The Jockeys' Guild has scheduled a meeting to elect a new board of directors for June 26 in Louisville, Ky., the guild said on Wednesday.
The meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting of the guild's new 27-member Senate. The senators were elected two weeks ago from a slate of 58 different riders. Under the organization's bylaws, the Senate has the power to elect nine directors from its membership.
Bidding for one of the country's prized racing assets officially opened on Tuesday with the release of a document that outlines the process for groups seeking to take over the franchise currently held by the New York Racing Association to operate Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course.
Handle and attendance for this year's Belmont Stakes in New York fell short of last year's numbers while just barely exceeding the expectations of the New York Racing Association, the operator of Belmont Park.
According to NYRA, attendance on a partly sunny day with high winds was 61,168, compared to last year's reported crowd of 62,274. Total handle on the 13-race card was $81,465,277, the fifth-highest in Belmont history but well short of last year's handle of $87,610,555, also for a 13-race card.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - On a rainy morning in September 2004, Keeneland president Nick Nicholson stood at the edge of the track's five-eighths-mile training oval clutching a handful of wax-coated fibers and said, "Go ahead. Take a handful. I don't want this on the record, but this could be the future of racing."
The future is now.
Greg Avioli, the chief operating officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association who has played a leading role in guiding the NTRA's federal lobbying efforts, was appointed the interim chief executive officer of both the NTRA and its partner, Breeders' Cup Ltd., at a joint meeting of the two organizations' boards of directors on Thursday in Garden City, N.Y., according to the NTRA.
New York State's Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing is expected to release a document next week outlining the broad guidelines for bidding on the franchise held by the New York Racing Association, a committee member said this week.
Greg Avioli, the chief operating officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Associations, was appointed the interim chief executive officer of both the NTRA and its partner, Breeders' Cup Ltd., at a joint meeting of the two organizations' board of directors on Thursday in Garden City, N.Y., according to the NTRA.
Avioli, 41, will succeed D.G. Van Clief in the chief executive positions, effective July 1. Earlier this year, Van Clief announced his intention to retire.
In a sweeping change, the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association will begin serving as the regulatory body of workers' compensation coverage for trainers in the state of Louisiana on July 1.
New legislation in the state has enabled the Louisiana horsemen's group to negotiate a single group policy for workers' compensation on behalf of all trainers. In the past, trainers had to secure their own individual policies, which were then submitted to the Louisiana Racing Commission.
Terry Meyocks resigned as the vice president of memberships and industry relations for the National Thoroughbred Racing Associations as of the end of May, Meyocks said on Wednesday.
Meyocks said he resigned in order to pursue an opportunity that he would not disclose.
"I couldn't stay at the NTRA and go after the position at the same time," Meyocks said. Meyocks will retain his position on the NTRA's political action committee, he said.
An arbitrator's ruling in favor of dozens of mutuel clerks could cost the New York Racing Association approximately $2 million in back wages, according to NYRA's president, Charles Hayward.
NYRA fired 59 mutuel clerks last May after 89 clerks did not report to work on time at Belmont Park on May 21, 2005, a day that attracted 9,129 in part to watch the simulcast of the Preakness from Pimlico. Thirty clerks reported to work by 2 p.m. that day, thus avoiding termination. Those clerks were suspended five days without pay.
