MIAMI, Fla. – Calder Race course late Saturday morning lifted the restrictions it had imposed earlier this week on horses stabled in its barn area that ship to race at Gulfstream Park. The announcement came after five Calder-based trainers had scratched their horses out of races on Saturday’s program at Gulfstream.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey plans to ask private companies to submit bids to lease the state’s Monmouth Park for the 2011 racing season, the governor announced late on Friday.
The state will issue a request for proposals from interested companies next week, Christie’s office said in a release. Monmouth Park is currently owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which also owns the Meadowlands racetrack and the stadium used by the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.
Officials of Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation in New York are expected to decide over the next several days whether the company will pursue the protection of bankruptcy, a spokeswoman for the company said Friday.
The parimutuel system has undergone several changes in the 84 years since it was adopted at U.S. racetracks, allowing new bet types, accepting wagers from far-flung locations and in different currencies, and calculating prices when takeout rates have differed between jurisdictions. But the basic math has remained the same: Minus the takeout, winning bettors in one bet-type pool get all the money from the losing bettors in the same pool.
Are bettors ready for that system to change?
ARCADIA, Calif. - Tapizar, one of the top 3-year-olds in California this year, has been diagnosed with a bone chip in a knee and is off the Kentucky Derby trail, trainer Steve Asmussen said on Tuesday.
Tapizar will be sent to Kentucky, where noted veterinarian Larry Bramlage will conduct the surgery. Tapizar was still in California on Tuesday. Asmussen did not give a time frame of how long Tapizar would be out of training.
"It's very, very disappointing," he said. "I feel bad for everybody involved."
The Kentucky Senate late on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that would allow Kentucky to join with other states in passing regulations affecting Thoroughbred racing, according to state legislative records.
The bill was sent to the House, where it is expected to pass. If it is approved, Kentucky would become the first state to authorize the formation of a multistate group whose participants could approve regulations that would become effective in all of the participating states.
By Matt Hegarty
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation on Tuesday that could direct $30 million from Atlantic City casinos to horse racing purses over the next three years, but it remains unclear if the money will ultimately find its way to the state's racetracks.
Penn National Gaming Inc., the casino company that has been on a buying spree as of late, won an auction on Friday to purchase Rosecroft Raceway, a harness track in Maryland, with a bid of $10.25 million.
Penn National outbid Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, and one other unidentified bidder in the auction to dispose of the track because of its bankruptcy. The company will pay for Rosecroft in cash. The bankruptcy court will need to approve the deal.
Brent Reitz has announced his resignation as general manager of Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio, and plans to assume the duties as the vice president of operations at Northfield Park, a harness track located approximately six miles from Thistledown. Caesars Entertainment, the owners of Thistledown, is bringing in Lee Dillard, vice president of Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, to supervise the opening of the Thistledown season on April 23.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Reitz worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers for eight years before his 20-year stint with Thistledown.
