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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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Turfway Msw Purses Rise Again, to $70k from $62k

Turfway Park purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to rise to $70,000 for the dovetailed dual meets that will span Nov. 30, 2022, through Apr. 1, 2023.

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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MSW Purses to Trend Upward at Keeneland, Churchill

Purses for maiden special weight (MSW) races are projected to trend upward this spring at both Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs.

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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Kentucky HBPA Donates To Governor’s Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund

The Kentucky HBPA, on behalf of its member owners and trainers at the state's five Thoroughbred tracks, is donating $25,000 to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund set up by Governor Andy Beshear's office.

The fund is assisting those impacted by the devastating tornadoes that ripped through eight southwestern Kentucky counties Dec. 11-12, killing at least 77 people and demolishing entire towns.

“Our mission since inception has been helping those in need,” said Rick Hiles, President of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. “Our motto is 'horsemen helping horsemen,' but we're also Kentuckians helping Kentuckians. It's just hard to fathom the extent of the needs facing the tens of thousands of people whose world has been upended.”

KHBPA Vice President Frank L. Jones Jr. said that while there are numerous worthy fund-raising campaigns and programs doing great work, the HBPA board felt the organization's contribution would reach the farthest through the state's fund.

“The Governor and First Lady's initiatives give everybody an avenue to go forward with contributions that will be put to the best use throughout the region, with 100 percent of donations going to assist our fellow Kentuckians,” Jones said. “That includes the many affected children and teenagers, who have a real champion in First Lady Britainy Beshear, including her overwhelmingly successful toy drive.

“Our Kentucky HBPA members are proud to be even a small part of the relief and recovery efforts.”

HBPA members are encouraged to donate or volunteer for the overall relief effort. Donations to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund can be made at https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/WKYRelief.

Kentucky HBPA board member Buff Bradley spent Wednesday in Bremen in Muhlenberg County helping a cattle farmer cut trees off the damaged fencing so it could be replaced and clearing the considerable debris from hay fields. Bremen (2020 census population 172) suffered 11 deaths, including a 5-month-old baby.

“You get there and everything is so devastating and so sad,” said Bradley, who joined the work team assembled by his longtime friend, Franklin County extension agent Keenan Bishop. “Every time you drive a few feet farther, you think, 'How did anybody live there?' It was so touching and sad. But it kind of restored my faith in humanity. My buddy counted 11 vehicles that came by to offer us food and drinks; they were just driving up and down these rural roads. The sheriff stopped by. It was Democrats and Republicans; everybody came together. Two different guys stopped and said, 'Can we help?' They started sawing and helping us drag that stuff off the fence. They didn't even know who they were helping.

“The farmer probably was in his mid 30s or 40. He just had his head down — his whole livelihood was out there. When we left, he had his head a little higher. Pictures don't do it justice, and you're thankful you could help. You'd see a family out in front of their house, and they have a wagon with all their belongings in it. When you see how much everybody is doing, it's pretty cool: some good out of all the bad that happened. My buddy and I were in tears reflecting about it on the drive home.”

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