NY-Bred Incentive Program

Beginning January 1, 2026, New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching the race’s open-company counterpart (19% purse increase from 2023). Accordingly, the 2024 New York-bred foal crop will gain the benefits and financial rewards that will flow from purse parity.

At the 2023 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, maiden races restricted to New York-bred 2-year-olds featured a purse of $88,000 compared to a purse of $105,000 offered for 2-year-olds competing in an open-company maiden event.

While this purse increase will impact only the 2024 New York-bred foal crop, NYRA intends to further expand purse parity for additional categories of New York-bred races in the future.

NYRA carded 522 races for New York-Breds in 2023 with purses of $40 Million including 56 New York-Bred stakes totaling $8.9 Million in purses. Out of 522 races, 91 were for 2-year-olds.

2024 New York-Bred Program Breeder Awards

The new breeder’s awards rate schedule for New York-breds in 2024 is as follows:

A breeder is the owner of the mare at the time the mare foals in New York State. There are two tiers of breeder’s awards for all races run in New York State: A New York-sired New York-bred is sired by a registered New York Stallion. A non-New York-sired New York-bred is sired by an out-of-state stallion or a non-registered New York stallion.

For questions about the New York breeding awards, contact [email protected].

How to Qualify your Foal as a NY-Bred

New York recognizes three categories of mares: resident mares, non-resident mares, and non-resident mares purchased at public auction for $50,000 or more. To qualify for registration as a New York-bred, the mare must foal in New York State and meet the domicile requirements specified by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund.

For questions on the NY-Bred program, contact [email protected].