KTBIF Rewards Kentucky-Breds Worldwide

by Ben Massam 

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders’ Incentive Fund (KTBIF), available to owners who board mares in Kentucky for their entire gestation period, recently announced that in 2014, over $10 million in awards were distributed to state-bred runners competing in more than 4,000 eligible races worldwide. For the second straight season, Ken and Sarah Ramsey topped the fund’s awards list, with 82 incentivized wins at 34 different racetracks.

Senator Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown), who authored the legislation that passed in 2005 with the help of then-Governor Ernie Fletcher, said that the fund serves to reaffirm Kentucky as the world’s premier breeding program.

“You look at the Ramsey operation, Adena Springs, WinStar, and even a lot of smaller-level breeders, their horses are succeeding everywhere,” noted Thayer. “We aren’t just a successful racing state. We are an exporter of bloodstock to the world.” 

The national landscape has changed significantly in recent years, with many states relying upon casino revenues to fund both racetrack purses and breeders’ programs. Although it can be argued that programs with rewards generated from slot machines have become more prominent as a result, Thayer said he believes Kentucky is uniquely equipped with resources that no other state possesses in a self-sustaining enterprise.

“[The fund] helps us compete [with other states] because Kentucky has the best infrastructure,” asserted the senator. “We have the best veterinary funds, the best feed companies, the best blacksmiths, the best land and the best water. Everybody knows if your mare is in Kentucky, she is going to get the best care around. And if you’re also going to get a breeders’ incentive, that’s a huge boost.” 

The incentive money disseminated by the program is generated from the already-existent sales tax on the breeding of stallions to mares in the state.

According to Thayer, the KTBIF has expanded over time to offer benefits for eligible foals who ultimately achieve racing success beyond American borders. Program participants can earn up to $7,500 for winning a Group 1 race overseas, and in 2014, eligible runners won races in four different countries.

“A few years ago, we made a few tweaks to recognize the success of Kentucky-breds in Canada and across the world,” said Thayer, adding that Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux {Brz})’s victory in the 2013 G1 Dubai World Cup served to confirm the international preeminence of the program.
 
Victories in domestic races earn between $3,000 to $7,500 in rewards, ranging from allowance wins to Grade I wins, respectively. A $50,000 bonus exists for winners of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. Breeders are notified and awards are distributed in the first quarter following the year in which the award was earned.

Thayer added that improvements in the number of mares bred are evidence that the program is working. While he believes the fund is likely the most generous in endowments for successful state-bred runners across the globe, he also notes that the localized Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) compliments the KTBIF in an “excellent one-two punch.”

The KTDF rewards owners of Kentucky-sired and foaled Thoroughbreds for competing at in-state racetracks, giving owners further motive to breed, board, and race in the Commonwealth.