Lexington, KY — The Kentucky Standardbred Development Fund and Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund Advisory Panel met Wednesday (Sept. 23) to discuss some exciting new changes to racing in Kentucky.

The first topic voted on was adding another leg to the Kentucky Sire Stakes and two more to the Commonwealth Series, to make a total of four legs for each series. The starting fee for the legs of the Commonwealth Series would also be cut by 50 percent.

Next on the agenda was adding a Stallion Bonus Program. The owner of a horse that meets the Kentucky Residency Program requirements and is sired by a stallion standing in Kentucky would receive a bonus if their horse finishes first-fifth in the Kentucky Sire Stakes. This topic will be further discussed for specific details.

Furthermore, a new series was added for this fall for Kentucky Sire Stake or Kentucky Fair eligible horses, to be raced at Oak Grove Racing & Gaming. There will be a leg for $15,000 and a final of $25,000.

The Kentucky Fair Racing Program got a name change for the future, The Kentucky Proud Series. For the fairs going forward, there will be a lot of changes to the purse structure as well. Each purse will be $1,000 per entry, per race, with an extra $1,000 per trailer (except at The Red Mile). The purse for the final will also be raised to $25,000. Another change to be added into regulations for the fairs is that your horse will have to participate in at least half of the fairs to be eligible to race in the final.

We look forward to all of the great changes and appreciate the work of the advisory committee. A special thanks to Art Zubrod for his proposal to help boost the fair program and keep it going in a positive direction and for all the other members that passed it through.

The proposed changes passed by the committee will be on a later agenda before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for consideration.

A YouTube link to view the meeting is available here.