Fairplex Park cuts purses for three stakes

The purses of three leading stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair at Fairplex Park in September have been reduced from 2009 levels, and one race has been eliminated, for the upcoming meeting from Sept. 9-26. The county fair announced the 2010 stakes schedule on Thursday.

The richest race for older horses at the meeting remains the Ralph Hinds Pomona Invitational over 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 26. The purse of the race has been cut from $125,000, to $75,000.

The Pomona Derby and Las Madrinas Handicap, for fillies and mares, will be worth $50,000, down from $75,000 in 2009. Both races are run over 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 25.

Last year, there were 14 events, but this year there are 13 stakes, with a restructuring of two races. The 2009 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes was run for older horses over 1 1/16 miles, as a prep to the Pomona Invitational, but this year the race will be run for 2-year-old fillies over seven furlongs on Sept. 17. A race with similar conditions for 2-year-old fillies in 2009 was known as the Bustles and Bows Stakes.

As a result, the 2010 stakes calendar does not include a stakes prep for the Pomona Invitational.

The richest races of the meeting will be the Barretts Debutante and Barretts Juvenile on Sept. 18-19. The races, which have an estimated value of $110,000, are for 2-year-olds that have passed through the Barretts sales as weanlings, yearlings, or 2-year-olds. The Barretts sales is located in the Fairplex Park complex.