Wagering on U.S. races fell in 2019 when compared to the total amount of betting the previous year and when adjusted for a decline in races held during the year, according to figures released on Monday by Equibase. It was the first decline in the amount bet on U.S. races in five years.
Arlington and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association had yet to sign a contract for the 2020 racing season as of Wednesday afternoon, a violation of a racing statute altered during 2019.
No races were upgraded to Grade 1 status for 2020, but four races – three in California, one in New York – lost their Grade 1 ranking, the American Graded Stakes Committee announced on Friday when releasing its comprehensive graded stakes list for next year.
The U.S. Senate passed an omnibus spending bill on Thursday that includes the renewal of a three-year depreciation period for racehorses through the end of 2020.
Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano, fellow Eclipse Award winner Tyler Baze, and veterans Chris Emigh, James Graham, and Luis M. Quinones are the finalists for the 2020 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, Santa Anita announced Thursday morning.
A panel of horseplayers on Wednesday afternoon at the Global Symposium on Racing in Tucson criticized the racing industry for being too slow to adapt to changing times and failing to embrace transparency and experimentation, complaints that have become familiar in the racing industry over the past five years.
Officials of state breeding associations are highly concerned about widespread declines in the foal crop but have also seen promising signs regarding the willingness of industry organizations to work together to find solutions, according to panels held this week at the Global Symposium on Racing.
The relative merits and challenges of different racing surfaces came up for discussion on Tuesday afternoon at the Global Symposium on Racing, in a discussion that is likely to foreshadow a future debate in the racing industry as the sport seeks to make significant reductions in catastrophic injuries.
Safety and welfare issues that continue to bedevil the racing industry took center stage on the opening morning of this year’s Global Symposium on Racing, with a number of racing officials arguing that protocols implemented at racetracks this year have made a measurable impact on injury rates already.
A proposal to phase out some raceday administrations of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix took a crucial step forward on Monday when it was approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
