Jan. 15 – Big Drama scores by four lengths in the Mr. Prospector, earning a 120 Beyer that would hold as the year’s highest speed figure.
March 26 – Victoire Pisa upsets the $10 million Dubai World Cup, becoming the first Japan-based horse to win the race.
The New York Racing Association did not meet its budget projections in 2011, contributing to a larger-than-expected loss this year, but it expects to turn a profit in 2012 for the first time in years, officials for the association told the New York State Franchise Oversight Board during a meeting on Monday.
Representatives of Churchill Downs Inc. and the Jockeys’ Guild met in Louisville, Ky., on Monday in the hopes of resolving a dispute over whether Churchill’s tracks would contribute to the Guild’s operating funds in 2012 and beyond.
Terry Meyocks, the guild’s national manager, said that the meeting did not produce an agreement, but he characterized the talks as “productive” and said the two sides have agreed to meet again in January.
“In the meantime there’s going to be some back-and-forth between their lawyers and our lawyers,” Meyocks said.
Jeannine Edwards, the senior broadcast analyst for ESPN who is a mainstay of the network’s horse racing broadcasts, will host the Eclipse Awards ceremony on Jan. 16 in Beverly Hills, Calif., the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced on Monday.
Edwards, who had announced that she had been selected to host the ceremony via Twitter last week, will be the first female host of the ceremony. A former exercise rider, apprentice jockey, and trainer, Edwards has been with ESPN since 1995 after working as the in-house TV host for Maryland racetracks.
Horsemen and the Maryland Jockey Club reached a tentative agreement Saturday for a 146-day live racing season for 2012.
The proposal needs to be ratified by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association’s board and presented for final approval at Tuesday’s meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission.
Last month, the Stronach Group which owns Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, maintained it wanted to limit live racing to a 40-day meet at Pimlico. Horsemen supported retaining the 146-day schedule that was in place in 2011.
PHOTOS: Every winner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby |
Larry Jones got to be friendly with John Shirreffs a few years ago when the trainers had their horses stabled near one another the week of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. By the end of 2009, when Shirreffs trained Zenyatta to her popular victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita, and the following year, when Zenyatta came up just short in her quest to close an undefeated career in the Classic at Churchill Downs, Jones was on the sidelines.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Twinspires.com, Churchill Downs’s account-wagering company, can operate in California through April 30 after receiving a temporary license from the California Horse Racing Board on Thursday. The license was issued pending discussions between the racetrack company and the Jockeys’ Guild regarding Churchill reinstating funding for insurance programs administered by the Guild.
