A pair of colts by Gimmeawink and Not For Love stopped the clock in 9.80 seconds for their eighth-mile works Thursday, making them the day's fastest workers over that distance at the Barretts May juvenile sale's under-tack show.
Thursday's under-tack show was the first of two sessions at the Fairplex facility in Pomona, Calif.
Churchill Downs plans to cut overnight purses 20 percent across the board beginning on Wednesday, the track announced Friday, citing a downturn of business because of its inability to send its signal to several national account-wagering platforms because of a dispute with horsemen.
The New York Racing Association and a cooperative representing tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region have reached an agreement that will restore the signal from Belmont Park at the simulcast sites in eight states, effective Friday, officials for the two sides said Thursday.
NYRA and the MidAtlantic Cooperative had failed to reach an agreement on the terms over the Belmont signal since the track opened on April 30. Officials for the cooperative had said that they would not agree to a price increase for the signal, a point not disputed by NYRA officials.
The Jockey Club has formed a seven-member committee that will issue recommendations on how "to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds" in the wake of the death last Saturday of the filly Eight Belles shortly after she finished second in the Kentucky Derby, the organization announced on Thursday.
The committee will be asked to review breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing, and track surfaces, according to the Jockey Club. A conference call to discuss the initial priorities of the committee has been scheduled for Wednesday, according to committee members.
The Jockey Club has formed a seven-member committee that will issue recommendations on how "to improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds," the organization announced on Thursday.
Ogden Mills Phipps, the chairman of the Jockey Club - which maintains the official North American breeding registry and owns shares in industry data companies - said in a release that the committee would be asked to review breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing, and track surfaces.
A proposal being discussed by New York state legislators to allow New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. to retain more of its revenue would put in jeopardy a plan by the New York Racing Association to emerge from bankruptcy protection, officials for NYRA said on Wednesday.
The plan would reportedly allow New York City OTB to distribute approximately 20 percent less of its revenue to the state's Thoroughbred and harness industries. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has threatened to close the corporation by mid-June if the state does not authorize some form of financial relief.
Churchill Downs Inc. plans to cut purses at its Louisville racetrack and again at Calder Race Course in Florida because of a lingering dispute with horsemen that has limited the availability of the two tracks' signals in the simulcast market, the company's chief executive, Bob Evans, said on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday morning.
"We anticipate having to reduce purses at Churchill next week," Evans said, without citing an estimate. "We also plan to reduce purses at Calder again."
Youbet.com, one of the largest account-wagering companies in the United States, had net income of $774,000 in the first quarter of 2008, compared with net income of $1.6 million in the first quarter of last year, according to financial statements released by the company Tuesday.
Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $742,000 in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a net loss of $8.2 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to financial statements released Tuesday.
The reversal was largely because of a $17 million insurance payment for damage sustained to Fair Grounds Race Course because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Churchill officials also cited a total of $14.3 million in new revenue from its account-wagering platform, twinspires.com, and its data businesses. The account-wagering service was launched in the second quarter of last year.
Magna Entertainment Corp., the racetrack operator that owns Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, lost $46.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, according to financial statements released on Tuesday, continuing a string of losses that is putting the company's financial solvency in serious jeopardy.