Oaklawn welcomed an old friend back to the winner’s circle last week when 98-year-old former jockey and trainer Frank A. Kurinec was part of a race presentation April 1. Kurinec has resided at an assisted-living facility in Hot Springs in the seven years since a car accident forced him to give up his position working one of the gaps as a spotter for clockers during morning training hours at Oaklawn.
The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission has revoked the licenses of four racetrack veterinarians who entered guilty pleas last month to illegally administering substances to horses on race day, according to copies of the rulings provided by the commission.
Historical-racing machines at Les Bois Park in Boise, Idaho, will remain operational due to a veto by Gov. Butch Otter on Monday of a bill that would have prohibited the devices.
The bet-processing company AmTote has filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and intellectual-property theft against Kentucky Downs and a company associated with the track over the operation of Kentucky Downs’s historical-racing betting machines.
Vic Stauffer, the longtime racetrack announcer who has worked as a steward for the California Horse Racing Board since 2011, resigned his CHRB position on Thursday last week, effective immediately, according to Stauffer and CHRB officials.
Representatives of Thoroughbred and harness horsemen’s groups told the Ohio State Racing Commission this week that they would press the commission to adopt separate medication rules for each breed, according to a description of the meeting provided by commission officials.
Seventy-nine years ago, central Kentucky horseman Hal Price Headley shook hands with Chicago-based concessionaire Joe Wolken, and a partnership for the ages was formed. The mastermind and co-founder of Keeneland Racecourse took a leap of faith that day during the depths of the Great Depression that a small, family-run business called Turf Catering could provide food service worthy of the model track he was building in the heart of Kentucky horse country. “World class” is what Headley was looking for, and world class is what he got.
David Lehr, who replaced his brother Butch as track superintendent at Churchill Downs in 2012, is retiring from that post effective May 31, it was announced Tuesday by the Louisville, Ky., track.
Plans to expand video lottery terminal gaming at a New York racetrack and an off-track betting venue were halted during state budget negotiations, BloodHorse reports.
Despite a record-shattering Belmont Stakes Day – which out-handled the previous year’s event by more than $60 million – total all-sources handle on New York Racing Association’s races in 2014 was down $20 million, or 0.9 percent, compared to 2013, according to figures released by the NYRA on Friday.
