The Maryland Racing Commission on Monday approved a plan for a new off-track betting parlor at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Baltimore County despite vows from Baltimore and county officials to block the facility.
The stewards on Sunday fined jockey Cornelio Velasquez $1,000 for failure to ride in a professional manner in the fifth race Feb. 15. Velasquez did not maintain a straight course in the stretch on Congrats Kids, the eventual runner-up, who came over on Sky High Skylar, who finished third. The stewards, who had previously warned Velasquez about failing to maintain a straight course, did not take any action in the race.
Santa Anita will replace its turf course with a Bermuda grass surface this summer in advance of an autumn meeting highlighted by the Breeders' Cup races on Nov. 4-5, track senior vice president Joe Morris said on Sunday. The transition is scheduled to begin in July following the conclusion of the spring-summer meeting July 10. The track's autumn meeting starts Sept. 29.
Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., and Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y., plan to offer a pick four on April 9 that will link the tracks’ biggest Kentucky Derby prep races.
A former racing-office employee at Penn National in Grantville, Pa., has been sentenced to four months in federal prison for accepting money and gifts in exchange for information on the identity of horses entered in the track’s races, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
A tax break aimed at helping Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack cope with new casino competition less than 30 miles away and an agreement reached with local horsemen late last week will enable the western New York racetrack to retain its traditional 155-day meet in 2016.
The Texas Racing Commission on Thursday voted to repeal the rules for historical racing it put in place in August 2014. The vote was 5-4, according to Robert Elrod, a spokesman for the agency.
Two horses in Texas owned by a trainer based at Sunland Park in New Mexico have tested positive for the equine herpesvirus, according to horse health agencies, while the number of horses testing positive for the disease at Sunland has risen to 72.
When Tim Reid, chief executive at Northlands Park, announced plans for the future of the track on Wednesday, he said 2016 likely will be the last year of horse racing there.
A Florida Senate committee advanced two gambling bills on Wednesday that would permit most of the state’s parimutuel facilities to drop their live racing operations but would also create a purse pool for Thoroughbred racing subsidies estimated at $40 million a year.
