Feeling pressure from the Legislature, the North Dakota Racing Commission decided Friday to change the source of some of the funding it uses to boost race prizes.

The change will immediately affect $102,500 that had been earmarked to go to the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo. This money was slated to come from the breeder's fund under the rational that higher prizes for races with North Dakota bred horses encouraged North Dakota breeding.

Asimilar sum of $22,500 already has been disbursed to the racing park in Belcourt.

But commissioners said Friday that they thought the allocation was against the spirit of a law passed in 2007 by the state Legislature. The law was passed in an attempt to discourage the funding of prizes with money that was not in the purse fund, Chairman Peter Weir said.

"What we did was arguably legal but politically not too wise," he said.

Commissioners voted unamimously to cancel the earmark from the breeder's fund, and instead allocate the same $102,500 from the purse fund, which is set aside for the specific purpose of supplementing prizes. The $22,500 that went to Belcourt will be grandfathered in.

Commissioner DeAnn Pladson said she didn't expect the Legislature to be upset with this dispersion because it was done in "good faith" and represented only a fraction of the more than $700,000 fund. Pladson said the commission is changing the practice as soon as it found out that the prior practice flew in the face of the Legislature's intent.

"They are the boss," said commissioner Tom Secrest, referring to the Legislature.

Horse tug-of-war

After holding a closed executive session to consult with legal counsel, the commission decided Friday to revisit the legal case surrounding a horse named Major Splash Bac Jet.

Director of Racing Randy Blaseg said the commission wants to reverse an earlier decision about the horse's eligibility after an administrative law judge decided otherwise.

Previously, the commission had denied Major Splash Bac Jet's status as a North Dakota bred horse, which affected its racing record and its ability to collect money specifically set aside for North Dakota horses.

Blaseg said the commission made that decision following its interpretation and the advice of its legal counsel.

Beth Baumstark, a lawyer representing horse owner Melissa Peach of Belcourt, said she brought suit because the commission's decision affected everything from the horse's record, its value, the value of its offspring and the potential to collect past prize money designated for North Dakota horses.

"I think they're doing the right thing," she said.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 250-8264 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)