The 2018 Southern California racing calendar will be largely unchanged from this year if racing and track executives have their say, according to a 90-minute discussion of the California Horse Racing Board’s dates committee Friday at Del Mar.
Changes to the tax code that would be highly beneficial to horseplayers have been included in a federal document listing regulatory actions expected to be adopted in the future, raising expectations that the amendments will go into effect soon.
Proposed rules on first-time gelding declarations and when claimed horses can leave the state were introduced at Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting.
Jules Watson, who witnessed the morning developments of such greats as Secretariat and Spectacular Bid during a lifetime of clocking horses, died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in Hallandale Beach, Fla. He was 90.
A safely run racing day more than offset a downward spike in on-track attendance on opening day Wednesday for Joe Harper, Del Mar’s president and chief executive.
The top racing official of The Stronach Group is scheduled to meet on Monday with the owner of two racetrack properties in the Boston area to discuss the possibility of partnering on a Thoroughbred meet at Raynham Park or Brockton Fairgrounds.
There was little joy at the stable of Rusty Arnold following Morticia's course-record performance in the Stormy Blues Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday following the death the evening before of longtime employee Armando Cortes.
The federal government will issue an additional 15,000 visas under its H2-B visa program this fiscal year, according to the Department of Homeland Security, a decision that may benefit trainers who rely on the program for backstretch help.
Los Alamitos completed its two-week summer meeting on Sunday with a decline in all-sources handle compared to its last summer meeting, which came in July 2015, according to track officials.
All-sources handle for the 54-day Belmont spring/summer meet that ended Sunday was $579,779,461, down 5.6 percent from last year’s figure of $613,870,620.
