Stakes purses are up as 17-day meet begins

The Los Angeles County Fair has boosted the purses of 12 stakes, and eliminated one, for its upcoming meeting at Fairplex Park in Pomona from Sept. 10-26.

There is one Thoroughbred stakes each day during the meeting, which runs for 17 consecutive days.

The Foothill, Phil Shepherd, E.B. Johnston, Derby Trial, Beau Brummel, Governor's Cup, Bustles and Bows, Pio Pico, Marian, Bangles and Beads, Black Swan, and Gateway to Glory stakes were increased in value from $50,000 in 2003 to $60,000 this year.

The $50,000 Aprisa Handicap, previously run over six furlongs, has been eliminated, leaving the Governor's Cup Handicap over 6 1/2 furlongs as the meeting's lone sprint stakes for older horses.

Last year, the Governor's Cup Handicap was canceled because of insufficient entries.

The Black Swan and Gateway to Glory, the two 1 1/16-mile stakes for2-year-olds, will have added significance this year. They are run 3 1/2 weeks before the California Cup on Oct. 16 and will serve as preps to the Cal Cup Juvenile Fillies and Cal Cup Juvenile for statebreds.

The two richest races of the meetings are the Barretts Debutante and Juvenile, each of which has an estimated purse of $120,000. Last year, the Barretts Juvenile was worth $122,898.