Has the current economic downturn affected the California breeding industry?
Fortunately not. No one’s gone out of business or anything like that. Breeding horses is a long-term deal. It’s not the sort of business for people to be successful at that they get in and out of based on short-term problems. How have the Cal-bred incentives helped the industry? That’s been a long-term project we’ve had in the Cal-bred industry. It’s always been a good program, but I think it’s better understood and provides more benefits [now] than any time in history. It’s starting to pay real dividends. The Cal-bred Incentive Fund, administered by CTBA, pays about 15 percent to the breeder of a Cal-bred on earnings of any one-two-three placings on racing in California. Some people say this encourages mediocrity, but I think it has encouraged people to breed better horses knowing that successful products can pay a nice dividend back to the breeders. There is also a 30 percent bonus on open allowance races in addition to the posted purse for Cal-breds, so if a Cal-bred wins a $50,000
