Breeders' Cup to renew Dirt Dozen incentive program
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Breeders’ Cup will once again award monetary bonuses to horses that compete in 12 different dirt stakes races this year as a way of incentivizing participation in six of the event’s dirt races in November, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The Dirt Dozen, which was first implemented last year, will award up to $30,000 per race in entry-fee credits to horses that run in the event’s four $2 million races on the dirt: the Distaff, the Sprint, the Juvenile, and the Juvenile Fillies. For the $1 million Dirt Mile and Filly and Mare Sprint, horses can earn up to $15,000 per race in credits.
Last year, 10 horses used credits earned in the Dirt Dozen series to lower their entry fees, according to Breeders’ Cup. Leave No Trace, the runner-up in the Juvenile Fillies, was the highest-placed horse to earn entry-fee credits.
Typically, fields for the dirt races, with the exception of the $6 million Classic, are shorter than fields in the event’s turf races.
The 12 races in the series this year include the July 29 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar and the Aug. 19 Philip H. Iselin Handicap at Monmouth (Dirt Mile); the July 1 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs and the Oct. 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita (Distaff); the May 6 Derby City Distaff at Churchill and the Aug. 27 Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar (Filly and Mare Sprint); the Sept. 10 Del Mar Futurity and the Sept. 16 Iroquois at Churchill (Juvenile); the Sept. 3 Spinaway at Saratoga and the Sept. 16 Pocahontas at Churchill (Juvenile Fillies); and the July 1 Smile Handicap at Gulfstream and Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (Sprint).
For the $2 million races, horses will earn $30,000 in credits for a win, $15,000 for second, and $7,500 for third. For the $1 million races, horses will earn $15,000, $7,500, and $3,750.
Total entry fees for Breeders’ Cup races are 3 percent of the purse, or $60,000 for a $2 million race and $30,000 for a $1 million race.
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