Ruidoso Downs: All American Futurity purse to hit $2.6M by 2013

The purse for the 2013 All American Futurity for 2-year-old Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs, N.M., is projected to reach a record $2.6 million, and will be worth $1.3 million to the winner, according to a statement released by Ruidoso Downs on Friday.

The All American Futurity purse is projected to be $2.4 million on Labor Day this year and in 2012, making it the richest race for juveniles of any breed in North America.

The 440-yard All American Futurity is the final leg of Ruidoso's Triple Crown for 2-year-olds. The first two legs of the series will have increased purses for 2013. The Rainbow Futurity, typically run in late July, will be worth $1 million, a $300,000 increase. The Ruidoso Futurity, typically run in June, will be worth $750,000 in 2013, an increase of $250,000.

The 2011 Quarter Horse crop will also race in valuable derbys at Ruidoso in 2014. The projected purses are $650,000 for the Ruidoso Derby, $700,000 for the Rainbow Derby and $1.3 million for the All American Derby.

The funding for the additional purses will come from ongoing nominations, track chairman R.D. Hubbard said in a conference call on Friday. "We're taking some excess money in the [All American] derby and putting it back in the futurity," Hubbard said. "We'll still have extremely big derby purses. We've set a strong Triple Crown program for derbys and futurities for the foreseeable future."

This year, the Rainbow Derby has a project purse of $850,000 to $900,000 and the All American Derby has an estimated value as high as $1.4 million, he said.

Hubbard said that through the first three weeks of the meeting ontrack attendance was up "12 to 13" percent, and all-sources handle was up 12 percent. "We're off to a good start," he said.