LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Graded Stakes Committee has determined that the Oct. 17 Sycamore Stakes, run at 1 5/8 miles on Keeneland’s main track but originally scheduled for 1 1/2 miles on the turf, will remain a listed race, the committee announced after conducting a review of the race.
The Sycamore had originally been assigned Grade 3 status, but under the committee’s guidelines, any race that is moved off the turf is automatically downgraded pending a review.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wednesday’s sixth race at Keeneland, a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile turf maiden race, was declared a no contest by track stewards after Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel was unseated as the field passed by the stands the first time.
Borel broke a leg in the fall, his fibula, according to tweets and Facebook messages posted later in the day by his wife, Lisa. She did not specify which leg, but messaged that doctors at University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he was treated hours after the fall, did not diagnose a concussion or any soft-tissue injuries.
Nebraska’s 2014 racing season will mirror the 2013 schedule, with 51 days approved by the Nebraska State Racing Commission at its meeting in Lincoln on Tuesday.
Fonner Park leads off the season with 31 days of racing from Feb. 21 through May 3. Horsemen’s Park in Omaha will offer its three-day weekend festival from May 9 through May 11. Columbus Exposition and Racing will pick up after a summer break in the schedule with a 16-day meet from Aug. 1 through Sept. 1.
CINCINNATI, Ohio – River Downs, which did not race this year with a casino under construction on the property, will reopen May 1 of next year and be renamed Belterra Park, according to Kevin Kaufman, the general manager and vice president of the racetrack and casino.
“We will keep with the River Downs tradition, and the OTB section of our entertainment area will be called the River Downs Club,” he said. “It will be at the center of the building.”
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved a new pick six bet that is expected to be launched at the upcoming Churchill Downs meet, but it did so only after several commissioners raised pointed concerns about a potential quirk in how a portion of the pool will be paid out.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The move came straight out of the Carl Nafzger playbook. Strictly by design, Fort Larned had his second work in just a three-day span early Tuesday when drilling five furlongs in company at Churchill Downs with a strong gallop-out, all part of Ian Wilkes’s master plan in getting the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic champion back to Santa Anita in peak shape.
While saying he will continue the New York Racing Association’s commitment to the state’s breeding program, Martin Panza, newly hired senior vice president of racing operations, hopes to reach outside U.S. borders to make NYRA more appealing to international interests.
On Sunday, Panza, 50, was officially named as NYRA’s senior vice president for racing operations, a newly created position. Among his jobs will be to oversee the racing office, which is currently led by racing secretary P.J. Campo.
Martin Panza will start his new job as senior vice president of racing operations for the New York Racing Association in late November, the organization said Sunday in a press release announcing his hire.
Daily Racing Form reported Panza’s hiring Friday.
Since 1994, Panza has served as vice president of racing and racing secretary at Betfair Hollywood Park, a track that will shutter following its fall meet.
Joel Rosario on Sunday was announced as the rider on Flat Out for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, a development that had been hinted at days earlier.
Ron Anderson, Rosario’s agent, said the jockey was thrilled to get back on the horse. Rosario and Flat Out teamed to finish third behind Fort Larned and Mucho Macho Man in last year’s Classic.
