Arlington increases purses for final few cards

Because of better-than-projected handle including and since the Aug. 15 Arlington Million card, Arlington announced late Wednesday a modest and limited purse increase as well as the carding of additional races for the last five cards of its 2015 meeting.

Purses in races restricted to Illinois-breds will be increased by $5,000 during the meet’s final days. Purses in open races aren’t going up, but Illinois breeder and owner bonuses in such races will be raised from $1,000 to $3,000.

Nearly every card at this meeting has consisted of eight races, but Saturday’s program has nine races as part of the increase in racing opportunities afforded by better-than-anticipated handle, according to Arlington.

Arlington, however, cut purses across the board by 10 percent in late June owing to fears about overpaying the purse account. Purses for the entire meet are budgeted using handle projections, and late-season handle apparently outperformed Arlington’s early-meet projection.