The Florida House Commerce Committee advanced a bill on Tuesday that would allow Gulfstream Park to cease live racing after the next five years while still operating a casino on the track property, just hours after a Senate committee pulled a similar bill from a hearing.
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Jill Byrne, who previously worked as a top executive of Colonial Downs in Virginia, has been hired as the new executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, the organization announced on Thursday.
The equine drug-testing laboratory operated by the University of Kentucky has been sold to a private company, the school announced Thursday.
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Breeders’ Cup Ltd. has once again expanded its Challenge Series of races that guarantee starting berths and entry fees to winners, with 93 races included for this year’s event at Del Mar, up from a total of 82 races last year.
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The rescheduled Blue Grass Stakes card at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington on Tuesday drew $20.38 million in bets, an incredibly strong showing for a Tuesday but down 30.4 percent compared to handle last year on the card, which was held on a Saturday, according to a DRF analysis of betting data from charts of races.
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A budget passed by the Maryland legislature on Monday included a provision that will eliminate the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority at the end of this year, two years prior to when the authority was previously scheduled to be dissolved.
New tariffs announced by the administration of President Donald Trump are likely to lead to significant but refundable bond payments for horses imported to the United States from a variety of countries for racing or breeding, while horses imported for the purposes of sale will face the full brunt of the new fees.
Total handle on Thoroughbred races held at U.S. tracks in March declined 4 percent compared to total wagering in March of last year, but the number of races declined 5.7 percent, leading to a slight gain in average handle per race.
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A Florida Senate committee on Tuesday night advanced a bill that would allow Gulfstream Park to decouple its live racing license from its casino license, but only after amending the legislation to ensure that live racing would continue at the track for at least the next seven years.
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Average handle per race at the recently completed Turfway Park meet in Florence, Ky., was down 3.8 percent compared to the prior winter-spring meet, though the average purse was up 7.0 percent, according to an analysis of the track’s charts.
