KHRA reports to legislative committee on status of new program

Contact:  Jamie Haydon 859-246-2040 and Nikki Ploskonka 502-564-5525

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 11, 2006) – Officials of the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) today told the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing and Occupations that approximately 10,500 covered mares have been nominated to the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Incentive Fund program for the 2006 breeding season.

The total is preliminary. An internal audit will establish the precise total, the committee was told. The registration deadline for the 2006 breeding season was Aug. 1.

“We are extremely pleased with the number of registrations for the initial breeding year of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Incentive Fund,” said Doug Hendrickson, chairman of the Breeders' Incentive Fund Committee of the KHRA. 

Governor Ernie Fletcher and the Kentucky Legislature “are to be commended for giving this tax money back to the breeders to be used as incentives to attract and maintain more mares to be bred and boarded in our state,” Hendrickson said.

The new incentive fund became effective Jan. 1, 2006.  Governor Fletcher signed an emergency regulation in December 2005 to implement the program for the 2006 racing and breeding seasons.

The incentive program, an important part of Governor Fletcher’s tax modernization plan for growing Kentucky’s economy, was crafted to preserve and enhance Kentucky’s pre-eminent position in the thoroughbred breeding industry.  The main economic factor is a mare’s residency.

The Breeders’ Incentive Fund (BIF) requires a mare to reside in Kentucky from the time of breeding until birth of the foal.  Incentive payments are based on the foal’s eventual winnings on the race track.  A breeder of a horse foaled in 2006 or earlier is eligible to participate in the BIF if the horse was eligible to be registered under the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

Breeders participating in the program for foals born in 2007 and all future years are required to keep their mares in Kentucky from the time of the first breeding to a sire registered to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund until foals are born.  Certain exceptions to the residency requirement are provided for mares needing to leave the state for training or medical reasons.

The KHRA is an independent agency of state government charged with the responsibility of regulating the conduct of horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing and related activities within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The KHRA is attached to the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet for administrative purposes.