NYRA will offer $100,000 graded stakes bonus to Belmont maiden winners

NYRA will offer $100,000 graded stakes bonus to Belmont

maiden winners

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has announced a $100,000 bonus for any

two-year-old who breaks its maiden at the 2012 Belmont Park spring meet and goes

on to win a graded stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont or Aqueduct Racetrack

in 2012.

The bonus, which can only be paid out once for each eligible horse during the

course of the year, will be written into the conditions of all NYRA graded

juvenile races and will therefore count toward the horse's official graded

earnings.

"The graded staked bonus that NYRA is offering, along with the enhanced purse

structure, underlines that New York is THE place for horsemen to run their

two-year-olds," said Rick Violette, president of the New York Thoroughbred

Horsemen's Association. "The fact that the $100,000 bonus is written into the

condition of the graded races is a real enticement for horsemen, as those

earnings are very important for getting into races like the Kentucky Derby."

The 56-day Belmont spring meet, which runs from Friday, April 27, through

Sunday, July 15, will offer open maiden special weight races with purses of

$70,000 for sprints and $75,000 for routes, while New York-bred maiden special

weights will have purses of $55,000 and $60,000 for sprints and routes,

respectively.

NYRA's juvenile graded stakes schedule includes seven races that have already

been announced for the 2012 Saratoga meet and can be viewed online at

www.NYRA.com. Additionally, 10

graded juvenile races will likely be run during the 2012 Belmont fall and 2012

Aqueduct fall meets, with those exact schedules announced later this year.