Noble Heart, a mare in foal to Bold Executive, sold for $35,000 to top the 2006 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's winter mixed sale Saturday at the Woodbine Sales Pavilion.
Frank and Clara Russo purchased Noble Heart from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, as agent. An unraced daughter of Swain, Noble Heart is a half-sister to stakes winner Noble Strike and stakes-placed Sir Frederick.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has filed a lawsuit against the New York Racing Association to stop it from using any purse money to pay operational expenses or expenses related to NYRA's financial reorganization.
The suit was filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Last month, the NYRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
An influential group will recommend next week at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing that the industry adopt rules to regulate the administration of anabolic steroids to racehorses, one of the sport's most controversial subjects.
The City of New York would support a merger between its New York City Off Track Betting Corporation, the largest bet-taker in the U.S., and the three tracks operated by the New York Racing Association, according to a paper distributed by deputy mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff to the state legislature on Friday.
The paper states that the offtrack betting company is facing insolvency without major structural change in New York, and it recommends that the state legislature support the merger, which would require significant changes to state law.
An audit of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board that was completed earlier this year by the state comptroller's office and released on Thursday recommended that the board assess penalties on an escalating basis for repeat offenders.
The audit made 15 other recommendations to the board, the state agency that oversees the state's racing industry and has broad powers to grant licenses and issue penalties for rules violations. The audit noted that the board has already taken steps to address most of the recommendations, which were minor.
The account-wagering company TVG and the Thoroughbred Owners of California reached an agreement on the distribution of revenue from bets, and the California Horse Racing Board approved 2007 licenses for TVG and two other account-wagering companies, XpressBet and Youbet.com, at a board meeting Monday at Hollywood Park.
Joe Joyce, a former part-owner of Arlington Park and one of the founders of the Arlington Million, died on Monday morning at Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs, Calif, his family announced. Joyce, who had been in failing health for six months, was 77.
Joyce had a long and varied career in horse racing that took him from his native New York to Wyoming. The highlight of his career, however, was the launch of the Arlington Million in 1981, the first million-dollar race in North America and still one of the most prestigious turf races in the world.
Trainer Scott Lake began serving a 30-day suspension last week for a clenbuterol positive incurred by one of his horses at Delaware Park in June. The ban, which lasts through late December, will most likely cost Lake any chance of setting the record for most wins by a trainer in one year.
Lake leads all trainers with 528 wins. Steve Asmussen owns the record for wins in a year with 555, set in 2004. Asmussen is serving a six-month suspension for a mepivacaine positive incurred by one of his horses. That suspension ends on Jan. 10.
The next operator of New York's three biggest racetracks and what is expected to be the East Coast's biggest casino will almost certainly be either Excelsior Racing Associates or Empire Racing Associates, some state officials contended on Wednesday.