses bred in the Empire State will benefit from an $85,000 purse for non-winners of two / $45,000 claiming and an $80,000 purse for the non-winners of one category.

“There has never been a better time to race or breed right here in New York state,” Panza continued. “The New York-bred program continues to thrive, and the purses and incentives that will begin this spring will continue through the summer at Saratoga making an investment in New York-breds all the more enticing.”

Joe Appelbaum, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA), expressed his support for the newly announced purse structure.

“It's gratifying to see these significant purse increases to the overnight and NY-bred races,” said Appelbaum. “These races are the foundation of the NYRA racing program and the continued investment in them has proven to be successful.”

Pari-mutuel wagering funds the majority of the NYRA purse account, which is awarded to horsemen and, in turn, benefits hundreds of small businesses operating at NYRA tracks and others dependent on the thoroughbred racing industry.

In addition to pari-mutuel wagering, the remainder of the NYRA purse account is funded through VLT revenues generated by casinos located in downstate New York, most notably at Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all casinos in New York were closed on March 16. The phased re-opening of the New York state economy authorized casinos to re-open to the public at limited capacity on September 9, 2020.

Live racing at Aqueduct continues Friday, February 19 with an eight-race card. First post on Friday is 1:20 p.m.

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Tampa Bay Downs Announces Third Purse Increase This Season

Despite rainy weather, Tampa Bay Downs horsemen and horsewomen are basking in sunshine today upon the announcement of a third purse increase this season, which will go into effect with Saturday's card.

Ongoing gains in simulcast revenue have led to another 10-percent boost, with an additional $2,500 for all allowance races and $1,250 more for maiden special weight, claiming and starter races. The increase amounts to approximately $15,000 more per day in total purse money.

Tampa Bay Downs previously increased purses by 10 percent on Dec. 16 and again on Feb. 3.

In on-track news, officials further postponed the track's annual Turf Sprint Showcase Day – featuring the $100,000 Turf Dash Stakes and the $100,000 Lightning City Stakes – from Sunday to next Wednesday, Feb. 24. Both races had been pushed back from Saturday to Sunday earlier because of the soaked condition of the turf course, which last saw action Friday.

With more rain forecast later this week, the decision was made to give the turf course plenty of time to dry out and create conditions as equitable as possible for all runners.

The Turf Dash is for horses 4-years-old-and-upward and the Lightning City is for fillies and mares 4-and-upward. Both races are at a distance of 5 furlongs on the turf course.

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