Saratoga Opens 36-Day Meeting July 26

New York Racing Association (NYRA) officials have announced across-the-board purse increases for the 36-day Saratoga 2006 Meeting that opens July 26. All classes of races will receive increases, said Bill Nader, NYRA senior vice president.

“There are a lot of changes on this schedule, including some purse reductions or eliminations of stakes, but we made sure that NYRA’s commitment to excellence remains intact,” he said. “The overall dollar reduction in stakes is nearly $4 million, but much of that money will be added back in overnight stakes.

“This helps NYRA strike a better balance with dollars allocated to stakes and overnight races, and be more responsive to the available horse inventory from meet to meet.

While the NYRA usually boosts purses each year at Saratoga, Nader said, this year “the increases are much more robust.”

Overnight stakes will carry purses of $70,000, a hike of $5,000. New York-bred races will see sizable increases compared with the current Belmont meeting. Maiden special weight races will jump $6,000 to $47,000 while purses in first-level allowance contests will skyrocket $9,000 to $50,000.

The NYRA will also continue to raise the purse of any race with at least eight horses that’s moved off the turf by 20 percent in hopes of deterring scratches, a policy launched this year at Belmont.

The prestigious $500,000 Woodward for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles was moved to Saratoga on Sept. 2 to spread out the more important handicap races. The Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap was eliminated to make room for one of the 15 Grade 1 events included in the array of 47 stakes.

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