State Incentives 2023
/Article by Annie Lambert
The bad news is, North American inflation has substantially increased expenses in Thoroughbred racing. The good news is, U.S. purses in 2022 were up nearly 11% from 2021. Also, states and farms are working to provide owners and breeders an opportunity to counter those growing costs with healthy incentive opportunities.
State Pluses
U.S. inflation rose to a shuttering 9.1% last year, but it has dropped to the current 6.5%. Canada’s most recent number was 6.8%. Both numbers, although improved, still leave horsemen pushing higher outlays across the board. Breeders, owners and trainers can help buffer inflated costs with readily available incentive programs.
Mary Ellen Locke, registrar and incentive program manager for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, cited there are no changes to that state’s programs for the current year. As one of the most successful state organizations, the CTBA has seldom tried to fix what is not broken.
“I think [our program] has helped sustain our numbers through Covid and the economy being down,” Locke pointed out. “The numbers of Thoroughbred foals are down all over, but we are holding our own in California.”
The association’s definition of a Cal-bred is one thing helping California retain those foal numbers. Cal-breds are those foals dropped in the state after being conceived there by a California stallion. Or, “any Thoroughbred foal dropped by a mare in California if the mare remains in California to be next bred to a Thoroughbred stallion standing in the state” will be classified as Cal-bred. If the mare cannot be bred for two consecutive seasons, but remains in California during that period, her foal will still be considered a Cal-bred.
The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association is offering a new race series for two-year-olds in 2023, according to Brian Sanfratello, the group’s executive secretary. The Pennsylvania-bred series offers three stakes for fillies and three for colts.
“The first two races will feature purses of $100,000 to be run during Pennsylvania Day at the Races at Parx Racing,” Sanfratello offered. “The second set will have purses of $150,000 and will also be held at Parx the day of the Pennsylvania Derby; and the third in the series will feature $200,000 purses at a track to be determined.”
Trainers of the top three earning horses will be rewarded with bonuses of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000.
In addition, Penn National has increased their owner bonus to 30%. The racetracks in that state pay for owner bonuses.
Virginia has been on a roll since passing their historical horse racing legislation in 2019. Last year, according to Debbie Easter, executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association (VTA), Colonial Downs averaged $612,000 in daily purse monies.
The Virginia Racing Commission approved an additional nine days of racing for the current year. Colonial Downs, the only live racing venue in the state, will run Thursday through Saturday from July 13 to September 9.
“Thanks to Historic Horse Racing (HHR) machines in Virginia, breeding, raising and racing Thoroughbreds has never been better,” according to Easter. “In 2023, the Virginia Breeders fund should double to over $2 million thanks to funds received from HHR.
Virginia breeders currently earn bonuses when Virginia-bred horses win a race anywhere in North America. If pending legislation passes the Virginia General Assembly, breeders will have an update for 2023. They will earn awards for horses placing first through third in North America.
“Because of budget constraints that limit the Virginia-Certified program to $4 million in both 2023 and 2024, we have made changes to our very successful program that pays 25% bonuses to the developers of Virginia-Certified horses that win at Mid-Atlantic region racetracks, which includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia in addition to Virginia,” Easter added. “The plan is to increase funding for the program once Colonial Downs adds more HHR locations and machines, hopefully in 2024 and 2025.”
Iowa and New Mexico may not produce the largest annual foal crops in North America, but they each had Breeders’ Cup contenders last year.
Tyler’s Tribe (Sharp Azteca) headed to Keeneland undefeated in five starts in his home state of Iowa to contest the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). Unfortunately, the then two-year-old gelding was eased into the stretch after bleeding. He did regroup to finish third at Oaklawn Park just a month later in the Advent Stakes.
After challenging the inside speed during the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), New Mexico-bred Slammed (Marking) finished out of the money. Although the now five-year-old mare has not run since, her previous earnings of $557,030 (13 starts, 9-1-0) give her credibility as a broodmare prospect.
