by Tom LaMarra, USTA Web Newsroom Correspondent

Lexington, KY — With the Kentucky Sires Stakes finals in the books for 2012, officials are looking ahead and examining ways to strengthen the program.

The more than $2 million that goes toward sires stakes purses comes from a 13 percent share of the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund, which derives revenue from a 6 percent tax on stud fees, and a percentage of pari-mutuel revenue. The Standardbred share of the Breeders’ Incentive Fund will be roughly $1 million for 2012.

On Sept. 9 there were eight $250,000 finals at The Red Mile in Lexington. Seventy-four horses competed; six trotting stallions and seven pacing stallions were represented.

According to Breeders’ Incentive Fund statistics, the number of registered stallions is down to 15 for 2012 from 21 last year. The trend isn’t surprising given the stagnant nature of the Kentucky harness racing program in terms of revenue and live racing dates.

“There was a meeting of a panel that is looking at what we’ve got,” said Marc Guilfoil, deputy executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “They’re trying to be proactive by coming up with some new ideas. The panel will make recommendations to the racing commission.”

“There are talks at the committee level,” said Jamie Eads, director of incentives and development for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “I think they recognize that maybe the current model is not promoting the breed as best as they would like.”

The program, however, will remain the same for 2013, according to Guilfoil and Eads.

Eads said the money available coupled with a declining number of yearlings makes the program attractive to breeders. There may be competition in quality, but not necessarily in numbers.

“It’s one of the better programs out there,” Eads said. “I think we’ve bottomed out, and I don’t see the (revenue) going down. I think that will allow us to keep purses for the finals and preliminary legs at the same level (in 2013).”

Because much of harness racing’s share of the Breeders’ Incentive Fund comes from Thoroughbred stud fees, there is some stability. It’s anticipated more than 8,000 Thoroughbred mares will be bred to Kentucky stallions in 2013, about the same number as this year.

On Sept. 9 horses owned by individuals from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin took home the top prizes — $125,000 for a victory. Janet Banks of Lexington had a big thrill when her 2-year-old filly Ohmybelle won the sires stakes final for 2-year-old filly pacers in 1:56 for the mile.

Ohmybelle was bred in Kentucky by Frank Coleman. She is trained and was driven by Kentucky-based Randy Jerrell.

“This is a dream come true for us,” Banks said. “We stayed with our local driver and it paid off. We love The Red Mile and we want to keep it alive. We have one mare, and this is our first win in the sires stakes.”

Ohmybelle, by Ponder out of the Cambest mare My Best Girl, now has nine wins and two seconds in 11 starts.

“I always like to see Kentucky people win the big races,” said Guilfoil, who for years served as director of Standardbred racing for the racing commission. “It makes me smile a little bit.”