Portland Meadows Mile up to $30K; overnight purses also raised

The director of racing at Portland Meadows, Jerry Kohls, has released a schedule of 20 stakes and 12 invitational handicaps to be run at the track's upcoming meeting, which will include 60 days of racing from Oct. 7, 2007, through Marcho11, 2008.

More than $327,000 will be up for grabs in the 20 stakes, with the biggest chunk allocated for the March 10 running of the $30,000 Portland Meadows Mile. The mile's purse is up $5,000 from last season. Also up $5,000 is the purse for the Marcho11 Oregon Derby, which now stands at $25,000.

The biggest single day of the meeting will be Oregon Championship Day, Dec. 8, when the $23,675 Os West Oregon Futurity will top five stakes for Oregon-breds.

All open stakes will carry purses of $20,000, while the 12 invitational handicaps on the schedule will have purses of $9,200 each.

The biggest increases at the upcoming meeting will be in overnight purses, which have been raised more than 20 percent across the board. The minimum purse for bottom-level maidens will be $3,400, while purses for allowance races will reach $8,800.