With the majority of Breeders’ Cup contenders raised on Kentucky bluegrass, mare owners may want to start watching for options in Iowa and New Mexico.
Bonus Bucks
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners launched in the fall of 2011. Their ability to acquire, manage and develop runners and put together partnerships is quantified by their gross earnings of $42,561,789.
Eclipse President, Aron Wellman, sees the value of state-bred incentives and makes use of them, although his first order of business is finding the right horses.
“We are going to buy a horse because we like the horse,” Wellman confirmed. “If we buy something eligible for regional programs, we take advantage of them.”
The group’s Chief Financial Officer, Bill Victor, notices incentive earnings on his bottom line. “Breeder incentive programs are important to any stable.”
Spendthrift Farm continues to enjoy their fruitful and much copied programs. This year, Safe Bet will feature Coal Front (Stay Thirsty) standing at $5,000. If Coal Front does not produce at least one graded or group stakes winner by December 31, from his first two-year-old crop the mare owner will owe no stud fee. If he produces a stakes winner, the normal fee will be owed.
Share the Upside features Greatest Honour (Tapit) for 2023. The breeder sends a mare to this stallion, has a live foal and pays the $10,000 fee. That foal entitles the mare owner to a lifetime breeding to Greatest Honour, an annual breeding share, with no added costs. Greatest Honour is, however, sold out for this year.
Both these Spendthrift programs minimize risks and offer great value, especially to smaller breeders.
Canada continues its successful Ontario Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) with a current budget of $800,000.
The province’s Mare Purchase Program (MPP) provides breeder incentives to invest in and ship mare power into Ontario. Foal mares—purchased for a minimum of $10,000 (USD), with no maximum price, at a recognized auction outside of Ontario, but produce 2023 foals in the providence— are eligible for a rebate. The rebate is for 50% of the purchase price up to $25,000 (CAD) with a limit of $75,000 (CAD) per ownership group. Mares bred back to a registered Ontario Sire in the 2023 breeding season are also eligible for a $2,500 (CAD) bonus.
The Mare Recruitment Program (MRP) incentivizes mare owners who bring an in-foal mare to Ontario to foal in 2024. Owners will receive a $5,000 (CAD) incentive for each in-foal mare brought to Ontario. The mare must not have foaled in Ontario in 2022 or 2023. MRP is for mares purchased at an Ontario Racing accredited sale in 2023 and must have a minimum purchase price of $5,000 (USD).
Breeders of record are eligible for additional bonuses through TIP. Specific details on the MPP and MRP programs criteria are outlined in the applicable criteria book.
The Struggle Is Real
Minnesota’s only Thoroughbred racetrack suffered a low blow recently when their 10-year marketing agreement with the nearby Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community expired without renewal. The track will be racing fewer days this year to keep purse amounts competitive without the additional funds.
The former agreement forbad Canterbury from supporting additional gaming legislation in the state; they are now free to push for sports wagering and slots of historical horse racing machines.
Canterbury Park’s Thoroughbred 2023 stakes schedule will feature twenty-four races totaling $1.65 million in purses.
Texas Thoroughbred has one of the most innovative breed associations in the United States, especially for a state that has suffered setbacks over the decades. Their plan to promote Texas racing through public relations was a great success last year and will continue through this year.
“A series of events are conducted at Sam Houston Race Park, Lone Star Park and in connection with the Texas Two-Year-Old in Training Sale and the Texas Summer Yearling Sale,” said Texas Thoroughbred Association Executive Director Mary Ruyle. “Last year, this initiative resulted in forty-two new, first-time Texas Thoroughbred racehorse owners, equating to slightly more than $300,000 through participation in the Texas Thoroughbred Racing Club and private purchase connections set-ups.”
Due to Texas’ stance on the Horseracing and Integrity Act (HISA), the Texas Racing Commission does not send out their racing signal unless it is out of the United States. When HISA was enacted July 1, 2022, they only had 14 days of the meet remaining. This year it has hindered their purse structure and the Accredited Thoroughbred Awards, according to Ruyle.
