Page 165 - June_2023

“The breeders’ award program has been in effect pretty much since the tracks opened in the ’70s. It’s a longstanding program that has proven that people can depend on it continuing.” – Bruce Salard
held March 25; and the Mardi Gras Derby at $104,332 and the Mardi Gras Oaks at $104,708, both held on April 1 at Louisiana Downs
• The Lassie Futurity-RG2 ($327,272) on May 26 and the Laddie Futurity ($280,271) on May 27 at Delta Downs
• The Louisiana-Bred Derby-RG3 ($75,000-added) and the Louisiana-Bred Oaks-RG3 ($75,000-added) on July 15 at Delta Downs
“We want to ensure that we have adequate foal crops to support our race dates in Louisiana,” says Bruce. “With over 150 race dates, it takes a large foal crop to fill them, and we have historically averaged 1,000 accredited Louisiana-Bred foals per year.
“Competition has increased steadily for the available broodmares and for the stallions that are on the market, and we’ve been fortunate that our breeder award program has really encouraged Louisiana residents and individuals outside Louisiana to board their mares here so they can participate in our lucrative breeder program.
“Primarily, we want to ensure that our breeders and our stallion owners are incentivized to keep and grow their programs in Louisiana,” he adds.
To that end, $250,000 in stallion awards and more than $4 million in breeder (broodmare owner) awards were paid out in 2022.
LQHBA Yearling Sale
Along with the potential for Louisiana-Bred incentives for breeders throughout
their foals’ racing careers, the LQHBA Yearling Sale offers breeders a healthy return on their capital investment.
In 2022, the sale, which will be held August 4-5 this year
at Coushatta Casino Resort Pavilion in Kinder, brought $8,212,500 for 513 horses offered and 430 horses sold—an average of $19,099 each.
The high seller at $150,000 was Playin With Fyre by Apollitical Blood and
out of the Walk Thru Fire mare Crystal Sola, who won seven of 18 starts with four seconds and one third in her three-year racing career.
Nine yearlings sold for $100,000-plus, including youngsters by Apollitical Blood, One Dashing Eagle, Mr Piloto, Freighttrain B, Five Bar Cartel, Power Jam and Heza Fast Dash.
Other High-Purse Futurities & Stakes
In addition to the Mardi Gras Futurity and the Louisiana Million Futurity and Louisiana Derby, the state’s races with purses exceeding $100,000 include:
• The Old South Futurity ($170,840) held
May 20 and Old South Derby ($108,615)
held May 19 at Delta Downs
• The Firecracker Futurity-G2, with $100,000
added, and the Firecracker Derby, with $50,000 added, to be held July 8 and July 7, respectively, at Delta Downs.
• The Evangeline Downs Futurity-G2 with a $305,000 purse and the Evangeline Downs Derby with a purse of $105,000, to be held in December 2023
Although open stakes races such as the
Old South Futurity and Derby and the Firecracker Futurity and Derby aren’t eligible for breeder awards, outstanding purses are highly
motivating incentives for racehorse owners to participate in Louisiana racing.
More Bayou State Benefits
In addition to breeders’ incentives, sale opportunities and racing purses, Louisiana racing looks forward to several newly established funding sources for payouts that will benefit Louisiana racing participants.
“We’re very excited about our sports gaming, which was inaugurated over a year ago and will provide an additional $600,000 in purse supplements to our races each year,” Bruce says.
“Also, funding from historical racing will provide several hundred thousand more dollars in purse funds for those racing in Louisiana,”
he adds. “And, we are getting an additional $750,000 in off-track betting proceeds that
we hadn’t previously received. So that totals an additional $2 million in purse funds coming our way over the next 12 months.”
And to encourage the coming generations, LQHBA has awarded approximately $800,000 in scholarships to college-bound high school and currently enrolled college students.
“The numbers show we offer the best state program running for breeders, stallion owners and racehorse owners,” Bruce concludes.
“We’re very excited about our sports gaming, which was inaugurated over a year ago and will provide an additional $600,000 in purse supplements to our races each year.” – Bruce Salard