Over $1 Million In Virginia Breeders Fund Awards To Be Distributed From 2021 Victories

The Virginia Thoroughbred Association announced that $975,000 in Virginia Breeders award monies will be distributed to breeding farms in the state whose horses reached the winners circle in 2021 at any track in North America. That $975,000 figure is up $25,000 from 2020.

Adding in $75,000 in Virginia Stallion awards — up $25,000 from 2020 as well — a total of $1,050,000 in bonus monies will be distributed via the Breeders Fund. A total of 46 different breeders will share in the prize pool, which comes from 161 winning Virginia-bred horses that accumulated purse earnings of $2,916,905. The bonus averaged 32 percent of each winning purse. As recently as 2019, that figure was 19 percent.

The Virginia Breeders Fund is generated by one percent of every dollar wagered in Virginia on live racing and via OTB and ADW betting. Each year, the Virginia Racing Commission approves how the money in the Fund is allocated. A large portion is set aside for payments to breeders of registered Virginia-breds that win a race at any track in North America. There is a $25,000 cap on any single award.

Morgan's Ford Farm, based in Front Royal, led the charge with $126,694 from 15 wins. Chess Chief, who scored a pair of stakes wins, and Bella Aurora, who connected in a single stake, were both key. The former, a 6-year-old Into Mischief horse, scored a maximum $25,000 award in winning the New Orleans Classic and a $19,027 bonus in the Tenacious Stakes. Both were held at Fair Grounds. Bella Aurora won the Interborough Stakes, good for $17,441 while Supply and Demand, with three wins in New York, produced over $32,000 in awards.

Mr. & Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III finished second in awards with $113,855 led by several key contributors — Passion Play, Virginia Beach and Attachment Rate. Passion Play's victories in the Bert Allen and Edward P. Evans Stakes each returned a $19,027 award as did Virginia Beach's win in the Camptown Stakes. Attachment Rate, a former Kentucky Derby participant, captured an $11,035 payday for winning a February allowance at Gulfstream.

Knockgriffin Farm did not have any five-digit award winners but did have 14 overall. Multiple victors Vincent Van Gogo and Gimme Some Mo collected three each and Mucho Mas and Mo Clare's each had a pair. The combined total of $72,346 was good for third in the standings. Gimme Some Mo's $9,944 award from a Churchill Downs claimer was tops and Shastee's maiden special weight $8,562 bonus score at Gulfstream was next best.

Audley Farm Equine's bonus tally of $69,353 came from just five wins, but three were $100,000 stakes. Determined Kingdom prevailed in the Jamestown, Tasting the Stars was best in the Nellie Mae Cox, and Urban Fairytale finished first in the Brookmeade. Each provided an extra $19,027 on top of purse money earned.

With Repo Rocks' three wins and American Dubai's two, Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin took fifth place with $69,166. She had seven triumphs in all but benefitted most from American Dubai's dominating 7-length allowance win at Oaklawn with a $106,000 purse. Repo Rock's hat trick of wins all took place in New York — a maiden special weight at Belmont followed by two winning allowance efforts at Aqueduct.

Carlos Moore and Gillian Gordon-Moore's bonus of $55,443 was good for sixth among breeders. All came from Steve Asmussen trained Boldor, who prevailed in three stakes last year — the Sam's Town at Delta Downs, the King Cotton at Oaklawn and the Punch Line at Colonial.

Quest Realty's $49,799 figure came from six different horses, two of which reached the winners circle three times each — Drosselmoon and Stay Out. Another trio had their picture taken twice — Jestful, Point of Grace and Stay In.

The William Backer Revocable Trust reached the $40,000 level thanks to Shaaz's late season win in a $67,000 maiden special weight at Santa Anita. The Uncle Mo colt, a Bob Baffert trainee, was making his first lifetime start.

Tango Charlie's three wins in 2021 helped Morgan's Ford Farm and Godolphin reach $38,361 in bonus earnings. The 4-year-old Hard Spun gelding took a maiden claimer at Oaklawn followed by claiming wins at Ellis Park and Churchill. Oviatt Class chipped in with a maiden special weight victory at Del Mar, good for a $13,318 check.

Rounding out the top ten was Lazy Lane Farms with $37,659 from nine wins. Forloveofcountry was best on three different occasions while Dublin Yinz Money and Sing Along Suzy won twice each.

A total of $75,000 in stallion awards were distributed among six owners with 11 winners and combined purse earnings of $250,920.

Horses sired by Smallwood Farms' Friend or Foe won three and took $39,248 of the stallion reward pool. Mr. Buff led the way again with two stakes scores in New York — the Stymie and Jazil. The 8-year-old gelding has amassed $1.4 million from 17 lifetime wins.

Goodluckchuck, sired by Anne Louise Bonda's Big Picture, won three races to produce a $14,481 bonus. The 6-year-old gelding won an allowance at Charles Town, a claimer at Timonium and a starter optional claimer at Laurel.

Third largest award went to Lady Olivia at North Cliff, whose $8,967 bonus came courtesy of Heart Light's maiden special weight win at Colonial on Aug. 2. The 3-year-old Cosa Vera filly was best by a nose.

Other awards were received by Leanne Hester (Gone Clubbing), Ruxton Farm (Fierce Wind) and the late Sara Collette (Xenodon).