To resolve the problem, they have begun running races earlier in the day, rather than in the evenings, to draw more spectators and handle. They also made a deal with Woodbine to export their signal to Canada.
“At this moment, the purses are essentially the same,” Ruyle said. “As we get into the meet, we’ll see if we are able to sustain that.”
All Thoroughbred racing states within the United States, along with provinces in Canada, have some deals to incentivize breeders. Researching states of interest can provide the means to fend off these inflationary times in North America.
![Incentives to breedNorth America provides breeder and owner incentive programs to reward horsemen for producing quality bloodstock.Article by Annie LambertBreeding Thoroughbred racehorses takes a passion for the animals and the racing industry as a whole. State incentive programs can enhance horsemen’s intense feelings toward their livestock and the efforts to direct and improve their individual breeding programs. Many states and Canadian provinces in North America have helped horsemen reap rewards for breeding better bloodstock.In some cases, incentives have helped save or resuscitate state racing programs and bolstered racing toward increasing rewards to those supporting their state programs. It becomes a win-win for states/provinces, racetracks, breeders and owners—success for a joint venture, if you will.Not everyone can agree with the Rules of Engagement within each state’s program, but that is human nature. As a whole, most breeders are ultimately looking to protect the value of their livestock and preserve racing in North America.The Kentucky BrandFor all its legendary history in the Thoroughbred racing industry, Kentucky is not known to have the strongest incentive program. It does, however, still provide a home to some of the best stallions and breeding farms in the world. According to Duncan Taylor, President of Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., by having the best horses, his home state also has the best infrastructure.“Kentucky is blessed with the best stallions, therefore we have the best infrastructure—veterinary care, nutrition, blacksmith—all the ancillary businesses that support the Thoroughbred business,” Taylor opined. “We have a weaker program when it comes to breeder incentives. The breeding program we do have is basically paid for by the tax on stallion seasons. There’s a six-percent sales tax on stallion fees, and that money goes into the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund.”Taylor pointed out that over time Kentucky, as most business does, has developed a brand. If a breeder aspires to be the best, it pays to go to Kentucky.“You can breed to horses in your own state,” Taylor said, “but if you’re trying to sell the most expensive horse at the Keeneland Sale, it’s going to be a Kentucky-bred.” “Wealthy people that are buying horses think the best horses come from Kentucky.”Taylor Made participates in several programs outside of Kentucky. They have bred and raced New York breds, for example, to “cover the downside.”“Let’s say my horse is just an allowance-winning horse versus a graded stakes-winning horse,” he explained. “If that [New York-bred] horse is an allowance winner at Churchill Downs or even Santa Anita or Gulfstream, but they can’t win a stake or graded stake, that same horse, with the same ability, could probably win a New York-bred stake. You would probably get a $100,000 to $150,000 purse. That’s what I’m talking about—protecting the downside. You can have less horse and still earn purse money.“I’ve bred and foaled horses in New York to get a New York-bred. If it does run good, I’m going to get some large breeder’s awards. Let’s say I have a New York-bred by our stallion Not This Time (half-brother to Liam’s Map and by Giant’s Causeway) that could win a Gr2 in New York. If you win a $300,000 purse, the winning share is $180,000. I’m going to get $18,000 for being the breeder—10 percent for being a New York-bred.”Taylor is not planning on moving out of Kentucky, but the government in his state, in his words, “keeps opting to take the horse business for granted.” With the best stallions, Taylor feels he could cut a good deal, load the vans and move out of Kentucky tomorrow, which would not be his first choice.His frustration comes mostly from the problems Kentucky is having with their slot machine-like Historical Horse Racing gambling machines. The Historical Horse Racing machines have been a huge moneymaker for Kentucky racing as well as where used in other states. The problem comes from other states legalizing the usage of those machines through their state legislatures, where Kentucky approved them through the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Now, Kentucky is facing opposition for their use from opposing groups and is in the process of having legislative approval to continue their cash flow to racing.Fortunately, Kentucky legislators did vote to approve Senate Bill 120, after clarification of what constitutes pari-mutuel wagering. The bill now goes to Governor Andy Beshear, who has expressed his support for it.B. Wayne Hughes, owner of Spendthrift Farm, in Lexington, Ky, has said, “The breeders are the backbone of our industry.” It is hard to argue that point. Most horses bred by Spendthrift Farm go to auction, although they do keep some to race, according to General Manager Ned Toffey.“These breeders’ incentives are very good programs,” Toffey offered. “Into Mischief had a number of Louisiana-breds when he was getting started, which was useful. We’ve also used the Pennsylvania and New York programs. Normally, if we’re going to use one of those programs, it’s because we have a stallion standing in those states. We may drop a foal by one of our first-year stallions standing here in Kentucky, then breed the mare back to our stallion standing in that state.”Toffey mentioned they have found it tough to find the types and numbers of mares they look for in the regional programs. Current Spendthrift stallions are able to get a good, solid book of mares at home.“If we have just the right horse for a regional program, we’re happy to utilize them, but with the horses we’ve brought in, in recent years, we’ve been able to get the numbers we felt they needed here for the most part.”Change Concerns & ImprovementsLouisiana has changed their state-bred rules beginning with foals of 2021. Babies out of resident mares, sired by Louisiana-domiciled stallions will receive full breeder awards per the schedule established by the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association Board of Directors.Foals out of resident mares, sired by out-of-state stallions and bred back to Louisiana stallions will collect 90 percent. Foals out of Louisiana-residing mares, sired by out-of-state stallions and bred back to out-of-state stallions will receive 50 percent of full breeder awards. Previously, breeders could send a mare to an out-of-state stallion, but that foal could not be an accredited Louisiana-bred unless the mare was bred back to a Louisiana-based stallion.Not all Louisiana stallion owners are happy with the new schedule. Jay Adcock, owner of Red River Farm in Coushatta, La., stands multiple stallions and feels the new rules will send the better mares out of state, causing a drop in the annual foal crop in his state.“In my opinion, the better mares in Louisiana will be going out of state now,” said Adcock, who sits on the LTBA Board. “Someone like myself and others standing stallions in the state had thought they at least had a chance at someone’s better mares every other year. I keep mares for myself and for other commercial breeders. They have already told me I have no chance of breeding those mares. It’s really going to penalize somebody with a young stallion. This is my opinion, but there’s a bunch of us that actually think that.” “I’m a mare proponent,” Adcock added. “Yes, I want a nice stallion, but I do believe it is the mares that prove a horse.”Adcock has concerns about the Louisiana foal crop shrinking due to the new rules. Commercial breeders sending a mare to Kentucky will most likely return that baby to the larger Kentucky market to sell. It doesn’t seem a reach to assume those auctions would bring a better price than in Louisiana.“I think the actual numbers in our foal crops are going to go down,” Adcock opined. “If you’re breeding in 2021, foaling in 2022, yearling sales in 2023...so it’s going to take a few years to prove me right or wrong. I just don’t see how this is going to help the Louisiana program.”“In Louisiana, to have a racino—where you have a casino at your track—the state law says you have to run an 80-day meet in 20 weeks or you don’t have your license,” Adcock pointed out. “The money is not necessarily commingled, but the licenses are commingled. The last seven years we’ve been running about a 1,000 foals a year in Louisiana. I do not believe the number of new foals coming into the state is going to outweigh the numbers of people that are going to get out. How are we going to fill those 80 days in 20 weeks?”Adcock believes Louisiana is being overly optimistic to think out-of-state breeders will send mares to their stallions year after year just to race in restricted races. He thought, because Mississippi has no racing, those mare owners may come to Louisiana; but Texans, who used to ship in mares, have grown their game and would probably opt to stay home.Politics Loom LargeTexas definitely has its game together in recent years. It has been a long road for horse racing in the Lone Star state.The Texas Racing Commission and pari-mutuel gambling were established in 1933. It was hoped pari-mutuel wagering would create revenue during the Great Depression. Sadly, pari-mutuel wagering was rejected in 1937 and was not revived until 1987. The Yankee Bet—a multiple selection wager—was activated about the same time and helped track handle.