WHY IS THE ORIGINAL ENTRY CATEGORY GOING TO BE DISCONTINUED AFTER JUNE 1, 2011?
A. When the Sweepstakes program began, the Original Entry category was intended to be temporary as to allow horses that were already born the opportunity to enroll into the program. The Original Entry category continued to be utilized, and over time, was not only continued, but often discounted. It became apparent that people were taking a wait-and-see approach. Additionally, this category was used to “cherry pick” and nominate horses that were already proven and had a high probability of taking out much more money than their nomination fee, which marginalized the value of in-utero nominated foals. Breeders who supported the Sweepstakes program by nominating their foals were not as likely to reap the added value to their foals that their nomination should have provided them. The Sweepstakes Commission has expressed the fact that this is a breeders’ program and, therefore, the enrollments need to be made in-utero.
