2020 Minimum Purses Dropped for G1 and G2 Stakes

Recognizing the turmoil that racetracks are going through in managing their meets and stakes schedules this year, the American Graded Stakes Committee voted May 13 to lower the minimum purse required for grade 1 and grade 2 stakes for the remainder of 2020.

The minimum purse for grade 1 stakes has been lowered to $250,000 from $300,000, and the minimum for grade 2 stakes is now $150,000, down from $200,000. The minimum purse for grade 3s remains at $100,000, and the minimum purse for listed stakes and grade-eligible stakes remains at $75,000.

Adjusting the minimum purses was brought up earlier in the year by the racing officials who serve on the AGSC. They are Kevin Greely, the director of racing at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino; Ben Huffman, the racing secretary at Keeneland and Churchill Downs; Steve Lym, the vice president of racing and racing secretary at Santa Anita Park; Martin Panza, the New York Racing Association's senior vice president of racing operations; and Tom Robbins, Del Mar's executive vice president of racing and industry relations.

"The concern I heard expressed is that if the purses are left where they are and some tracks are under duress that these races would not be run," said Andy Schweigardt, the secretary for AGSC. "The committee felt the opportunities should still be there for owners, breeders, and horsemen. They didn't want to see races canceled."

Prior to the purse adjustments, racetracks that were considering lowering the purse for a stakes would notify the committee, and the request would be reviewed and then, most likely, approved. By making the minimum purse change, the AGSC is giving racetracks more flexibility to write their condition books without having to go through the additional step of getting the committee's approval, according to Schweigardt.

Under normal circumstances, if a track scheduled a graded stakes below its minimum, then the grade of the race would drop to the level that matches the purse paid. For example, if a race was a grade 2 and was run at $175,000, then that race would be run as a grade 3 for that year. During the AGSC's annual grading session at the end of the year, the committee would contact the track about whether it intended to store the purse for next year. If the track intended to raise the purse back to the minimum, then the race would retain its grade 2 status for the following year. Racetracks know well ahead of a graded stakes' running whether its status is subject to change, noted Schweigardt, and have plenty of opportunity to restore the purse to its required minimum before it's run.

"Really, no one goes off and publishes a stakes schedule with reduced purses without letting the committee know," he said.

What makes the 2020 racing season so challenging is how much racetrack executives don't know.

"Not many tracks have released revised stakes schedules, but of the ones that have—Santa Anita Park, Monmouth Park, and Churchill Downs—none have lowered their purses below the minimums. The only one up to now to submit a request has been Del Mar on certain races," Schweigardt said. "But there is still a lot of uncertainty out there with a lot of tracks not knowing when they can even run."