“Once pari-mutuel was reestablished in the late 1980s, we did have a good incentive program until about the 2000s,” explained Mary Ruhle, Executive Director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association. “Then our numbers began to decline as far as handle, purses and so on. That came about because our surrounding states were able to offer much better purses and incentives. They had additional forms of gaming that supported their purses, which Texas does not.”In 2019, House Bill 2468 was passed, which has been greatly beneficial to Texas racing. The bill authorizes up to $25 million per year to benefit the Texas equine industry. Seventy-percent of that sum is set aside for purses and 30 percent goes to various breed registries for implementation of their programs and to support the Texas horse industry as a whole. “The funds come from sales tax on equine goods and products,” Ruhle pointed out. “We are taking money out of the horse industry and putting it into a different form and multiplying it back into the horse industry.”With Texas foal crop numbers coming out of a slump, Ruhle doesn’t expect to see those numbers rising for a couple more years, due to breeders waiting to see how the program works. Ruhle does expect to see a generous increase in the mares bred in Texas this year.“As far as racing,” Ruhle said, “the additional funds have vastly improved our purses, our handle and our number of participants in horse racing. We are very happy about horses coming in to race from out of state, which improves our racing product. It enables our Texas breeders to aspire to breed a better racehorse.”The Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association (MTBA) is working hard to improve their incentive program and hopefully bring racing back to their state. Since Suffolk Downs closed about four years ago, they have had no in-state racing.To be a Mass-bred currently, a foal must be born in Massachusetts to a mare in residence since October 15 of the previous year, or the mare must be bred back to a stallion domiciled in the state.The MTBA has legislation pending, working its way through government bureaucracy during a pandemic and making it an uphill grind, according to Arlene Brown, secretary for the association and a longtime breeder.“The pending legislation introduces a program where, if you bring a foal into Massachusetts to live for six months before its second birthday, it becomes Massachusetts-accredited and is eligible for the incentive award as a Mass-bred would be,” Brown explained. “The accredited horses will be eligible for the same awards but will be second choice in Massachusetts-bred races. In other words, the rewards would be the same; the only difference would be that they could go into Massachusetts restricted races if [those races] are not already filled by Mass-bred and registered horses.”Also for this year, the MTBA is adding a $10,000 bonus to any winning purse won by a Mass-bred at any racetrack. Because there is no racing in Massachusetts presently, awards count toward earnings at any track in the country. The $10,000 bonus will be part of the program on a year-to-year basis until they build up their equine population enough to run their own restricted Mass-bred races.The new legislation, introduced last year, has not made it through committee but was reintroduced this year. Between government red tape and pandemic restrictions, there is no estimate of when the bill may be taken up. Brown remains optimistic.“We’ve got some very good backing in the House,” Brown, the owner of Briar Hill Farm, said. “Several of the members have been to my farm a few times. The big push is trying to preserve green space and farms, so breeding farms are a push in that direction. A lot of the legislators are on board with maintaining the green space.“The Senate is going to be a little bit more of a fight, but the Senator from my district has been to the farm several times and is behind the push in the Senate for us.”There are seemingly several reasons for optimism among Massachusetts breeders. In addition to their pending program changes, there are two proposals to build new racetracks in their state. “Both of them are very viable, very nice looking designs,” offered Brown. “Now it is just waiting for approval—you know, all the things you have to go through with towns and counties for approvals, but they are both moving along.” Dermot Carty, director of sales at Adena Springs in Aurora, Ont. and Paris, Ky., believes incentive programs can be helpful.