Finger Lakes cancels two statebred stakes

Finger Lakes has canceled two $50,000 stakes, the Tin Cup Chalice and the Shesastonecoldfox, to preserve purse money. The stakes were for New York-bred 2-year-olds and were scheduled for Nov. 1.

They were the final races on the 2014 Finger Lakes stakes schedule, which will now conclude Oct. 4. The 162-day meet continues through Dec. 5.

Racing secretary Bill Couch said it was decided that the New York Breeders’ Fund monies that would have gone to those stakes can be put to better use in overnight purses, and that the horsemen had agreed with the decision to cancel the stakes. No other purse cuts were made, Couch said.