Ellis Park Reinstates Three Stakes for Meet

Through an agreement with the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, Ellis Park has reinstated three stakes in had canceled in late July, though the purses for two have been reduced.

The races are the $75,000 Governor's Handicap on Aug. 28, the $75,000 Dade Turf Classic on Sept. 4, and the $75,000 Tri-State handicap on Sept. 6. The purses for the latter two stakes were set at $100,000 when the stakes schedule was announced earlier this year.

In a release from the track, racing secretary Doug Bredar said the purse cuts were necessary because there won't be supplemental money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Bredar said reinstatement of the stakes became possible because of the discovery of a little-known source called the "simulcast fee fund."

Horsemen at Ellis Park objected to the cuts when they were made, in part because the Kentucky HBPA wasn't consulted. Horsemen's associations generally sign off on things such as stakes schedules and purse structures.

Officials with Churchill Downs Inc., which owns Ellis Park, said the stakes cuts and a 5% purse reduction were necessary because of soft business and a storm-related shutdown of the company's off-track betting parlor in Louisville.