The deadline for participation in the bonus program is 10 a.m. (all times CDT) July 9, the first day that entries will be taken for the meet. The deadline for participation in bonus program for the meet's second session is Aug. 6, the date on which entries will be taken for the Aug. 10 racing program. Trainers not stabled at Ellis Park but ship their horses to run in the track's races are eligible for the bonus program. They will automatically be placed in the first bonus category, which is for trainers with 0-4 horses stabled at the track. Other categories include stables with stall allotments ranging from 5-10; 11-16; 17-26; and 27 and above.
Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. will distribute $10,000 in bonus money among trainers who have the highest number of starts during the track's 2005 racing meet that runs from July 13-Sept. 5.For the purposes of the bonus, the 41-day meet will be split in half with $1,000 bonuses awarded to trainers in five participation levels in each half of the meet. The categories of participation are determined by number of stalls allotted to each trainer for the meet at the Henderson track. For purposes of the bonus, the first half of the meet (session 1) will run from July 13-Aug. 7 (20 days) and the second half (session 2) from Aug. 10-Sept. 5 (21 days)."We deeply appreciate the efforts of the trainers who support our racing program each summer at Ellis Park and our bonus program is one way to reward those who race with us," said Doug Bredar, director of racing and racing secretary at Ellis Park, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Churchill Downs Inc. "The program is designed to allow all trainers to participate and to provide another incentive for those trainers to run their horses in Ellis Park races."