BOSTON — There may be less thoroughbred horse racing in Massachusetts than at almost any other time but Suffolk Downs told the Gaming Commission that its race meets have drawn so much attention, it needs extra purse money for its last weekend of races this year.

Suffolk Downs requested, and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday approved, up to an additional $288,000 from the Race Horse Development Fund to put towards the purse that will go to victorious owners, trainers and jockeys over the last two days of racing at the East Boston track this year.

The Gaming Commission already granted Suffolk Downs $3.2 million from the fund — which is replenished regularly with slot machine revenue and has a balance of $12.8 million — for purses in 2017.

But the track and the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association ended up running more races during its second weekend of racing this summer than it anticipated and budgeted its purse money for, leaving them without enough purse money for its final races of the year.

“For our second weekend of festival racing, horsemen’s interest in bringing horses to Suffolk Downs was sufficient to fill 15 races each day, rather than the 10 or so races that we anticipated in our original RHDF request,” Suffolk Downs Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle wrote in his request to the commission. “Because we did not want to turn horsemen away, we accepted the entries and carded the extra races, in effect, holding the equivalent of an extra day of racing.”

The Gaming Commission in August approved Suffolk Downs’ addition of two extra days of racing this year, on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. That approval also came with access to up to $800,000 from the RHDF for purses.

The commission’s racing director, Dr. Alexandra Lightbown, said Thursday that Suffolk Downs will only receive as much money as it actually puts toward purses and that the unspent authorization will revert back to the RHDF at the end of the racing season. 

She said Suffolk Downs has used $269,000 less than what it had been authorized to use for purses over the last two years —$78,000 was returned to the RHDF in 2015 and $191,000 in 2016.

“So if you add them up, it’s just a little bit under what they are asking for,” Lightbown said.

Tuttle, who is traveling overseas but tuned into Thursday’s meeting via the Gaming Commission’s livestream, thanked the commission for its support in an email.

“We appreciate the commission’s consideration and willingness to be flexible on the RHDF contribution to purses,” Tuttle said. “The additional funding will enable us to move forward with confidence in the racing program over the final weekend of the year.”

The commission approved the request unanimously but a commissioner and the executive director expressed some apprehension about the late-season request.

Executive Director Edward Bedrosian said he has spoken to Tuttle about whether this need was foreseeable, and about the possibility of adding “safeguards” if Suffolk Downs applies for a racing license next year.

“I think he is committed to managing this last weekend in a way that is consistent with what now they will have been given for purse money,” Bedrosian said.

Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said he wanted to “register discomfort” with the Suffolk Downs request and that the principle of the matter “doesn’t sit very well with me.” But said he would vote in favor of it because the purse money will benefit the horsemen.

In March, the Gaming Commission unanimously approved the sale of the 161-acre property from Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC to McClellan Highway Development Company LCC, managed by an affiliate of Boston-based The HYM Investment Group.

Though the property is slated for another use, the previous ownership group negotiated a lease of the horse track to allow them to host live racing and simulcast wagering at Suffolk Downs this year and possibly next.

Despite a resurgence in harness racing tied to the slots parlor in Plainville, horse racing is near its all-time low in Massachusetts.

The thoroughbred horse racing industry has been on the decline in Massachusetts since at least 2001 when there were 1,526 races over 179 racing days in the state. 

In 2015, Massachusetts hosted 36 races across three racing days — down from 560 races across 65 racing days in 2014, according to The Jockey Club, which works to promote thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. In 2016, Massachusetts hosted 63 races on six racing days.

Massachusetts-bred horses, according to the Jockey Club, earned 43.91 percent of their winnings from races in Massachusetts in 2016. In 2012, it was 91.38 percent.

• By Colin A. Young State House News Service