NYRA raises jockey mount fees for its racetracks

Riders at New York Racing Association tracks will begin receiving slightly higher fees for losing rides as of Feb. 1 under a new three-year deal on mount fees.

Under the new deal, negotiated between the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and The Jockeys' Guild, the mount fee for finishing fifth or worse will start at $125 and scale up to $150 for races with purses between $100,000 and $999,999 before topping out at $500 for any ride in a race with a purse of $1 million or more.

The fifth-place scale previously started at $110.

Mount fees for fourth-place finishes will start at $135 and then go up to either 5 percent of the fourth-place purse or $185, whichever is higher, for races with a purse of $50,000 to $99,999. In races with purses higher than that amount, riders will receive 5 percent of the fourth-place purses.

The fourth-place scale previously started at $125.

The new mount-fee schedule replaces one negotiated in 2018.

Also under the deal, riders will continue to donate $1 from their mount fees to both the Permanently Disabled Jockey Jockeys Fund and NYTHA’s aftercare organization. NYTHA will continue to donate $20,000 annually to the PDJF.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.