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Virginia Breeders Fund Awards Pay 40 Percent For Wins At North American Tracks In 2020

Virginia-bred Largent's three stakes and two allowance wins in 2020 triggered an $81,738 Virginia Breeders Fund bonus award for Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville, tops among any horse and breeding farm in the Commonwealth. Virginia Breeders awards took a big step forward in 2020, averaging 40 percent of each winning purse at tracks across North America compared with 22 percent in 2019.

“I'm extremely excited that the Virginia breeders are starting to reap the rewards from the growing revenue streams we have now in Virginia,” said Virginia Thoroughbred Association executive director Debbie Easter. “We certainly don't breed as many horses as we once did, but I have to believe that our breeders are as happy as they have ever been. What other state pays a 40 percent breeders bonus for a win anywhere in North America? What's even better is I expect that percentage to increase in the coming years. Right now, it really pays to breed horses in Virginia.”

Lazy Lane Farm in Upperville topped all breeders with $176,385 in overall bonus earnings courtesy of 17 winners. Largent, a Todd Pletcher trainee that is headed to the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, led the way with five wins including a pair of early season allowance scores at Gulfstream, Virginia-bred wins in the Edward P. Evans and Bert Allen Stakes, and a season-topper in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes, good for a $25,000 bonus. Lazy Lane's Creative Genius also chipped in with four wins from a busy 13-start year.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III were next with 13 wins and bonus earnings of $119,993. Five different horses won a pair of races including Virginia Beach, who delivered a $18,997 bonus in capturing the M. Tyson Gilpin Stakes at Laurel. Attachment Rate, Holding Fast, Hold Me Black and Assume each had two wins while their Passion Play, with an allowance win at Delaware, produced a $15,958 bonus.

Audley Farm Equine was third in bonus winnings of $63,199 with seven wins. Tasting the Stars tied for the fourth highest bonus, $18,997, by winning the Brookmeade Stakes. The 5-year-old Bodemeister mare is four-for-six lifetime but made only two starts in 2020. Steeplechase jumper Curve of Stones earned a pair of $6,332 bonuses by winning the National Sporting Library Stakes in Middleburg and the International Gold Cup at Great Meadow.

Morgan's Ford Farm was next with Breeders' prize earnings of $59,526 from nine winner's circle trips. Chess Chief, a 5-year-old Into Mischief horse trained by Dallas Stewart, captured a pair of allowance races at Fair Grounds while Lynchburg recorded a maiden special weight win at Colonial Downs last summer. Bear Trappe and Appraised chipped in with two wins apiece.

Jim and Katie FitzGerald bankrolled $55,923 in bonuses from eight winners. Tan and Tight, a 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare, delivered their bonus high of $15,789 from a maiden special weight score at Aqueduct while Soldado's two allowance wins at Gulfstream returned a pair of $11,000-plus rewards.

Kenny Had a Notion's trio of wins gave breeder Althea Richards a series of five-digit bonuses. The now 3-year-old Great Notion gelding connected in late July with a maiden special weight triumph at Delaware followed by wins in the Jamestown and Maryland Million Nursery Stakes, both at Laurel. The three combined to produce $54,882 in awards.

The William Backer Revocable Trust parlayed ten wins into awards of $44,411, topped by Day Dayenu's maiden special weight win at Woodbine and a $13,050 bonus. Divine Interventio had three victories, which helped lead the 8-year-old Malibu Moon gelding to his 30th career “top three” finish. Hilltop Harmony and First Talent also collected a pair of wins.

Larry Johnson, Chance Farm and Carlos Moore & Jill Gordon-Moore round out the list of breeders that scored total reward monies of $30,000 or more. Nine-year-old Sir Rockport, bred by Johnson's Legacy Farm, continued a series of strong late career showings with six wins in 2020. The son of Rockport Harbor also had five in 2019. He has now recorded 11 of 15 lifetime scores as either a 7- or 8-year-old. Brooke Royster's Chance Farm rode Upgrade Me's success as a 4-year-old to four individual bonus outings, though Red Pepper Mill's maiden special weight triumph at Colonial last summer produced a $10,132 payday. Boldor's  allowance win at Oaklawn last winter triggered the third highest breeders bonus, $22,290, for the Moore's. The 5-year-old Munnings gelding is trained by Steve Asmussen.

A total of $50,000 in stallion awards were distributed among three owners with 15 winners and combined purse earnings of $345,510. Horses sired by Smallwood Farms' Friend or Foe won six and took $34,470 of the stallion reward pool. Mr. Buff led the way again with a trio of stakes scores in New York — the Haynesfield, Jazil and the Empire Classic Handicap. The 7-year-old gelding has amassed $1.2 million from 15 lifetime outs. In 2020 alone, he bankrolled $307,500. Goodluckchuck, sired by Anne Bonda Hartman's Big Picture, won three races at Laurel to produce a $10,002 bonus payout. Four different horses by Susan Minor's Fierce Wind got to the winners circle a combined six times last year.

Between Virginia-bred and stallion awards, $1 million in bonus monies will be distributed via the Breeders Fund. A total of 32 different breeders shared in the prize pool, which came from 137 winning Virginia-bred horses that accumulated purse earnings of $2,308,840.

The Virginia Breeders Fund is generated by one percent of every dollar wagered in Virginia on live racing and via OTB and ADW betting. Each year, the Virginia Racing Commission approves how the money in the Fund is allocated. A large portion is set aside for payments to breeders of registered Virginia-breds that win races at any track in North America. There is a $25,000 cap on any single award.

The post Virginia Breeders Fund Awards Pay 40 Percent For Wins At North American Tracks In 2020 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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