Governors Cup purse doubled to $100K
The Pennsylvania Governors Cup Handicap, the oldest and most prestigious stakes at Penn National Race Course, once again will be worth six figures as the track doubled the purse to $100,000.
The 36th running of the Governors Cup, scheduled for Friday night, Aug. 1, highlights a list of 13 stakes for 2008 released by Penn National on Friday.
The Governors Cup has been worth $50,000 since 2002, the same year the distance of the turf race was switched from 1 1/16 miles to five furlongs.
Racing secretary Paul Jenkins also announced the track was reviving the $60,000 Jenny Wade Stakes for fillies and mares. The Jenny Wade, at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, will be contested on July 31.
The two rich turf races on back-to-back nights certainly present attractive options to horsemen with major stakes barns in the Mid-Atlantic region, Jenkins said.
The remaining 11 stakes are all restricted to either Pennsylvania-breds or Pennslyvania-sired runners and are worth $75,000 apiece.
That group is highlighted a four-stakes package for Pennsylvania-sired runners on May 30 the Roanoke, Nepal, Robellino, and Power By Far representing the richest single night of racing in the tracks history.