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Del Mar Will Increase Purses By 10 Percent, Add Stakes Race Back To Calendar

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced Thursday a 10 percent purse increase after a solid opening span of racing days during the month of July. The increase will be retroactive back to the track's first day, July 10.

Del Mar also announced the addition of a stakes race to its calendar – the $75,000 Del Mar Juvenile Filly Turf, a one-mile spin on the grass for 2-year-old fillies that will be held on Sunday, Sept. 6. The race had been a regular feature here the previous eight years, but had been dropped from the original stakes schedule due to belt tightening measures.

Between July 10 and July 27 Del Mar conducted seven days of racing and — though it has not had fans on board any of those days as a safety measure tied to the coronavirus pandemic — it saw wagering amounting to $133,841,412 flow from its online and satellite services, an increase of more than 5 percent over similar dates last year.

“Our horsemen have been terrific and our customers have responded very positively to what we're presenting,” said Tom Robbins, Del Mar's executive vice president for racing. “We've been running either 11- or 10-race cards and our field size is up to 8.6 in the early going. We're very pleased to offer this purse boost in conjunction with how the meet has unfolded so far.”

Last summer the track's average field size finished at 8.0 per race.

Del Mar's summer season is scheduled through Labor Day Monday, September 7 with racing on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

However, in response to the cancellation of racing on its second week, the track added Monday racing on July 27 with a 10-race card that drew a solid $11.6 million in wagers. Del Mar officials have indicated that they plan to make up their second and third missing days from week two with an added race day and additional races on scheduled cards.

“We are pleased to announce this well-deserved purse increase to the horsemen and women competing at Del Mar,” said Thoroughbred of Owners of California chairman Nick Alexander. “It is very encouraging to see the positive response at the entry box and from bettors on Del Mar's races. We look forward to continuing to partner with management on another world-class race meet at Del Mar.”

The track returns to action Friday with six stakes races planned over the three-day weekend. Among the upcoming highlights are the Grade I, $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs and the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes at a mile and one-sixteenth for 3-year-olds, both this Saturday. The Shared Belief will be the first time the track has offered a “points” race for the Kentucky Derby, which this year has been shifted from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September.

Additionally, this forthcoming weekend will offer the foremost race at the stand for older fillies and mares, the Grade I, $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Sunday.

First post on all days throughout the meeting is 2 p.m.

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Lone Star To Resume Racing July 19, Adds Two Race Dates

Live racing at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tx. will resume Sunday, July 19 with the first race at 3:05 p.m. The track has COVID-19 guidelines available on its website, including a mask requirement.

Lone Star began its COVID-19-delayed meet on May 22, but it was paused on July 5 when a racing operations employee tested positive for the virus.

Alongside Friday's resumption announcement, Lone Star has announced an 18 percent purse increase, effective Sunday, July 19. The track will also add two additional race days: Aug. 5 and Aug. 12.The races for those days will be previously cancelled races and brought-back book races.

Both divisions of the $100,000-estimated Texas Thoroughbred (Sales) Futurity have been rescheduled for Aug. 11. With the necessary changes to the race schedule, the time between running the first and second legs of the Texas Stallion Stakes Series is not feasible, so both divisions of the second leg have been cancelled. The Texas Thoroughbred Association hopes to run them in January at Sam Houston Race Park.

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Record Prize Money in HK For 2020-21, Derby Gets Giant Boost

It has been a season of upheaval in Hong Kong, the racing product threatened first by social unrest and then the coronavirus. But for the most part, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been able to stay the course and Tuesday, it announced across-the-board increases in prize money for the 2020-21 season, including a 20% bump for its domestic centrepiece, the BMW Hong Kong Derby.

“At a time when prize money levels are being cut worldwide, the prize money increases announced by the Hong Kong Jockey Club are very welcome news, and a testament to the strength, resilience and buoyancy of Hong Kong racing, even in these very difficult times,” said Chew Fook Aun, president of the Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association.

A record HK$1.4 billion (£142.9m/€160m/A$261m/US$181m) will be up for grabs next season over the course of 88 meetings at Sha Tin Racecourse and Happy Valley Racecourse and represents an overall increase of 4.9% over the current season. The Hong Kong Derby, the final leg of the 4YO Classic Series and a race coveted by many Hong Kong owners, will offer prize money of HK$24 million, while the two lead-in races–the Hong Kong Classic Mile and Hong Kong Classic Cup–also see purse hikes of 20% to HK$12 million. Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) became just the second horse to complete a Classic sweep this past March. The Hong Kong Derby will be the world’s second-richest Derby, trailing only the Japanese equivalent.

Five of Hong Kong’s 12 annual Group 1 races will be contested for prize money of HK$12 million next season, a 20% boost, while the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint goes from HK$20 million to HK$22 million, a 10% hike.

“Hong Kong is already home to the world’s richest turf races at 2000 metres, a mile and 1400 metres, and, while our Group 1 prize money is strong, we have nonetheless identified a specific need to increase the prize funds for six of our Group 1 races, notably the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), which regains its status as the world’s richest Group 1 turf sprint,” said Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing, for the HKJC.

Group 2 purses will rise a total of 5.9% (HK$4.25m to HK$4.5m) and Group 3 races will carry prize money of HK$3.5m (up from $3.25m), an increase of 7.7%. The increases will also spill into all classes of handicap races. Class 1 races will be funded to the tune of HK$3m (+7.1%) and Class 2 races will be worth HK$2.2m (+4.8%). Classes 3 through 5 each get purse increases of 3.4%.

“Hong Kong racing is among the best in the world and part of what makes it such a competitive sports environment is the excellent prize money available from Class 5 right up to Group 1,” Harding said. “Despite the issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty in world economies, we will continue our successful strategy of recent years to increase purse levels as necessary in order to reward and encourage our owners and to ensure Hong Kong’s elite races are attractive to overseas competitors. This approach has been a core element in Hong Kong being able to maintain its position as a world leader in providing quality horseracing and has enabled us to achieve between 20 and 26 horses in the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for each of the past seven years.”

Three-time champion UK jockey Silvestre de Sousa is a frequent visitor to Hong Kong on short-term contracts, having ridden 14 winners at his most recent stint.

“It was amazing to wake up this morning and read the news about record prize money increases in Hong Kong,” he said. “It just shows how forward-thinking the Hong Kong Jockey Club really are and it’s happening against a backdrop when the rest of the world are doing the exact opposite and tightening their belts.”

The Club also announced a bonus incentive for trainers in an effort to increase the quality of horses for the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley in December. The scheme will offer HK$200,000 to the most successful trainer, HK$100,000 to the runner-up and HK$50,000 to third, with points awarded in similar fashion as the jockeys’ challenge.

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