Monmouth boosts nine stakes purses
Twenty races worth $100,000 or more, including 14 graded events, head the 2005 stakes schedule released Friday by Monmouth Park.
The graded stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 7, are worth $3.8 million of the $4.45 million in purses allocated to the track's major races. Additional overnight stakes will be announced later, bringing total stakes purses to more than $8 million.
According to Robert Kulina, Monmouth's vice president and general manager, overnight purses are expected to be set at a track-record $325,000 for the meet that runs from May 14 through Sept. 25.
Nine stakes, including the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Breeders' Cup Handicap, received purse boosts of $50,000 apiece. The Iselin, won last year by Ghostzapper, will now be worth $250,000.
The other eight stakes, whose value increased to $150,000 each, are the Red Bank Handicap, the Eatontown Handicap, the Jersey Shore BC, the Long Branch BC, the Salvator Mile Handicap, the Oceanport, the Matchmaker, and the Sapling.
The Grade 3 Boiling Springs Handicap, formerly a fixture at The Meadowlands, has been moved from September to May 29.
2005 Monmouth Park stakes schedule
| DATE | EVENT | CONDITIONS | DISTANCE | PURSE |
| Sat.May 28 | Red Bank HCP (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 Mile (T) | 150,000 |
| Sun.May 29 | Boiling Springs Stakes (G3) | 3YO F | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Mon.May 30 | Jersey Derby | 3YO | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 100,000 |
| Sat.July 2 | United Nations (G1) | 3 YO & Up | 1 3/8 Miles (T) | 750,000 |
| Sun.July 3 | Eatontown HCP (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Mon.July 4 | Jersey Shore BC Stakes (G3) | 3YO | 6 Furlongs | 150,000 |
| Sat.July 9 | Molly Pitcher BC HCP (G2) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 Miles | 300,000 |
| Sat.July 16 | Long Branch BC Stakes (G3) | 3YO | 1 1/16 Miles | 150,000 |
| Sun.July 24 | Salvator Mile HCP (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 Mile | 150,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Haskell Invitational (G1) | 3YO | 1 1/8 Miles | 1,000,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Oceanport Stakes (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Matchmaker Stakes (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/8 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Regret Stakes | F&M, 3YO & Up | 6 Furlongs | 100,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Teddy Drone Stakes | 3YO & Up | 6 Furlongs | 100,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Lady's Secret Stakes | F&M 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 Miles | 100,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 7 | Lamplighter Stakes | 3YO | 1 Mile (T) | 100,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 14 | Monmouth BC Oaks (G3) | 3YO F | 1 1/16 Mile | 200,000 |
| Sat.Aug. 20 | Sapling (G3) | 2YO | 6 Furlongs | 150,000 |
| Sun.Aug. 28 | Iselin B/C HCP (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/8 Miles | 250,000 |
| Sat.Sept. 3 | Sorority | 2YO F | 6 Furlongs | 100,000 |