Rick Baedeker, the former president of Hollywood Park, has been named executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, the regulatory board announced Thursday.
Monmouth Park in New Jersey has reached a tentative agreement with the British-based company Betfair to offer exchange wagering on its races at the beginning of the track’s meet in May, officials said this week.
Dr. Scott Palmer, a past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the head of a task force that examined a spate of equine deaths at Aqueduct racetrack in 2012, was named Monday as the first equine medical director for the New York Gaming Commission.
Wagering on U.S. races and money distributed in U.S. purses in 2013 were both basically even with the 2012 numbers, according to figures released by Equibase on Sunday, while race days contracted 3 percent.
Two Daily Racing Form reporters, Marty McGee and Marcus Hersh, and the New York Times were named as winners of Media Eclipse Awards on Friday by the organizers of the awards.
Madeline Auerbach, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder, has been appointed to the California Horse Racing Board, according to a statement from California Gov. Jerry Brown released Thursday by the racing board.
Javier Castellano, who set a single-season earnings mark, led the nation in both earnings and wins among jockeys in 2013, while trainer Todd Pletcher far outdistanced his peers once again, winning his eighth money title in the past 10 years.
Mountaineer Park in West Virginia had daily average handle of $1.18 million in 2013 for 210 race cards, an increase of 3.2 percent over the average wagering figure for the track last year, according to figures released by the track.
Penn National Race Course had average daily handle of $1.08 million for 197 race cards in 2013, a record for the track and an increase of 6.4 percent over the figure for the 2012 meet, according to figures released by the track.
