So far in 2021 we have five races -- four Next Generation events and the Mohawk Million -- which work on this payment plan, where owners buy a spot into a race and the track puts up some additional money to fill out the purse. In the Next Generation the entry fee is $10,000 for a spot with nine slots sold and a final purse of $150,000. So $90,000 comes from owners and $60,000 from the track's purse account, a 60/40 split. The Mohawk Million handles things a bit differently. Here nine owners put up $100,000 in Canadian dollars and a tenth horse -- the winner of the William Wellwood Memorial -- is awarded a free entry into the $1,000,000 (CDN) final. Here the track is responsible for 10% of the purse money for the race versus 90% from the owners. We could argue all day and night what the correct percentage would be if these races would be used more often. Owners and trainers would want to pay as little as possible while arguing that the purse account should cover, well, purses. But these are stakes races, not overnight races. Guess who pays for the majority of stakes races now? Owners! Let's use the 2021 Meadowlands Pace as an example. Owners have already funneled $391,800 into the purse via five payments. Let's assume 18 of the 41 horses eligible enter the eliminations, adding another $45,000. Then the 10 finalists must pay $5,000 each for a total of $486,800. The track has committed to add $300,000 to the race, which brings the grand total to $786,800, of which $100,000 will be used for two $50,000 eliminations and $686,800 for the final purse. Ultimately owners are paying just under 62% of the purse. Of course every race is different. The Messenger at Yonkers this year will have total owner payments of $244,012 and a final purse of $500,000, a much sweeter 49/51 split in the owners' favor, though it is worth noting the purse was advertised initially at $300,000 (estimated) and Yonkers was only obligated to add $29,802 (20% of nomination fees). The bottom line here is that owners are already paying for a percentage of stakes purses. The format of paying for a spot in a race does nothing to change the system as long as the "pay to play" system, like the Next Generation series, which is scheduled for July 2 and 3 at Scioto Downs, covers a fair share of the purse. Back to the argument of how much owners should pay versus tracks . . . wouldn't logic state that a 50/50 split is the right amount? I know, using the words logic and racing in the same sentence seems out of place. Let's think about the situation for a moment. Owners invest large amounts of money to buy, train and care for horses. Tracks spend large amounts of money to pay employees, property costs and of course many other operational expenses. Both parties have a large stake in the sport. Doesn't a 50/50 split simply make sense? The argument against races like the Next Generation or Mohawk Million is that it caters to richer owners who can afford large one-time payments versus the current system of paying in drips and drabs -- The Meadowlands Pace requires payments of $50 for yearlings, $400 for 2-year-olds and payments of $500-Feb. 15/$2,000-March 15/$2,000-April 15/$2,500-elimination and $5,000-final as a 3-year-old. So if you have a decent horse as a 2-year-old that trains down well in February but gets sidetracked in early March, you are only out $900 rather than some larger amount. The Next Generation at $10,000 to play is certainly fairly-priced enough that some owners can play, but perhaps too steep for others who don't want to roll the dice. That is why races like the Next Generation are not specific to a horse. Owners are simply buying a spot for a horse to race and that horse can be theirs or someone else's. So if you can't afford a slot, maybe you can make a deal with someone who can? Think about the Mohawk Million from 2020. Many slot-owners reached outside their barns to find horses. Venerate, who won the race and is the early favorite for the Hambletonian this year, raced in the Brad Grant/Marvin Katz/partners slot while owned by Pinske and Andy Miller Stables. The big question is whether the system of buying "slots" for races can either replace the current setup or compliment it with a handful of new races. The initial argument against buying slots for existing races has to be that many of them, including the Meadowlands Pace and Messenger, work off an elimination/final format that can support an unlimited number of potential entrants while races like the Next Generation and Mohawk Million are limited to nine and 10, respectively. There is nothing written in stone that says the conditions couldn't be altered. Using the Next Generation fee of $10,000 as an example and thinking of the race as a Meadowlands Pace-type event, why can't that $10,000 get you a spot in the eliminations? As of April 15, 41 owners had already paid $4,900 to be eligible for the race and will ultimately have to pay $12,400 if they reach the final. Let's say we could get 30 owners to put up the $10,000 on April 15 for a total of $300,000 and the track matched the total to get it to $600,000. Three $30,000 eliminations are contested to determine the finalists and the top three plus one fourth-place finisher drawn by lot race in the $510,000 final. Of course the above scenario wouldn't work for everyone as the $10,000 is still a hefty fee, but when you consider that 696 horses were made eligible to the Meadowlands Pace as yearlings and only 41 made it to April 15 of this year, not everyone is playing anyway. Think about how much simpler the payments system would be. Rather than seven payments into the Meadowlands Pace there would be one. Or maybe we keep the yearling payment so the breeders put some money into the pot. Still, that's just two payments! Best of all with the new system is the marquee horses will be eligible to every race that switches because owners own the slots and can send any horse in their barn or even someone else's. So a horse like Perfect Sting could show up in the Messenger Pace or the undefeated-in-2021 Whichwaytothebeach could go to the Meadowlands Pace. Even if we didn't revamp the entire process of staking horses, certainly adding a few of these "pay for play" races is very doable. Recently a trainer suggested to me that it would be a good idea to replace the Sweetheart and Woodrow Wilson 2-year-old pace races that used to take place on Hambletonian Day. What if tomorrow The Meadowlands announced it was selling $10,000 spots in two new 2-year-old races, one for fillies and one for colts, to be contested the day before the Hambletonian. Each race would have 10 starters and offer a purse of $200,000 ($100,000 in entry fees and $100,000 matched by the track). Entry fees would be due July 9, four weeks before the race so it could be determined if the race was a "go" and trainers could properly plan their schedules. Why couldn't that work? Whether it is the Mohawk Million with $100,000 slots for sale paid in two installments, the Messenger with $8,800 worth of payments spread over years or the Earl Beal Memorial with $6,750 in payments all in the current year, there is room for many options on the stakes calendar. What do you think? Are "pay for play" races good, bad or indifferent for the sport? Email me your thoughts at dgiwner@drf.com.