The trustees of the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund, which administers the New York State Sire Stakes, today announced they have added a Residency Bonus as part of its Breeders' Awards program.
The Breeders' Awards Program and its Residency Bonus have been instituted to promote agriculture through the breeding of standardbred horses in New York State.
The Residency Bonus Awards requirements will commence during the 2009 breeding season with the first Residency Bonus Awards paid in 2012 for eligible horses racing as two-year-olds. As the program rolls out, updates, forms, and notices will be posted on nysirestakes.com; breeders and owners are encouraged to check the site regularly.
To be eligible for a Residency Bonus Award, breeders must certify that the mare was resident in New York State for 180 continuous days during the breeding year at the breeding farm where the mare will be bred to a New York eligible stallion resulting in a New York bred foal. The 180-day requirement must be met within the calendar year. A Residency Bonus will be awarded to breeders whose resident mares' progeny race in the NYSS as a two- and/or three-year-old and finish in positions one through five.
The total Residency Bonus Awards pool will be divided into three separate pools according to level of racing. The Sire Stakes/State Fair residency pool will be 70%, the Late Closers will be 20% and the County Fairs will be 10% of the residency pool. Each separate residency pool amount will be divided by the total number of resident horses who finished in the money for that race season. Breeders of a resident horse will receive a 'flat' bonus amount according to race level.
Breeders' Awards Program funds are derived from the State's harness tracks and Off Track Betting parlors remittances. The Fund receives a percentage of the total betting handle and VLT revenue to administer the NYSS program each year.