“It helps the ups and downs,” Carty noted. “If the horse can run a little bit, you make some money back, which covers the cost of promotion. At the end of the day, they do help out the small breeder.”Carty has worked for Frank Stronach, owner of Adena Springs, a total of 46 years. He feels the Ontario breeding business is in a bit of limbo at the moment. Thoroughbred breeders, he believes, are not being represented properly.“They tried to go out and establish a voice for all breeds, and it doesn’t take into account that Thoroughbreds are a completely different animal altogether,” he said. “The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society took out any representation of Ontario racing.”“There are a lot of people up here committed to breeding horses, but a little break from Ontario Racing to allow their elected representatives to get a true pulse of what is going on would make a big difference,” Carty added.Coast to CoastMary Ellen Locke, who handles registrations and incentives for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, feels they have one of the best programs in the country—with good reason.“Other associations have copied our program,” Locke offered. “We get calls often from other states trying to do a program and explain to them how ours works. I think Louisiana was the last one that called me. I don’t know if they copied it exactly; but I think they have slots now, and they are doing better on foal crops, so they are trying to reward their breeders program.”Locke often receives inquiries from out-of-state owners because you can breed out-of-state and still have a Cal-bred. “We can have a Nyquist Cal-bred,” Locke explained. “He stands in Kentucky, but if the mare foals here and is bred back to a California stallion, then the foal dropped here is a Cal-bred. It has been this way for quite a few years.” The CTBA rules have not changed in quite a while, and Locke has no knowledge of any changes in the near future.Henry Williamson is a California breeder who also raises some Kentucky breds. Williamson’s love of the Thoroughbred industry grew from his late father, Warren Williamson’s passion for the horses.Williamson Racing bred their mare Nashoba to the Kentucky stallion Silver Hawk in 2002 before moving the mare to Harris Farm in California for the prime purpose of having a Cal-bred. The resulting filly, Nashoba’s Key, went undefeated in her first seven Southern California starts before placing fourth in the 2007 Breeder’s Cup Filly & Mare Turf.“There was a process we had in place, because of the Cal-bred incentives, and we wanted to benefit from that,” Williamson said. “I also think that it opens up some opportunity for the horses to build confidence, where they are not running right off the bat against million-dollar Keeneland graduates. It opened the door, and we took advantage of the California incentives being there and the purses being comfortably strong.”Williamson currently has five broodmares in Kentucky—some of which will be moved to his new farm, Arroyo Vista in Valley Center, Calif., where they will join six California-based mares. Williamson is standing his Curlin stallion, Texas Ryano, at Arroyo Vista as well.“I’m a big believer in Cal-bred racing,” said Williamson, who resides in Pasadena, Calif. “We kind of got away from it for a while, but we want to take advantage of it now—even more than Kentucky-breds.”“It is interesting, starting a new business during a pandemic when the [California] race tracks have been struggling; I think I need my head examined,” Williamson laughed. “When you’re passionate about it and you believe in the horses and what you think they’re going to be able to do, you follow your heart.”Arizona horsemen and breeders have struggled with the pandemic and political issues for more than a year. But, there might be light at the end of their scuffles.According to Berdette Felipe at the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association, their program is doing well, with owners and breeders incentives awarded from one-percent of the in-state handle.“Because we don’t have a lot of stallions in Arizona,” Felipe said, “our program allows a mare to be bred anywhere with the resulting foal being an Arizona-bred, providing it is foaled in Arizona and spends six months of their first year in our state.”Another big boost to Arizona racing may come from proposed legislation that will authorize Historical Horse Racing. If approved, Senate Bill 1794 could generate up to $140 million in tax revenues.Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association President Bob Hutton believes HHR would provide much-needed support to all aspects of the state’s racing entities, revitalizing Arizona racing. Virginia passed Historical Horse Racing legislation in 2019, according to Debbie Easter, executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association (VTA). Easter noted that the new pari-mutuel legislation has started to make a difference during the past six months.