THOROUGHBRED racing passed a major milestone in 1999 when the sport distributed more than $1-billion in total purses in North America. Purses in North America broke the $100-million barrier in 1962, and it took 19 years to pass the $500-million mark, doing so in 1981. It took another 18 years for total purses to double from that point.

The total purse money distributed last year is another reminder of how large the Thoroughbred industry is and how important it is to the economies of many states. The $1-billion paid in purses largely was provided by bettors through a percentage of the pari-mutuel wagering handle. In 1999, handle in North America reached a record $13.7-billion, increasing 4.7% from 1998. Pari-mutuel handle was not the sole source of purse money. Also contributing were subsidies from states' portion of handle, revenues from slot machines or video lottery terminals, state taxes on other forms of gambling, and money from race sponsors, among other sources.

No matter the source of the increase, the bounty in purses has helped to spur confidence in the sport and has attracted record investment in racing and breeding stock. In 1999, the total amount spent at auction in North America-$986.6-million-almost equaled purses. On racing prospects-weanlings, yearlings, and two-year-olds-$691-million was expended. Buyers in 1999 spent $154-million on two-year-olds in training, which is $42-million more than all money distributed in purses to juveniles for the year.

The strong increase in total purses occurred while total races declined 1.7%. That resulted in average purses increasing at a faster rate than total purses. The average purse rose 5.9% in 1999 to a record $16,770, the eighth consecutive annual advance.

Another major factor influencing averages positively was the number of runners competing for purses. Because the total number of runners remained relatively flat from 1998, average earnings per runner increased 4.1%, the same percentage as purses. Average earnings per runner rose to $14,732, marking the 13th straight year that this benchmark has increased.

Median earnings per runner-half the runners earned more than this amount and half earned less-rose even faster than average purse or earnings per runner. Median earnings climbed 7.5%, to $5,310. Median earnings per runner also have increased 13 straight years.

Highlights of 1999

Highlights in this annual review of purses and runners in North America include:

• A record $1,008,162,608 in purses was distributed in 60,118 races, the fewest races held in North America since 1972;
• Average purse increased to $16,770, an increase of 40.2% since 1995;
• Average earnings per runner increased to a record $14,732, a 30.6% increase since 1995;
• Real average earnings per runner-adjusted for inflation-increased 2.6% from 1998;
• Median earnings per runner continued to soar, rising 7.5% in 1999 and 123.5% over the last ten years;
• A total of 7,470 runners-10.9% of all starters-failed to earn any part of a purse;
• More than half of all starters-50.3%-failed to win a race;
• Winners earned an average $26,771, nonwinners an average $2,846;
• Horses that won a stakes race earned an average $131,668;
• Winners collectively earned 90.3% of all purse money;
• 15.7% of all runners earned $25,000 or more and collectively won 66.1% of all purse money;
• 73.7% of all runners earned less than $15,000;
• Races at 1 1/4 miles accounted for just 0.4% of total races but distributed 2.6% of all purse money;
• Stakes races constituted 4.3% of all races and offered 23.6% of total purses;
• More than half of all races offered a purse of less than $10,000;
• Claiming races-maiden claiming and straight claiming-accounted for 65.6% of all races run;
• Almost half of all races were carded at six furlongs or less;
• The average number of starts per horse continued its long decline, falling to 7.2 in 1999, the fewest ever; and
• Average field size declined to 8.2, matching its lowest ever.

This is the 27th year All About Purses has been published. The analysis started in The Thoroughbred Record in 1973 and has been published in Thoroughbred Times since 1990. As in the past, the data reflect all Thoroughbred purses distributed to racehorses in North America in 1999, excluding Mexico and Puerto Rico, and were provided to Thoroughbred Times based on data obtained from the Jockey Club Information Services Inc. Steeplechase races are excluded. Errors always occur due to omissions, processing problems, and other causes. While this publication must disclaim any liability for any such errors that might occur, we would appreciate readers calling them to our attention.

Record purses

The most significant number in 1999 was the $1-billion distributed in total purses. The record amount was distributed in 60,118 races. With 1,023 fewer races run in 1999 than in 1998, average purse increased once more, by a healthy 4.1% after a jump of 13.2% in 1998. Average purse has risen strongly since the beginning of the decade and accelerated when the sport began its full-fledged adoption of whole-card simulcasting. Since 1991, average purse has increased 73.3%. In 1998, total purses had increased 9%, the second-largest annual increase in total purses in 30 years.

Table 1 presents the big picture of racing in 1999 and over the last ten years in detailing total and average purses, number of races and runners, average earnings per runner, median earnings per runner, and percentage of runners earning purses.

While total purse money has increased and the number of races has declined every year in the last nine, the number of runners has declined in near tandem with the number of races. Since 1990, the number of runners has declined 23.7%, closely tracking the 24.8% decline in total races in that same period. In 1999, the number of runners was 68,435, almost exactly level from the 68,419 runners in 1998. The negligible increase of 16 runners marked the first time in ten years the number of runners has not declined. The number of runners in North America peaked in 1989 at 91,436. From 1989 to '99, the number of runners has declined 25.2%.

It is no wonder then that the overall averages-earnings per runner and purse per race-are improving so much. With fewer runners competing for far more dollars per race, it is just what the doctor ordered after the sport had been overrun by races and foals in the mid-1980s. The peak in the North American foal crop-51,296 in 1986-resulted in a record number of starters three years later in 1989.

A decade-long decrease in races and runners while handle and purses have increased explains in large part why demand for racing stock has been so strong over the past six years. Average prices for yearlings sold at auction doubled in that time, from an average of $25,143 in 1993 to $50,263 in 1999.

Just as averages have risen, so too have median earnings, and by an even larger percentage. Median earnings increased 7.5% in 1999.

That is the good news. The bad news is that 50% of all runners in North America in 1999 earned $5,310 or less. If the cost of training a horse is $50 per day at a midlevel track, median earnings come nowhere close to covering the annual training costs, let alone the cost of the horse itself. Even average earnings of $14,732 fell short of the annual expense of keeping a horse in training.

Table 1 also reports that 89.1% of all starters in North America earned some part of a purse last year. That is up marginally from 1998 and up 6.1% since 1990, as more tracks have paid purses down to minor placings. In practice, paying minor awards does little to enrich owners of those horses that fail to win. As will be seen later, horses that win at least one race earn 90.3% of all purse money offered.

Real earnings up

Table 2 outlines data in T