TRENTON,
NJ – December 12, 2013 – The deadline for registering mares to New Jersey’s new
Standardbred Development Fund Series is January 15, 2014.
Beginning
with the foal crop of 2014, the Standardbred Development Fund Series will
replace the Green Acres Division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes. The first
of the new stakes races will be contested in 2016.
“The
SDF will be open to the traditional New Jersey-sired horses plus horses whose
dam resided in New Jersey for a minimum of 150 consecutive days prior to and
including foaling,” said Chris Castens, executive director of the New Jersey
Sire Stakes, which administers the program. “These events will be open to
the eligible foals without regard to the location of the sire. So a horse
by a New York or Pennsylvania-based sire would be eligible to the SDF if the
broodmare resides in New Jersey for the required number of days and foals
in-state.
“If
the offspring is by a New Jersey-based stallion, no registration is necessary,”
Castens explained. “However, for matings involving out-of-state stallions
and New Jersey-resident mares, a mare nomination form must be submitted along
with a fee of $100. And it must be postmarked by January 15, 2014.”
Subsequent
payments to continue eligibility include yearling nominations and sustaining
payments during a horse's two- and three-year-old seasons.
“The
dates of the races will not be established until the fall of 2015,” Castens
noted. “We expect that races will be held at the Meadowlands and/or
Freehold Raceway. Purses will be established by the New Jersey Sire
Stakes Board of Trustees at a later date but should at least approximate what
is offered in the Green Acres. If there are a large number of
participants, I expect the purses will be greater than those of the current
Green Acres.”
The
full rules and registration form are available at www.newjerseysirestakes.com
For
further information, contact Chris Castens at christopher.castens@ag.state.nj.us
or
by calling 609-292-8830.
-Submitted
by Carol Hodes
For
further information, however, please contact Chris Castens [see above].
