The Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday unanimously passed proposed rules for casino gaming in the state, according to agency attorney Byron Freeland. The two-hour meeting included a public hearing. It was held in Little Rock, Ark.
A public rift has opened up between the mayor of Baltimore and The Stronach Group, the company that owns Pimlico Race Course in a distressed area of the city, over the company's support of bills that would eventually lead to the consolidation of racing at Laurel Park in Maryland.
The Jockey Club of Canada has announced that Amanda Erwin has been chosen as the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Groom Award. Finalists were also announced for the 2018 Sovereign Awards media categories.
One of the two lead plaintiffs will drop out of a lawsuit filed earlier this year against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission contesting its decision last year to award a license for a new harness track and casino.
The Experimental Free Handicap, an annual ranking of 2-year-old horses by a theoretical assigned weight, has been discontinued due to “waning relevance and interest,” according to the organization that oversaw the compilation of the list, The Jockey Club.
A Kentucky legislator has introduced a bill that would authorize sports betting at the state’s racetracks and through online services operated by the tracks, but the legislation faces a high hurdle due to odd-year legislative rules.
An industry-funded medication research and advisory group will fund two research projects designed to develop new screening methods for blood-doping drugs and detect a nerve-blocking agent that could be abused in horses, the group announced on Wednesday.
Bryan Pettigrew, the senior vice president of marketing and sponsorship for the Breeders’ Cup since early 2015, has stepped down from the position “to pursue other interests,” according to the organization, which is based in Lexington, Ky.
The number of equine fatalities at California racetracks declined to 138 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, compared to 206 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, according to data released last weekend by the California Horse Racing Board in its annual report.
Kentucky Oaks runner-up Wonder Gadot heads the list of Sovereign Award finalists for the 2018 Canadian champions that was released by the Jockey Club of Canada on Friday.
