Turfway Park increases stakes purses

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Florence, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - The purses of stakes races at Turfway Park will be increased beginning next month through the remainder of the race meet that ends in March. The track made the announcement Friday.

"After meeting with the KTDF (Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) Advisory Committee on Monday (Dec. 9), we learned we would enter the winter/spring meet with a substantial surplus of KTDF purse funds," said Director of Racing Tyler Picklesimer. "The committee, the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, and Turfway together agreed that the best use of those funds is to reward Kentucky horsemen with an increase in allowance purses. Increasing our stakes purses benefits the horsemen as well by offering better purses for their better horses and should increase the caliber of those races."

Turfway's premier stakes, the Spiral Stakes, will have the same purse of $550,000 as the 2013 edition. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is contributing $50,000 for the March 22 event and another $25,000 will bump the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes to $100,000 set for March 1.

Stakes receiving an additional $10,000 each will be the Wintergreen, Forego, 96ROCK and Cincinnati Trophy Stakes. Those stakes will each have $60,000 purses.

Purses for allowance races will be increased $1,500 beginning Saturday, Dec. 14 through Dec. 31.