Santa Anita’s month-long project to replace its turf course is on schedule for completion by early July, according to track senior vice president Joe Morris.
Replacement of the surface of the hillside portion of the turf course was scheduled to be completed by Friday. The project to replace that part of the course began June 6.
Work on the main oval will begin Monday. The final turf races of the spring-summer meeting will be run Sunday. The meeting continues through July 10.
The racing board approved a request from Del Mar to alter the portions of the pick six pool dedicated to payoffs, or for carryovers when there are no winning tickets, and the amount paid to consolation tickets.
Del Mar will offer 85 percent of net pools for payoffs or for carryovers, an increase from 70 percent at past meetings. The amount dedicated to consolation tickets will be reduced from 30 percent to 15 percent.
The changes go into effect with the start of the track’s summer meeting, on July 15.
The California Horse Racing Board approved rules for third party veterinarians to exclusively administer Lasix on race days at California tracks at its monthly meeting on Thursday.
Despite protestations from practicing veterinarians from Southern California, the measure passed by a 5-0 vote, with one abstention. The rule must be reviewed by the state’s office of administrative law before it is enacted, a process that can take several months.
ARCADIA, Calif .- A Golden Gate Fields executive apologized to racing fans on Thursday for the chaos surrounding the late transfer of two races from turf to the synthetic main track on June 12, a day with a massive pool in the track’s jackpot pick six.
After the pick six began, two races were transferred to the main track after jockeys decided not to ride the turf course, citing unsafe conditions. At Thursday’s California Horse Racing Board meeting, track executive Joe Morris said the track regretted the situation.
Breeders’ Cup has raised the entry fees for the 13 races it holds over its two-day event, with most of the fees increasing by 50 percent.
Entry fees for 11 of the 13 races will rise from 2 percent of the purse to 3 percent, according to Dora Delgado, the Breeders’ Cup’s senior vice president of racing and nominations. The entry fees for the Classic and the Turf will go from 2 percent of the purse to 2.5 percent, Delgado said.
Greg Avioli, a former chief executive of the Breeders’ Cup, has been hired to a similar position with the Thoroughbred Owners of California, the organization announced Wednesday.
Avioli will start in the newly created position July 1. Nick Coukos remains president of the TOC.
Avioli has worked as a consultant to the TOC in the last year on issues related to gambling legislation and account wagering. In a statement, TOC chairman Mike Pegram said Avioli will focus on legislative and regulatory issues.
The New York Senate and Assembly passed bills on Wednesday that would return control of the board of the New York Racing Association to the association itself, but it is unclear if the legislation will be acceptable to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Members of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted unanimously at a meeting on Wednesday to uphold a decision last week by the commission’s executive director to deny the stay of a 10-year suspension handed down to trainer Otabek Umarov.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Wednesday is scheduled to consider a request by the banned owner-trainer Otabek Umarov to stay a 10-year suspension handed down by Kentucky’s stewards near the end of May.
The consideration of the stay appeared on an agenda for the Wednesday meeting that was issued on Tuesday. The materials for the meeting indicate that the commission’s executive director, Marc Guilfoil, denied the stay on June 8, leading to the appeal to the full commission.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky and the Jockeys’ Guild will launch a three-year pilot study this summer designed to produce a management protocol for jockeys who have recently suffered concussions or are experiencing concussion-like symptoms, the two organizations announced Monday.