The April 15 deadline is drawing near for some stakes payments. Others have been postponed due to COVID-19. Below are the notices that have been submitted to the USTA Newsroom. Also, click here for a list of all the 2020 stakes conditions and if a payment has been suspended, there is a coversheet to go along with it.

Meadowlands sustaining payments due April 15

East Rutherford, NJ — The Meadowlands reminds those who have nominated horses to our Grand Circuit stakes that the next sustaining payment is due (postmarked by) April 15.

All pertinent information on our stakes including current lists of eligible horses through the March 15 payment and the upcoming sustaining payments may be accessed on The Meadowlands website.

— Meadowlands Media Relations

Tioga payments due April 15

Nichols, NY — Horsemen should be reminded that the sustaining payment for the Artiscape, Crawford Farms, Joie De Vie and Roll With Joe stakes at Tioga Downs remain due (postmarked by) April 15.

Details are available here.

Questions may be directed to 607.972.5500.

— Nick Salvi/Tioga Downs

Hambletonian Society payments due April 15

Cranbury, NJ — Enclosed you will find links to the payment forms and information for the 133 races administered by The Hambletonian Society with payments due on April 15, which must be postmarked by midnight Thursday (April 16).

The forms are always available on our website at www.hambletonian.com/formsinfo and by calling our office and having them faxed or e-mailed to you. All the forms on the website are pdf fillable. Just type right in the form, print as many as you need and return the form with your payments.

Along with checks, we are accepting credit cards as a form of payment for any stakes payments you may want to make. All credit card payments are subject to a three percent service fee which will be added to your payment total.

In April, sustaining payments are due for several of the stakes that we service. Below are the races which have a payment due this April (broken down by division):

2-Year-Olds: Breeders Crown #34, The Elevation, Kentuckiana Stallion Management Pace/Trot, Madison County and Matron Series

3-Year-Olds: Breeders Crown #33, Jenna’s Beach Boy, Matron Series, Carl Erskine and Monument Circle

Open Horses: Breeders Crown #32, Caesar’s Trotting Classic, Dan Patch, Dayton Pacing & Trotting Derbies and the Dayton Distaff Derby

The above races all have similar conditions and payment schedules as they did in 2019. The condition sheets for each race can be found on the specific race page set up for that race on our website.

To make it more convenient, eligibility lists can be emailed to those nominators who provide us their e-mail address and request these lists. Eligibility lists are always available on our website here.

For further information, or to update your status on our mailing list, feel free to call our office at 609.371.2211 or email davidjanes@hambletonian.org.

— David Janes/Hambletonian Society

New Jersey stakes payments due April 15

Trenton, NJ — Don’t forget that the New Jersey Sire Stakes and Standardbred Development Fund sustaining payments are due on April 15.

The second sustaining payment for the SDF is $150 and for the NJSS is $500 for both 2- and 3-year-olds.

Sustaining forms can be found on the New Jersey Sire Stakes website.

— New Jersey Sire Stakes

Hambletonian Society April 15 stakes payment statement

Cranbury, NJ — After careful and extensive consideration, the Hambletonian Society, in conjunction with The Meadowlands, The Red Mile, Little Brown Jug Society and other industry clients, partners and stakeholders, have concluded that the April 15 payment deadline for stakes and early-closers will remain intact.

For more information, click here.

— Moira Fanning/Hambletonian Society

NYSS participants encouraged to make online payments due to COVID-19 concerns

Schenectady, NY — New York Sire Stakes participants are urged to consider submitting 2- and 3-year-old payments due on April 15 online due to the uncertain climate surrounding COVID-19.

Business as usual continues at the NYSS office, but this request is being made so that we may continue to process your payments in a timely manner in the case of office closures or mail disruption in the future. Invoices for 2- and 3-year-olds were mailed on March 13. The payment deadline remains April 15.

You can submit online payments here.

If you decide to mail your payment, we strongly encourage utilizing certified mail to have documentation of on-time payment.

Yearling nomination payments are due on May 15. These payments cannot be made online and must be mailed. We encourage certified mail in this instance as well. Yearling nomination forms were mailed to mare owners on March 16. The nomination form is also available online here.

We are working hard to make sure our office is available and communicating with you at this time. The most reliable way to contact the New York Sire Stakes is to email info@nysirestakes.com.

We will continue to update all participants if circumstances require. If you do not already have an email address on file, please send that to us at the email above to ensure direct receipt. Thank you for your understanding.

— Agriculture & New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund

Woodbine to suspend April stakes payments

Milton, ON — Due to the suspension of live racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Woodbine Entertainment has made the decision to suspend the upcoming April 15 Standardbred stakes payments.

The suspension of payments is for all Woodbine administrated stakes events. This includes the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs and the Battle of Waterloo and Belles at Grand River Raceway.

“It’s important for us to recognize the challenges facing everyone in the horse business at this time, and we want to help where we can,” said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. “We want to thank all of the owners that have staked their horses for 2020.”

Woodbine will reevaluate all stakes purses and sustaining payments in May.

— Mark McKelvie/WEG

Parshall Stakes April 15 payments moved to June 1

Washington Court House, OH — The Dr. H.M. Parshall Memorial Stakes deadline for 3-year-old sustaining payments has been moved from April 15 to June 1 in response to the more stringent COVID-19 restrictions now in place.

It is our hope that by following suit with other stakes that are also extending their deadlines that the cumulative effect will aid the horsemen during this difficult time.

— Lisa Schwartz

Michigan delaying Summer program payments from April 15 to May 15

Lansing, MI — After consulting with the MHHA board, the MHHA will be delaying the deadline for all April 15 payments to May 15 in response to COVID-19.

While we know we will not be able to solve every issue members may have we can at least delay payments to sustain or make late nomination payments to summer programs that may provide critical income later this summer.

Any payment that is currently due on April 15 will be pushed back and accepted through May 15.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact the MHHA via email at info@MHHA.com.

— Michigan Harness Horsemen’s Association

Indiana Standardbred stakes nominations postponed

Indianapolis, IN — Due to the COVID-19 government restrictions currently in place, nominations for stakes payments for the Indiana Standardbred Breed Development Program have been postponed from April 15 to May 15.

We realize this is a difficult time for everyone, especially members of our Indiana horse racing community, and are hopeful this postponement will ease some of the financial burden many of our participants are currently experiencing.

While we are unsure of a timeline when restrictions will be lifted and the racing season will commence, we are closely monitoring the situation and will be communicating with our participants as we have additional information.

The payments that have been postponed at this time are:

• All Indiana Sired Late Closers – IS-3, IS-4, IS-7, IS-8, IS-9, IS-10 and IS-11
• Indiana Sire Stakes 2-Year-Old Nomination Payment
• Indiana Sired Fair Circuit 2-Year-Old Nomination Payment

Information regarding the Indiana Standardbred Breed Development Program may be found on the program’s website at www.in.gov/hrc/sb/.

— Megan Arszman/Indiana Horse Racing Commission