“Our [incentive] programs are growing due to the HHR money we are receiving,” she noted. “The awards are getting to be quite hefty; we are starting to pay a lot of awards out in both the certified owners program and the breeders program and the Virginia-bred owners program—our three different incentive programs. The awards are starting to amount to serious money.”Although it may be too early to say that the foal crop numbers have also been boosted, breeders are paying attention.“We’re fairly unique because we don’t have year-around racing like most states,” acknowledged Easter. “We’ve tried in the last few years to build our programs so they help our farms and owners year-around.”The VTA pays breeders for wins anywhere in North America. During the current year, due to increased wagering on Advanced Deposit Wagering and HHR, breeders received a 40-percent purse bonus for each of their offspring wins. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Virginia was still in the top 5 so far as the number of Thoroughbreds bred in the country.“Unfortunately, we’ve dropped down near the bottom of the list,” Easter explained. “In order to help those farms and breeders, we started a Virginia Certified Program about three years ago. That program allows people to come in and board and train for six month in Virginia; then if that horse wins in the mid-Atlantic region, the owners get 25 percent of the winning purse.“That has drawn a lot of horses into Virginia. It has filled up our farms, they are hiring people, investing in capital projects—it is doing everything it is supposed to do.”In addition, according to Easter, Colonial Downs has been resurrected over the past three years and it looks like they will be having seven weeks of racing with purses “at least” near $500,000. “The program is rounding out to be very beneficial for those that want to play in Virginia,” Easter added. “Eventually, our goal is to get 10 weeks of racing and the purses to go up substantially more. There will not only be good quality racing, but we’ll have restricted racing for the certified horses and Virginia-bred horses. There are a lot of reasons to come to Virginia right now.”New Age RacingWith the expense of owning a racehorse rising expeditiously, partnerships have become popular. In 2018, Michael Behrens founded MyRacehorse.com in California. The company sells micro-shares in horses so owners might own a very small piece of a Thoroughbred with an equally low investment—a micro of the normal expense—while still enjoying the thrills of racing. As of 2021, the company has horses across the country. “We started out in California the first year; we wanted to test the response of the industry to our micro share program concept,” said Joe Mishak, Racing Operations Manager. “July of 2019 was our first national expansion into a majority of the states.”MyRacehorse has purchased about 70 horses since their inception, including 2020 Kentucky Derby Champion and Horse of the Year, Authentic and now standing at Spendthrift Farm. Although the company is not in the business of breeding horses, they do pay attention to and value incentive programs.“We absolutely look at incentive programs,” said Mishak. “Kentucky is going through the HHR debate now, but it was phenomenal over the past few years. You have allowance races with $100,000 purses. If you go to Kentucky Downs, the purses are huge also. Of course, the level of competition you’re going to compete against is greater. The [breeder’s] programs come into play. There are lots of variables that go into the purchasing process.”While no incentive program will please all of the breeders all of the time, there seems to be some effective policies in North America for horsemen to take advantage of and reap just rewards. CAPTIONS:#DuncanTaylor (credit Taylor Made Farm)> Taylor Made Farm President, Duncan Taylor, has bred horses outside of Kentucky to “cover the downside” when horses fit better in a different situation. #BeholderHead (credit Annie Lambert)> Kentucky-bred Beholder, owned by B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm, enjoyed annual R&R on pastures in California where she earned most of her $6 million.# (credit Williamson Racing)> Henry Williamson’s Williamson Racing breeds and races homebreds in Kentucky and California. His stallion, Texas Ryano, stands at his Arroyo Vista Farm near San Diego. #Colonial Downs, Debbie Easter/Headshot (inset) (credit VTA)> Even though Virginia does not enjoy year-around racing, Debbie Easter noted improved incentive programs have greatly expanded opportunities for horsemen.#>#>#>#>#>POSSIBLE PULL QUOTES:](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/517636f8e4b0cb4f8c8697ba/1614248711277-556GVKV52YS9BBO6K09V/Screenshot+2021-02-25+at+10.24.09.png)
