Deadline Set to Register Mares for Kentucky Incentive Fund

Kentucky breeders have until Aug. 1 to register mares bred during the 2006 breeding season to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund.

Speaking to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club March 9, Kentucky Horse Racing Authority members Kerry Cauthen and Doug Hendrickson said the registration date was changed from 45 days after the mare's first cover, with an accompanying $30 fee, to Aug. 1 of the year the mare was bred to better accommodate breeders.

"This is kind of like an early-bird special for the first year of the fund," Cauthen said.

The original language in the incentive fund required all mares to be registered from the beginning of the breeding year up to 45 days after their first cover.

Cauthen said the KHRA plans to propose the regulation be modified to provide for a single application deadline of Aug. 1 and a single registration fee of $60 per in-utero foal registered in 2007 and beyond.

In another slight change to the program, breeders are no longer required to submit the covering stallion's registration number or the registration number of the mare. The Jockey Club has agreed to create a means on the web site to provide the mare's registration number. The breeder will be responsible for providing the mare's name, the mare's birth year, and the mare's sire and the covering sire.

The signature of the stallion manager is also not required.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund is broken into five tiers rewarding breeders of Kentucky-breds that win in maiden special weight, allowance, and stakes company, both in-state and nationally.

Regulations require mares to reside in the state from the time of conception until foaling, unless the mare is a maiden and is continuing her racing career at which time she must be returned to the state. The mare also may be transported outside of the state if an emergency medical procedure is required to protect the health of both the mare and foal.

Eligible Kentucky-bred winning horses began running for incentive funds Jan. 1 of this year. Breeders will receive incentive fund checks in 2007.

The program is funded by the 6% sales tax on stallion fees, which generates between $12 million to $15 million per year.