The Jockeys’ Guild has filed a civil appeal of a rule passed earlier this year by the New Jersey Racing Commission that would prohibit riders from using a whip “except for reasons of safety,” the guild said Tuesday.
Handle on the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, held Friday and Saturday at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., was down 7.4 percent compared to the event’s record handle last year at Santa Anita in Southern California, according to charts of the races.
Federal prosecutors have added charges to an indictment that accused a web of racing individuals, including the high-profile trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro, of participating in an illegal scheme to manufacture, distribute, and administer illegal substances to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses, according to a superseding indictment filed Thursday in New York federal court.
Betting on the five Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., was down 10.0 percent compared to the five races held on the first day of the event last year at Santa Anita in Southern California, according to charts of the races.
Andrew Byrnes, the longtime stakes coordinator for the New York Racing Association, testified Wednesday at a New York State Gaming Commission hearing that he personally returned an envelope that contained a monetary gift from trainer Linda Rice.
Total wagering on horse races held in the U.S. in the month of October once again climbed by double digits, according to figures released on Wednesday by Equibase, the third time in the last four months that betting has climbed significantly compared to the same month last year.
Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer who is currently facing potential penalties for four medication violations over the past seven months, released a statement Wednesday morning pledging to “raise the bar and set the standard for equine safety and rule compliance” in his barn operations.
Lawmakers in both houses of the New Jersey legislature have introduced bills that would formally authorize fixed-odds wagering on horse races, according to racing officials in the state.
Churchill Downs is planning to run next year’s Kentucky Derby on its traditional date on the first Saturday of May, but the track is currently limiting ticket sales to 40 percent to 50 percent of reserved-seating capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s chief executive said Thursday.
A working group of horse racing constituencies in seven states along the eastern seaboard will push to ban the use of the bronchial dilator clenbuterol without a prescription from the horse’s veterinarian and approval from regulatory authorities, the group said on Tuesday.
