This past weekend, the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund issued a statement in regard to the 2021 New York Sire Stakes program.

The contents of the statement appear below.

As the yearling auction sales season gets underway in Lexington next week, the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund, which sponsors the New York Sire Stakes program, assures breeders and buyers that we are fully preparing for a solid stakes season in 2021.

The purse account that has been accumulating since July is now growing more quickly as the casinos at the seven racetracks in the state have resumed operations. While the COVID-19 shutdown impacted purses in 2020, the New York Sire Stakes still distributed more than $10.2 million. We plan to use the 2020 program as a starting point for the program in 2021, and we will make adjustments as needed depending on the money that is available. We are optimistic that purses will be near 2020 levels, barring another unforeseen circumstance.

We wish good luck to all bidders in the coming days and weeks as they seek out their next New York Sire Stakes headliner.