An international slate of speakers on Friday at the Pan Am Conference stressed the importance of out-of-competition testing and a strong culture in combating doping, not just in racing but in other sports as well.
Belinda Stronach, who was elevated by her father, Frank Stronach, to chairman and president of The Stronach Group last year, said she is “really optimistic” about the future of both the company and the racing industry during a keynote address delivered at the end of the Pan Am Conference held on Thursday and Friday.
Legislation that would expand gambling in Illinois and includes a provision for racetracks to operate slot machines passed the Illinois Senate on Thursday.
A proposal by former racetrack executive Allen Gutterman to ask racetracks to add a surcharge to their reserved seating tickets on popular race days to raise money for the care of retired racehorses is generating discussion among the racing industry, according to attendees of the Pan American Conference.
Betting across international borders suffers from a lack of data and relevancy to horseplayers in foreign markets, racing officials said on Thursday at the Pan American Conference during a panel examining horseplayers' issues.
A Republican congressman representing central Kentucky who has taken the lead in backing a bill that would nationalize racing rules said on Thursday that the bill’s advancement will hinge on gaining a consensus in the racing industry to back the legislation.
Lone Star Park and Sam Houston will both have afternoon cards Saturday to complement the simulcast of the Preakness. Lone Star will start at 1:35 p.m. Central, while Sam Houston will get its Quarter Horse action underway at 1 p.m. Central.
The South Dakota meet at the Brown County Fairgrounds in Abeerdeen that opens Saturday will run five days over two weekends. It features races for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. Post is 1 p.m. Central. The card Saturday will feature the Harold Sanderson Memorial Sprint for Thoroughbreds.
Evangeline Downs, which had delayed the start of turf racing this meet to a tentative date of Wednesday, May 24, will instead be off the grass indefinitely. The track announced on its latest overnight that it would be “off the turf course for an extended period.”
A federal judge has given the go-ahead to The Stronach Group to pursue a claim against a leading racing tournament site, Derby Wars, ruling that the site is an offtrack betting outlet that should be subject to the provisions of a federal law governing interstate wagering.
