Yonkers, NY — The Standardbred Owners Association of New York has announced that it will be providing grants to qualified grooms in order to assist them during the temporary shutdown of racing at Yonkers Raceway.

The qualified grooms (those who have paddocked horses more than a threshold number of racing nights) will be receiving a subsidy of $400. The payments will be sent out during the week of April 6.

“The grooms who paddock the horses at Yonkers Raceway have seen their income disappear due to no fault of their own,” said Joseph Faraldo, president of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York. “They provide an important contribution by providing care to our equine athletes before and after they compete at the track. The grant is designed to assist them until we can resume racing and the grooms can get back to doing their job and we can all get back to the sport we love.”