A bipartisan group of Kentucky lawmakers has introduced a bill to the state legislature granting the Breeders’ Cup a tax break during the two-day event scheduled for Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland in Lexington this year.
As a part of the Eclipse Awards festivities and to salute horseplayers throughout North America, Jose Arias, of Bell Gardens, Calif., will be recognized as the winner of the $750,000 first-place prize, an Eclipse Award, and the title of 2014 DRF/NTRA Handicapper of the Year for capturing the 15th annual Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship last January at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Makari, a finalist for the steeplechase Eclipse Award, made just two American starts in 2014. He won the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial at Saratoga on July 31 by throwing his nose down on the line to defeat fellow finalist Demonstrative in a photo. Twenty-five days later, in the midst of a similar rally on the same turf course, he fell at the final fence of the Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup and died.
AmTote, the bet-processing company owned by the privately held Stronach Group, has won a bid to take over all wagering services in the state of California from rival Sportech, according to officials, with the changeover set for sometime this fall.
Wagering on races in Maryland declined slightly in 2014, according to figures released by the Maryland Jockey Club.
Even though Keeneland has bought out Turf Catering, its food supplier and preparer since the opening of the track in 1936, the recipes for its signature dishes, including its bread pudding and burgoo, will remain in the hands of the track’s kitchen staff.
Tampa Bay Downs has reached an agreement to buy a dormant dog track approximately 15 miles away in order to keep the facility’s simulcast operation up and running, Tampa Bay Downs’s general manager said on Wednesday.
Work All Week started his campaign in an Oaklawn allowance race, and won it. He ended his campaign in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and won that, too. He ran five times on dirt and won every time, and Work All Week’s high-quality 2014 season has made him an Eclipse Award finalist in the category of champion sprinter.
Eleventh of 14 and eighth of 16. Those were Karakontie’s finishes in his two races before he traveled from France for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.
