Trainers Bonde, Sierra fined for medication violations
Trainers Jeff Bonde and Javier Sierra were fined $500 recently by Santa Anita track stewards for medication violations.
Steve AndersenMay 08, 2016
Trainers Jeff Bonde and Javier Sierra were fined $500 recently by Santa Anita track stewards for medication violations.
The race portion of a three-plus-hour broadcast of the Kentucky Derby on NBC Saturday posted a 9.3 overnight rating, according to the television network, down 14 percent compared with the overnight rating for the same portion of the broadcast last year.
Average daily all-sources handle declined modestly compared with 2015 during the winter-spring meet at Hawthorne that ended April 29, but gross handle for the meeting was down sharply because of a reduction in race days.
Churchill Downs and Television Games Network have not been able to reach an agreement allowing TVG to broadcast the track’s races live on its flagship network or on its website for this year’s spring meet, officials for both sides said this week.
Shares in Churchill Downs Inc., which will host the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at its flagship Louisville track, have dropped more than 10 percent since the company announced its first-quarter earnings on April 28, the first double-digit decline in the company’s stock since the recessionary times of 2008.
Churchill Downs has not authorized Television Games Network to broadcast the track’s races live on its flagship network or on TVG’s website for this year’s spring meet, an official for TVG said on Wednesday.
Handle on U.S. races in April was up 8.5 percent, according to figures released Wednesday by Equibase, continuing a five-month trend in which handle has risen compared to the same months in 2015.
Godolphin announced that it is establishing the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards to recognize excellence and achievement for grooms, foaling crews, exercise riders, office staff, and others who work on both farms and racetracks in the United States.
The New York Racing Association is once again considering the installation of a synthetic surface for its Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, an official of the association told the New York Racing Franchise Oversight Board at a meeting on Tuesday.
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah has been immortalized yet again. A portrait of himself and Bob Baffert, commissioned by the Hall of Fame trainer and his wife, Jill, was recently unveiled in a private ceremony.