Breeders' Cup relents; Will fund Stakes..

[smuthg]

Breeders' Cup Reverses; Will Fund Stakes
By Lenny Shulman and Ron Mitchell

BloodHorse.com Breaking News
http://www.bloodhorse.com/article/48462.htm

Five days after it announced it was suspending its North American Stakes program, the Breeders’ Cup has apparently reversed itself and decided to fund the program for 2009, according to two members of its board.

The organization has come under intense criticism from breeders across North America who had already contributed stallion and foal nomination fees to the Breeders’ Cup with the tacit agreement that the Breeders’ Cup would help fund 100-120 stakes races at some 40 tracks across the continent, as the organization has done since its inception 25 years ago.

According to the two members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the funding will reportedly come from the approximately $30 million that Breeders’ Cup has in its coffers from nominations collections through the years. Breeders feel this is their money that they have contributed to Breeders’ Cup, although an investment committee of the Breeders’ Cup makes the decisions on where to invest funds, and the 13-member board of directors has say over if and how the funds will be allocated.

Breeders’ Cup senior vice president of operations Pam Blatz-Murff said Dec. 16 said she could not confirm that the decision to not fund the stakes program for 2009 had been reversed. "As you can imagine there has been quite a bit of discussion since the suspension, but as of now it is still suspended," she said.