From a Maryland Horse Breeders Association release
The Maryland Horse Breeders Association today applauded Tuesday’s state Racing Commission action to enhance bonuses to the state’s breeders and stallion owners.
The Maryland Racing Commission has approved an additional 10% bonus award to breeders of Maryland-breds by Maryland sires, and confirmed that there will be a significant increase to the Breeder and Stallion bonuses on Maryland Million Day 2014.
Beginning with the live racing program at the Maryland State Fair in August, there will be another 10% bonus for eligible Maryland-bred horses by registered Maryland stallions (for a total Breeder Bonus of 40% based on the horse’s share of the purse). For the rest of 2014 the current Owner Bonus of 17.5 % and Stallion bonus of 10% will be in place. All bonuses are now paid to the top three finishers. The Owner bonus is paid on maiden, allowance, starter allowance ($10K+) and claiming races ($10K +). The Breeder and Stallion bonuses are paid on all races (stakes capped at $100K). The bonuses on Maryland Million Day at Laurel Park on October 18, 2014, will be increased to 15% to Breeder and 5% for Stallions.
The changes to the Maryland-bred bonus awards are designed to encourage and reward the owners and breeders of registered Maryland-bred and Maryland-sired horses when they race in Maryland. The program is evaluated semi-annually by the Maryland Racing Commission.
“Maryland breeding and racing is seeing resurgence with the increased revenue from slots just as we hoped,” said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. “We can see that the enhanced bonus awards are being reinvested in the horse business in the state.”
