For the second time in less than two years, Churchill Downs Inc. has privately purchased an enormous block of shares from its largest shareholder, the Duchossois Group, this time in a transaction valued at $158.1 million.
The purchase was authorized by Churchill’s board of directors under an existing plan allowing the company to buy back as much as $250 million of its stock using cash and borrowings under the company’s credit line. That repurchase plan was approved by the board in April.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Harry Holcomb, who spent more than a half-century in racing as a jockey and trainer, died Monday at his home in nearby Shelbyville after a lengthy illness. He was 86.
Born in St. Louis, Holcomb began riding in the late 1940s at Fairmount Park, with his career lasting 22 years until he turned to training. He trained for another 32 years, working a circuit primarily of Ohio, Kentucky, and Arkansas, before retiring in 1999. His top horse as a trainer was Etony, a multiple stakes winner.
The fourth annual Jockeys and Jeans fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund last Saturday at Parx Racing "smashed the record" for fundraising that was set a year ago at Gulfstream Park, according to Barry Pearl, the organization's president.
Pearl said the Parx fundraiser had so far raised $254,000 and that donations were still coming in. Of that amount, $136,000 came from a stallion season auction held in January. Another $85,000 came from industry sponsorships, including Parx Racing, who paid to host the event.
The New York Racing Association on Wednesday announced 16 of the members of its newly reconstituted 17-seat board, including two representatives of state’s horsemen’s organizations who will have voting rights on the board for the first time in five years.
Just days prior to the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago, Allen Gutterman, a former racetrack executive, floated a proposal to add a surcharge to tickets sold on big-event days to create an additional funding source for Thoroughbred retirement programs. The proposal was received enthusiastically by attendees of the Washington conference where he unveiled the idea, but since then, reaction has been mixed.
ARCADIA, Calif .- The single ticket jackpot carryover in the pick six has surpassed $500,000 for Friday’s card at Santa Anita.
There is no racing at Santa Anita on Thursday because of insufficient entries.
When racing resumes on Friday, the jackpot carryover pool will start at $513,712.
Sunday, the pick six was hit for $1,480 by 110 ticketholders. Consolation tickets paid $17.20.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita has canceled Thursday’s program because of a lack of entries, the second racing day lost at the current spring-summer meeting. There was no racing on April 27, a program that also failed to draw sufficient entries.
The draw for Thursday’s races was scheduled for Saturday and postponed to Sunday when a card could not be compiled. At lunchtime on Sunday, officials announced the cancellation of Thursday’s program and said races will be added to the Friday through Sunday programs next weekend.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The single ticket jackpot carryover of the pick six is approaching a half-million dollars at Santa Anita.
The pick six was hit for $3,715 by 51 holders on Saturday, leaving a carryover of $479,050 for Sunday’s single ticket jackpot pool.
:: Get PPs, analysis for Sunday's $479,050 jackpot pick six at Santa Anita
Equibase, which collects and maintains racing’s past-performance data, has pulled the chart of the 2016 Parx Oaks from its database to “review the implications” of an unprecedented ruling by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission awarding the win to two horses in the race.
Angel Stanley, a perennial leading rider in Michigan, has moved his tack indefinitely to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Stanley took mounts last weekend at Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack in St. Thomas, where he has ridden sporadically for more than a decade. Before that, he most recently appeared at the track between a stint at Hawthorne Race Course last fall and the beginning of the Hazel Park meet in May.
