Total handle on U.S. Thoroughbred races during the coronavirus-ravaged year of 2020 was down 1.0 percent compared to 2019, according to figures released by Equibase on Tuesday, while average handle per race soared 29.4 percent.
Charles Jantzen “C. J.” McMahon, a promising jockey whose career has sputtered over the past several years, was arrested Saturday in Lafayette, La., and charged with attempted murder, along with illegal drug and weapon possession, according to records from the county sheriff.
As expected, defending race winner Mucho Gusto and his stablemate Charlatan top a list of 12 horses invited to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. A dozen turf specialists also have been invited to the $1 million Pegasus Turf Invitational. Both races will be run here Jan. 23.
All-sources handle was down but average daily handle was up at New York Racing Association tracks in 2020, a year when operations were dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former jockey Luis Leon, who went on to work in the jockeys' room as a valet for decades, died Tuesday near San Diego, according to Santa Anita's publicity department, which learned of the death from Leon's son's, David.
It felt like a quiet Hawthorne race meeting that ended Sunday, Dec. 27, but the 2020 fall-winter race meet generated impressive betting numbers compared to the comparable Hawthorne season in 2019.
A federal legislative package including a bill that creates a national regulatory body for racing was signed into law on Sunday night by outgoing President Donald Trump.
Administration of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, known by the trade name Lasix, will be prohibited within 48 hours of all stakes races conducted at New York Racing Association tracks in 2021, NYRA announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Senate on Monday night approved an omnibus legislative package that included a bill that will establish a national regulatory body for racing beginning in the summer of 2022. The passage of the bill represents the culmination of 10 years of effort by its supporters, a cast of characters that has broadened over the past two years to include most major constituencies in the Thoroughbred industry.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Wednesday night urged the state legislature to pass bills in 2021 legalizing sports betting and sanctioning gambling devices in use at state racetracks known as historical horse racing machines.
