NYRA announces purse increase for overnight races at Saratoga
Purses for overnight races at the upcoming Saratoga meet will increase by $2,000 to $15,000 per race, depending on condition, the New York Racing Association announced Friday afternoon.
Open second- and third-level allowance races will increase by $15,000 to $120,000 and $125,000, respectively, while a first-level allowance will increase by $12,000 to $115,000.
New York-bred allowance races will increase by $5,000, bringing a second-level statebred allowance up to $100,000.
Open maiden special weight races will increase by $5,000 to $105,000, while New York-bred maiden special races will increase by $3,000 to $88,000.
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Starter-allowance races will increase by $4,000 to $8,000, depending on the claiming price with which they are associated. Maiden-claiming races will have their purses increase by $2,000.
All told, the total purse increase is $1.6 million.
The Saratoga condition book went online at NYRA.com Friday afternoon.
In addition to those purse increases, NYRA will offer maiden races restricted to 2-year-olds who sold or RNA’d for $50,000 or less at their most recent auction recognized by Equibase. Previously, the sell or RNA price was $45,000 to be eligible for those races.
NYRA previously announced a stakes schedule for Saratoga that consists of 77 races worth $22.6 million in purses, an increase of $1.1 million over last year.
The 40-day Saratoga runs from July 14 through Sept. 5.