Kentucky mount fees to rise at start of Turfway meet

The Jockeys’ Guild has reached an agreement with the state’s horsemen that will raise the minimum losing mount fee to $125 at all Kentucky racetracks starting with the opening of the Turfway Park meet on Nov. 29, the organizations said Wednesday.

The new mount fee schedule was worked out between the guild, the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. It will replace a two-tiered system that had been in effect since 2021 in which the minimum losing mount fee was $100 at Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and Kentucky Downs, and $60 at Turfway and Ellis.

The new schedule had been approved by the Rules Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission last week, but that regulation will require months to be formally approved and go into effect. The agreement between the groups means the schedule will go into effect at a much earlier date.

Under the new schedule, the minimum losing mount fee will rise to $500 for any race with a purse of $1 million or more.

The groups credited several legislators, including Sen. Damon Thayer, the majority leader of the Kentucky Senate, and David Osbourne, the speaker of the House of Representatives, for playing a role in the negotiations and pressing for the increases. Thayer formerly worked in the racing industry.

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"On behalf of myself, and all jockeys who have made Kentucky their home, we greatly appreciate their efforts,” said Julien Leparoux, a leading rider on the Kentucky circuit.

The raises are being put in place at a time when purses in Kentucky have doubled over the past eight years due to subsidies from casinos operating historical horse racing machines. The casinos are owned by racetracks, which have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in their own revenues from the devices.

In 2016, the minimum mount fee in Kentucky was $60, which rose to $110 depending on the purse of the race. In 2021, a two-tier system was adopted that put in place the $100 minimum at Churchill, Keeneland, and Kentucky Downs while retaining the $60 minimum at Turfway and Ellis.

Riders will continue to earn 10 percent of the purse for a winning ride and 5 percent of the purse for second-, third-, and fourth-place finishes.

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