The Pennsylvania State Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that overhauls the state's racing statute and sets up a new funding mechanism for the state's racing regulatory agencies by sending more of the sport's casino subsidies to a merged racing commission.
Indiana Grand in Shelbyville will conduct 120 live racing dates in 2016, according to a calendar approved by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday.
Pete Aiello has been named the new announcer for Oaklawn Park. He replaces Frank Mirahmadi, who said on Tuesday he had resigned to call races at Santa Anita.
On paper, a Wednesday afternoon panel at the Symposium on Racing and Gaming had the potential to be one of the most dynamic of the two-day conference, but in execution, it turned out to be something of a dud.
An increase in prices for Belmont Stakes Day, further development of its advance deposit wagering platform - including potentially expanding nationally - and the closure of the Aqueduct backstretch for approximately four months are among the initiatives the New York Racing Association hopes will make it profitable for a third consecutive year in 2016.
A three-judge panel on Wednesday selected a racing-based sweepstakes proposal as the winner of the first Innovators’ Circle Award at the Symposium on Racing and Gaming here.
American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, was the overwhelming choice of voters in this year’s Vox Populi Award, which was established five years ago by Penny Chenery, the owner of the late Secretariat, to honor the “horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the American public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing.”
The administrators of a voluntary accreditation program for racetracks have added a section to the code requiring tracks to push state racing commissions to demand that laboratories implement drug-testing procedures and policies recommended by national policy groups, according to the program’s executive director.
Frank Mirahmadi, who has been the announcer at Oaklawn Park since the retirement of longtime caller Terry Wallace, said Tuesday he has resigned his position with the Hot Springs, Ark., track to call some races at Santa Anita.
A session Tuesday at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing and Gaming indicated that the day is soon coming when horseplayers of all budgets and experience will have access to data-intensive betting programs, for better or for worse.
