http://drf.com/news/article/104192.htmlNew York breeder awards trimmed
By Glenye Cain Oakford
The New York State Breeding and Development Fund has announced it will cut in half breeders' awards for second- and third-place finishes for both New York-sired and non-New York-sired runners.
The new awards schedule, as outlined in a memo to New York breeders, still will award a 20-percent payment for first-place finishes by New York-sired statebreds and a 10-percent payment for first-place finishes by statebreds not sired by New York stallions. But New York-sired horses will now earn their breeders a 10-percent award for second- and third-place finishes, down from 20 percent. And second- and third-place finishers not sired by New York stallions will now earn 5 percent in breeders' awards, down from 10 percent.
"The revised awards plan for 2009 retains all the essentials of the existing structure and will enable the fund to pay much closer to the 100 percent of advertised awards," the memo stated.
"I think it's a reflection of the times, and we hope this will only be temporary," said the fund's executive director, Martin Kinsella. He said the fund "has every intention" of restoring the awards to previous levels when economic conditions allow it.
The new awards terms are effective July 1.
The changes were widely expected and are due to the fund's increasing difficulty in maintaining award levels in an era when New York-bred race numbers and purses have climbed, but revenue to the fund has not kept pace.
In 2008, the fund had a $1.6 million shortfall in payouts to breeders. Kinsella has said the fund is hampered by declining revenue, having no share in simulcast revenue, and a decades-old law that prohibits the fund from distributing more than 50 percent of its total revenue as breeders' awards.
"Our country's current economic condition has an impact on the wagering revenue which fuels the incentive program," said New York Thoroughbred Breeders executive director Jeffrey Cannizzo. "But it's just as much the success and growth of our state program as economic challenges that forced change. New York's restricted racing opportunities continue to grow in support of our state's breeding, which in turn creates a stronger market for New York breeders