by Steve Myrick

Suffolk Downs on Wednesday officially announced the revival of the Massachusetts Handicap, which will carry a purse of $500,000.

Bonus opportunities will be available that could add an extra $200,000 to the winner’s share, Jim Pambianchi, Suffolk Downs' director of racing and racing secretary, said during a news conference.

The track is offering a bonus of $200,000 if the winner of the MassCap has won two previous Grade 1 or Group 1 races at one mile or longer in 2007. A bonus of $100,000 will be awarded if the MassCap winner has won one Grade 1 race and another graded stakes race of one mile or longer.

The 1 1/8-mile race is scheduled for September 22, five weeks before the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

"The combination of a strong base purse, the substantial bonuses that we have in place, and the positioning of the race on the racing calendar will enable us to attract the strongest possible field," Pambianchi said.

The track’s signature race was canceled in three of the past four years as the East Boston, Massachusetts, track struggled to preserve overnight purses.  Because it has not been run for the past two years, the American Graded Stakes Committee has declared it ineligible for grading in 2007.

“The MassCap put horse racing at Suffolk Downs on the map,” Suffolk Downs principal owner Richard Fields said. “I believe that great riders and horses will once again make history at Suffolk Downs, and today I'm delighted to formally announce the return of the MassCap."

Offlee Wild won the last running of the Massachusetts Handicap in 2004, when it was a Grade 2 event.

Steve Myrick is a Massachusetts-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent