Monmouth raises purses, adds dates to meet

Purses at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., will be raised across the board beginning July 17, and three live racing dates will be added to the calendar after the state legislature approved a $2.5 million supplemental appropriation for Thoroughbred purses in the state.

Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed the legislation, allowing for Monmouth Park to boost its purses for the second half of the 2021 meet. In addition, according to Dennis Drazin, the chief executive of the horsemen-owned group that leases Monmouth from the state, purses at the track have been underpaid for the first part of the meet due to weather impacting turf racing, and “business has so far been good,” Drazin said.

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The Nownownow Stakes, a turf race for 2-year-olds scheduled for Sept. 26, closing day, will see its purse soar from $150,000 last year to $500,000. Drazin said that the track is hopeful that the stakes will now be considered a major prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

“I think we can build up that race and get Breeders’ Cup to make it a Win and You’re In next year,” said Drazin, referring to the Breeders’ Cup designating some prep races for fees-paid berths to its stakes. “Five-hundred thousand should be enough to attract some really good horses.”

Purses for maiden special weight races and allowance races will be boosted 20 percent, while purses for claiming races for prices of more than $12,500 will be raised 10 percent. Purses for claiming races with prices of $12,500 or less will be increased 5 percent, the track said.

Open stakes races with purses of $75,000 will be raised to $100,000. Statebred races will rise from $75,000 to $85,000.

Both the Sapling Stakes and Sorority Stakes will be boosted from $100,000 to $200,000. The Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks and Grade 3 Iselin Stakes will now be worth $250,000, up from $200,000.

The three additional race cards will be added on Fridays in September. Monmouth had initially scheduled live racing only on Saturdays and Sundays in September.

The state legislature has provided purse supplements for Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing for several years. Earlier this year, the legislature approved a $15 million appropriation to the two breeds, and this week it added another $5.5 million to the total.