Arapahoe Park to give bonuses for large fields

Arapahoe Park plans to offer a purse bonus for races with large fields and a purse penalty for races with small fields, the Colorado track announced Wednesday.

Claiming races with field sizes of 10 or more will have a purse increase of 10 percent, while claiming races with field sizes of seven or fewer will have a 10 percent purse reduction, according to a release. Allowance and maiden special weight fields of eight or more horses will have a pure increase of 10 percent, while allowances and maiden special weights with six or fewer horses will have a 10 percent purse reduction.

"The most important people in horse racing are our fans, and this program is designed to deliver a better product to them," Bruce Seymore, general manager of Arapahoe, said in a release. "Bigger field sizes mean more competitive races, and we also want to reward the horsemen that participate in these more competitive races."

The program will not involve stakes races.

As part of the program, Arapahoe said it will "experiment" with eliminating conditions for $5,000 claiming races, which are commonly carded races at Arapahoe.

Arapahoe also will again offer its "Race-Day Medication-Free" incentive program, through which a horse who wins without race-day medication like the diuretic Lasix earns his trainer a $1,000 bonus. The funds are provided by Mile High Racing and Entertainment, the parent company of Arapahoe.

Arapahoe opens for a 39-date mixed meet May 22. The season continues through Aug. 16.