Mike Luzzi on Tuesday was officially announced as the winner of the 2015 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which is voted on by members of the Jockeys’ Guild and presented by Santa Anita to a rider who has conducted himself in exemplary manner both on and off the track.
Luzzi, 45, outpolled four other finalists – James Graham, Leslie Mawing, Corey Nakatani, and Rosie Napravnik, who retired last November.
David Wells, the former trainer of the Eclipse Award-winning gelding Rapid Redux, was sentenced on Monday by a Pennsylvania court to six months in incarceration as part of a deal in which he pleaded guilty to one charge of rigging a publicly exhibited contest, according to Pennsylvania news outlets.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The winners of the major Kentucky Derby preps run over the weekend all came out of their races well and will continue to race at the same track, though in the case of Southwest Stakes winner Far Right, he’ll skip the Rebel on March 14, the next prep at Oaklawn Park, and await the Arkansas Derby on April 11.
Turfway Park has announced a purse hike, effective with the resumption of live racing Friday evening at the northern Kentucky track.
Purses for all overnight (non-stakes) races have been increased $2,000, although the current condition book does not reflect these increases. This is the second increase within the last month, as all purses were upped $500 on Jan. 31.
Turfway runs its winter-spring meet through March 29.
A second increase to overnight purses at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will go into effect on Thursday, the track announced Sunday morning. Overnight purses will be increased between $1,000 and $3,000 a race. The move brings the value of maiden special weight races to a track-record $64,000, while allowance races will be worth as much as $69,000.
Tickets for the June 6 Belmont Stakes will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m., the New York Racing Association announced Saturday, and, unsurprisingly, there will be price increases.
Grandstand admission will cost $15, while clubhouse admission will be $40. Last year, those prices were $10 and $30. According to a NYRA press release, the increase in grandstand admission is the first since 2005.
NYRA is encouraging fans to purchase tickets through Ticketmaster.com. Tickets also will be available through the NYRA box office.
Racetracks in the U.S. are more likely to coordinate their live racing schedules to avoid overlapping post times due to the recent acquisition by Television Games Network of its only broadcast competitor, HRTV, according to officials involved in the deal.
Organizers of the Eclipse Awards have made changes to the awards’ voting criteria to emphasize that horses who have made all or most of their starts on turf should no longer be eligible to win the champion older male or older female Eclipse Awards, the organizers said Thursday.
Under new guidelines going into effect for 2015, the criteria for the starts that will be considered in both older male and female categories “will be limited to dirt or main-track races,” the organizers said. “Main-track” in this case refers to artificial surfaces.
The winter from Siberia continues as New York Racing Association officials have canceled Friday’s eight-race card at Aqueduct, the fourth straight card lost to weather and safety concerns and the 13th full-card lost at the meet. A 14th card was canceled after two races were run.
The forecast for Friday calls for high temperatures in the teens with winds between 20 and 30 miles-per-hour, making for wind chills near zero or in the single digits. Training was also canceled at both Aqueduct and Belmont Park for Friday.
Upstart
Flatter - Party Silks, by Touch Gold
(Bred in New York by Mrs. Gerald A. Nielsen; $130,000 purchase by Ralph M. Evans at 2013 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale)
