On Tuesday, November 3, the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey announced a newly approved ‘Renaissance Incentive’ which will reward those that breed in the Garden State.

Effective with the 2016 breeding season, breeders will be incentivized to stand stallions and foal their mares in New Jersey with reimbursements and bonuses.

“We are enhancing the mare residency program and adding trotting stallions along with pacing stallions to the successful program we introduced last year,” said SBOANJ President Tom Luchento. “These programs will help to bridge the gap until we start to see the potential revenue from expanded gaming. We have every expectation that racetrack-based casinos will be a referendum question in November of 2016.”

The mare residency program requires that the mare reside in New Jersey for 150 days, be veterinarian-certified as fit for breeding and the foal be made eligible for the New Jersey Sire Stakes or New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund.

Payments of up to $500 per mare will be issued to the registered owner after verification of breeding and residency, but not prior to August 1, 2016. The maximum pool for payments is $150,000.

The foals of mares bred to New Jersey-based pacing and trotting stallions will be eligible to a 25 per cent refund of the paid stud fee, up to a maximum of $1,500, for breedings in 2016. The incentive rebate will be issued on or about August 1, 2017, and the stud fee must be paid by the registered owner prior to that date.

It is required that the participating stallions be enrolled in the USTA’s STARS Program and the resulting foals be nominated to the New Jersey Sire Stakes.

A maximum of $100,000 per gait will be paid out.

Among the participating stallions are the trio of Trixton, Rock N Roll Heaven and Lis Mara, all of whom stand at Deo Volente Farms in Flemington, NJ, and Philos Hanover, a son of Cams Card Shark, who stands at Last Cance Farm in Chesterfield, NJ.

The program is also available to any other New Jersey stallions that meet the eligibility requirements.

"The Breeders Committee and the SBOANJ has approved what I believe to be a truly forward looking and innovative program to create excitement around the breeding and racing industry in New Jersey,” said Michael Gulotta, chairman of the Breeders Committee and president of Deo Volente Farms. “The cash breeding incentives will make standing stallions in New Jersey even more attractive. As the odds of a November 2016 referendum for casino gaming in northern New Jersey are improving by the day, it is highly likely that we will see larger purses in the future for New Jersey-sired horses. Given the circumstances it is both logical and advantageous to be breeding to a New Jersey sire now."

Trixton, the 2014 Hambletonian winner, was bred to 140 mares in North America and 120 in Europe during his first season, 2015. The son of Muscle Hill stands for a fee of $12,000

Rock N Roll Heaven, the 2010 Horse of the Year and a son of the late Rocknroll Hanover, has been relocated to New Jersey for a fee of $6,500 and will join Breeders Crown winner Lis Mara, a son of Cambest, who stands for $2,500, as the pacing stallions at Deo Volente.

Philos Hanover, the foundation horse of the farm and racing operations of John and Tom Cancelliere, competed from 2006 to 2011 and finished in the money in 64 of 110 starts for earnings of $523,246.

(SBOANJ)