Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) registration fees will be going up as of Jan. 1, 2026. The increase is the first since 2022.Registrations for foals will go from $75 to $95; yearling rates from $100 to $140; racing-age rates from $350 to $700.Only Kentucky-sired and Kentucky-foaled horses that are registered with KTDF prior to the close of entries will receive KTDF purse supplements.The registration rates for stallions will stay at current levels, based on a $400-$850 sliding scale related to stud fee, with higher-priced stallions paying the most. Stallions must be registered annually by Mar. 1 for each breeding season. See the complete range here.Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders, told TDN that the money raised by the last two KTDF registration fee increases, which took effect in 2017 and 2022, was solely directed to fund two special projects, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Promotional Fund and the J. David Richardson Research Fund for Reproductive Disease.Other than those two special-project fee increases, Morris explained that the KTDF's operating budget has been funded by the same underlying fee structure for 21 years.“The two previous price increases were to promote the industry and to fund research for the breeding industry, two missions that have been accomplished. This one is for administrative terms,” Morris said.“The registration sum that we've been operating on, administratively, has been the same since 2004,” Morris said. “And we actually waited, [knowing that] the trajectory of KTDF was going to increase, and things were going to be very stable and on an upswing before we sought any administrative increase, and that's what this is.“Not only that, it's really important for end-users to realize that we, including the trainer colony here in Kentucky, really want to encourage total registration of the foal crop,” Morris said. “We're running high 80's [percent], which is fantastic. But we'd like to get [it up] a bit more, and the cheapest way to do that is [by incentivizing people to register] at the foal level, which we purposely kept under $100.”Morris said that Kentucky racing has grown since 2020 in field size, average purse, and increases in graded stakes thanks to the KTDF, which, along with funding from each track, goes to pay purses in the state.The KTDF supplements that bolster purses are funded by three-quarters of 1% of all wagers in the state on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race gaming, plus 1% of all money bet on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.“You get a lot of bang for your buck here in Kentucky, and the KTDF has been a fantastic program that has grown since 1978, along with every iteration of pari-mutuel wagering here in Kentucky that's legal,” Morris said. “And we see what it's done for the year-round racing circuit here. It's helped create, arguably, the best racing circuit in the country.”The post KTDF Registration Fees To Go Up In ’26, First Increase In Four Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.