Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of Churchill Downs, Arlington Park, Calder Race Course, and Fair Grounds, had net income of $15.7 million in 2007, or $1.14 per share, according to financial documents released late Thursday.
The 2007 result is nearly half of the net income Churchill posted in 2006, when insurance payments from damage sustained by Fair Grounds in New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 generated nearly $20 million to the bottom line.
Racing commissions in Indiana and Delaware voted on Tuesday to begin to enforce restrictions on the use of anabolic steroids beginning this spring. The two states are among only a handful of racing jurisdictions that are expected to enforce anabolic-steroid rules this year.
The Barretts March select 2-year-old sale got under way in Pomona, Calif., Wednesday afternoon, and six-figure prices were plentiful early.
With the first 30 horses through the ring by 3 p.m. Pacific time, the leading price was $425,000 for Hip No. 21, a Cherokee Run colt out of stakes-placed Informative, a Tabasco Cat mare.
Larry Richardson, agent, signed the ticket on behalf of Fantasy Farm, a partnership led by "Seabiscuit" producer Frank Marshall. The bay colt is from the family of graded-placed Virgin Michael.
Horses cataloged to Wednesday's Barretts March select 2-year-old sale took a final spin in the company's final under-tack preview Monday, with a Forestry filly posting the fastest eighth-mile work of 10 seconds.
The filly, who will sell as Hip No. 11, is a daughter of the Holy Bull stakes winner Holy Bubbette.
Two horses tied for the day's fastest quarter-mile time of 21.40 seconds. They were Hip No. 15, an Officer-Hot Chipotle colt, and Hip No. 94, a Formal Gold colt out of stakes winner Squire Out Front.
Sentient Flight Group, a private aviation company, has reached a multi-year agreement to become an official marketing partner of the Breeders' Cup, the two organizations announced on Monday.
Sentient will become the Breeders' Cup's "official aviation partner," replacing the longtime sponsor NetJets, which sells fractional shares of private aircraft. NetJets had previously sponsored the Breeders' Cup Mile division.
A filly by Exchange Rate worked an eighth-mile in 9.80 seconds to lead Monday's results for an under-tack show at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s sales grounds in Florida.
The gray filly, who is out of the Dispersal mare Disperse a Star, was the only 2-year-old of 96 juveniles who worked an eighth of a mile on Monday to break 10 seconds. She is being consigned as Hip No. 276 by Niall Brennan, agent, to the sale company's March 2-year-old sale, which is scheduled for March 18-19.
Daaher, who most recently finished third in the Stymie Handicap at Aqueduct on March 1, has been retired to stud at Nashwan Stud, the stallion division of Shadwell Farm, in Lexington, Ky.
Daaher, a 4-year-old Awesome Again colt, will stand for $30,000.
Shadwell announced Daahers retirement Friday after scintigraphy scans revealed torn and injured ligaments in his right front ankle, according to the announcement.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Heatseeker's victory in the March 1 Santa Anita Handicap gave his dam and his breeder their first Grade 1 winner, but there was a sad element to the achievement.
Breeder Rick Barnes said Heatseeker's dam, the Defensive Play mare Rusty Back, died last year at age 9 without any other foals to her credit.
The Ocala Breeders Sales Company has postponed the first under-tack preview for its March 18-19 selected 2-year-old auction due to a forecast of severe weather in the Ocala, Fla., area.
The first under-tack preview had been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday but will now take place on Sunday and Monday, starting each day at 9 a.m. Hip Nos. 1-230 will breeze on Sunday, and Hip Nos. 231-460 will work on Monday.
The sales second under-tack show remains scheduled for March 14-15 with a daily start time of 9 a.m.