Oaklawn Park announces purse increase

Oaklawn Park officials announced an across-the-board purse increase, which began

Thursday. The increase will add $1,000 per race for allowance, optional claiming

and maiden special weights races, as well at $500 per race for all claiming and

starter allowance events.

"The horsemen are very much our partners in putting on the races," Oaklawn

Racing Secretary Pat Pope said. "And I'm hopeful that we're positioned to be

very strong now through the end of the meet. This will add approximately

$250,000 to our purses for the next six weeks and that will be significant."

The increase was largely attributed to the continued increase in Instant

Racing/Gaming revenue and wagering during the first half of the meet, both on track and

across the country.

"The opportunity to make purse increases for horsemen is what every racetrack

works to accomplish," Pope added. "We appreciate the horsemen who commit to

making this a high quality meet and are happy to share in the fruits of what

has, up to now, been a very successful season. With only six weeks to go it is

important to finish strong and we have a good chance to do that, given the

momentum that we've been able to build through the first half of the meet. The

horsemen have brought in some of the finest horses in our history and been

willing participants at the entry box this year. We're very thankful for their

efforts."