The Louisiana Racing Commission is scheduled to hear a request from Evangeline Downs to reduce takeout on its pick fours, according to the agenda for Monday’s meeting. Evangeline has asked to reduce the takeout from 25 percent to 12 percent for the remainder of the meet. The season runs through August.
Evangeline is conducting a meet for Thoroughbreds
Trainer Jonathan Sheppard will be honored during an Equine Advocates event July 29 at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Sheppard, who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1990, will receive the organization’s Ellen & Herbert Moelis Safe Home Equine Protection Award for his humane treatment of racehorses.
Jockey Eddie Martin Jr. was seriously injured in a spill Monday at Canterbury Park when his mount in the seventh race, Racinrosemary, was bumped in the homestretch and unseated him.
Martin was conscious and breathing on his own Tuesday, according to his agent, Chuck Constanzo. Martin fractured the C1 and C6 vertebrae in his back, but doctors have found no spinal cord damage and Martin is not experiencing any paralysis. He also has a broken big toe, another small fracture in his foot, and a fractured clavicle.
Wagering on U.S. horse races in June slipped despite a slight jump in races held during the month, reversing the trend of average betting figures creeping up all year as the number of races plummeted, according to figures distributed on Tuesday by Equibase.
Jockey Steve Neff, who rode 3,685 winners while competing primarily in Ohio and Kentucky, died June 28 from complications of emphysema and dementia, according to a Belterra Park release.
Neff was the leading jockey at River Downs (now Belterra) and Latonia (now Turfway Park) on numerous occasions from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. His win total is 97th all-time among North American riders, according to Equibase. Neff worked for Comair at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport after retiring from the saddle in 1995.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bolstered by a Single Six carryover of more than $719,000 into Saturday’s closing-night program of the Churchill Downs spring meet, 68 winning 20-cent Single Six tickets returned $38,045.38 on an evening when there was a mandatory payoff in the wager.
Approximately $2.2 million in new money was bet into the Single Six – shorter than the $3 million that Rick Smith, the track’s senior director of mutuels, had estimated. But the smaller handle provided a sweeter return for winning bettors, with the carryover providing a larger stake of the total pool.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed two bills into law Friday that update Michigan’s horse racing law to include site-specific simulcast purse distribution, among other changes.
The bills were approved by the state Legislature on June 9, and are the first racing-related bills signed into law by Snyder during his five-plus years in office.
The quarantine of a Ruidoso Downs barn that had housed a Quarter Horse who tested positive for the equine herpesvirus has been lifted, according to the New Mexico Livestock Board. The horse was confirmed positive on June 17. There were no additional positives during the 14-day quarantine period, according to a notice from the New Mexico Livestock Board.
The Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame has announced the names of the five individuals to be inducted during a gala Oct. 29 at Retama Park near San Antonio.
The new class is comprised of First Down Dash, Hugh Fitzsimons, Dr. Nat Kieffer, John T. L. Jones, and Jay Pumphrey.
Retama opens its Thoroughbred meet Sept. 2. It is currently conducting a meet for Quarter Horses.
Retired racehorses wanted
Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., who was suspended a total of 21 days for five different riding infractions this past meet at Oaklawn Park, has had the suspension reduced to 15 days in an agreement with the Arkansas Racing Commission.
