Agriculture & New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund

In 1965, the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund was established under the LaVerne Law as a public benefit corporation to promote agriculture and the breeding of Standardbred horses. In addition, it encourages and funds equine research in New York State.

The fund fulfill sits mission by distributing the money it receives (more than $7 million in1998) from the raceways, Off-Track Betting corporations, and horse owners' contributions to a wide variety of programs. The largest chunk, some $6 million in 1998, goes to purses for New York-bred Standardbred races.

"Although our Sire Stakes Program confers riches and glamour on a number of horses and owners each year, New York's program was never meant to be the exclusive province of the blue-blooded horse or the major breeder and owner," says Charlie Knauss, Jr., executive director of the fund since 1971. "The fund is designed, and has been carefully nurtured, to provide competition and rewards for horses, breeders, and owners at every level of the sport."

Unlike other states, the Empire State program provides racing opportunities not only forthe top and bottom levels of competition, but for the "modestly bred youngster" that turns out to be a surprisingly good racer. "There are also opportunities for the colt or filly who is late to develop, or simply never reaches the heights expected of him or her," Knauss adds.

Each year, the fund also distributes 2 percent of its total annual revenue to the Harry M. Zweig Memorial Fund; this component represented almost $140,000 for equine research at Cornell in 1998. Specifically, the fund provides money for the following:

• Sire Stake Races at the Pari-mutuel Tracks: In these races, two- and three-year-olds vie throughout the state and the top-performing qualifiers compete for the $150,000Championship Races in all regular divisions at the end of the season at the New York Night of Champions.
• State Fair Racing at Syracuse: The best of state-bred horses compete in the mile-long races and the best of the best race in the Empire Pace and Harry M. Zweig Memorial Trot.
• Late Closing Events for Sire Stakes Eligibles: This series is designed for "late-blooming" two- and three-year-olds that are nominated late when their potential becomes more obvious. They compete in a series of $6,000 legs, and the leading point earners go on to finals worth $15,000 to $20,000.
• County Fair Racing: Here, horses race in non-pari-mutuel racing at more than 25 agricultural fairs throughout New York. Top performers in each age group and gait compete in championship races at various pari-mutuel tracks throughout the state. In1998, these fairs received $175,000 from the fund for maintenance and repair programs and almost $349,600 in purses for the County Fair Division of the Sire Stakes Program. The New York State Fair in Syracuse also received $75,000 from the fund for maintenance and construction.
• Broad-based Support: The fund also contributes money to county agricultural societies for maintenance and repair of racing facilities and to the 4-H program for career education inbreeding and racing, in Morrisville, N.Y. A major initiative in this area is the three week-long Standardbred Management and Driving School programs at the State University Agricultural & Technical College at Morrisville. Each session hosts 25 youth who learn topics ranging from harnessing and jogging horses to horse anatomy, conformation, health, and breeding. Support from this area also goes to the Zweig fund.