HARRODSBURG, Ky. – Chuck Borell, a Syracuse, N.Y., resident who was charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty in Kentucky in June, entered a plea of not guilty on all counts through his attorney at an arraignment Monday in Mercer County, Ky.
Larry Catlett, Borell’s attorney, entered the plea in front of Chief District Court Judge Jeff L. Dotson at the arraignment. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 8 at 9 a.m.
CHICAGO – Arlington International and Hawthorne Race Course for the second year in a row submitted a negotiated annual racing dates request to the Illinois Racing Board.
Requests for 2017 racing dates were due to be filed with the IRB by Friday, and the dates request for the two Chicago-area tracks, which in the past have clashed over the racing calendar, is nearly identical to the dates the IRB awarded this season.
Owner-trainer Carlo Vaccarezza said Thursday that he has retired his four-time Grade 1 winner Little Mike, who will live out the remainder of his days at Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in Kentucky.
Little Mike, a 9-year-old son of Spanish Steps named after Vaccarezza's oldest son, retires with 14 wins in 30 starts and earnings of over $3.5 million. His most notable victories came in 2012, when he captured both the Breeders' Cup Turf and Arlington Million for trainer Dale Romans.
Jockey Steve Bourque won the 4,000th Thoroughbred race of his career on Wednesday night at Evangeline Downs, guiding Space Book to a length victory in the second race. Space Book paid $17.20 for winning the $5,000 conditioned claiming route for Louisiana-breds.
Bourque, 53, ranks 69th among North American riders in Thoroughbred wins, according to a release from Evangeline Downs.
Louisiana Downs leading rider Richard Eramia will be off his mounts from Friday through Aug. 5 because of a riding infraction. He was suspended seven calendar days due to a recent disqualification, according to his agent, Rick Mocklin.
Eramia led the Louisiana Downs standings with 47 wins heading into the card Wednesday. John Jacinto ranks second with 40.
Eramia will see a good deal of action Aug. 6 on a card of seven stakes at Louisiana Downs that includes the Super Derby prep, the $100,000 Prelude.
“We ride in every race on the card,” said Mocklin.
Eddie Clouston, the leading trainer at Mountaineer last year and at the current meeting, has been suspended by the board of stewards for a medication violation. Clouston also was suspended additional days under the Multiple Medication Violation system.
Robert Elliston, the former president of Turfway Park who has been an executive at Breeders’ Cup since 2012, has been hired to the new position of director of racing and sales at the Keeneland Association, the company announced on Tuesday.
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Jockey Club Round Table on Matters Pertaining to Racing on Aug. 14 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the Jockey Club announced on Tuesday.
The New York State Gaming Commission on Monday adopted two minor revisions to its medication rules that will allow trainers to apply the commonly used liniment DMSO on race day and give owners and trainers expanded powers to void a claim.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When Derby Champagne ($60) beat Mav by a head in Sunday’s 11th race at Saratoga, it triggered at two-day pick six carryover of $333,445 into Monday’s nine-race card.
Though Songbird ($2.60) was part of the pick six sequence, longshot winner Gap Year ($42.80) was another reason the wager went unhit for a second consecutive day.
There are only nine races on Monday’s Saratoga card so the pick six will start in race 4 (2:40 p.m. eastern) with a New York-bred maiden turf sprint for 2-year-old fillies.
