We still have a lot of work to do. Purses won't solve everything. We weren't able to fill 200 stalls (in 2005). At least now, when we go to recruit, it gives us a little bit of a 'wow' factor that we didn't have the last two years.

I'm hoping that we have a better mix of horses and trainers to improve on last year. I think we have more horses here ready to run than last year.

Probably not, but they'll certainly have an impact.

I wanted to show that we were committed to maintaining our grade. This will help lure horses for the upcoming year. If you get a grading and lose it within a year or two, they're going to be very reluctant to give you the benefit of the doubt in the future.

I'm happy, but it's only one day out of 81. Last year was a disheartening start. I thought we'd build, but we never really did.

We're obviously very happy to be able announce a second increase in our purses at this meet. Despite a couple of weeks of inclement weather which really impacted our turf program, horsemen have continued to support the entry box, which has enabled us to maintain our field size and this has continued to fuel increased handle.