Johnny Velazquez, who has served more than 20 years as chairman of the Jockeys’ Guild, will step down from that position, the Guild announced in a press release Thursday.
Velazquez, who since 2018 has been co-chair of the Guild along with fellow Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, will remain active as a member of the Guild, according to the release. Smith will now be joined by Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano as co-chair of the Guild.
Bob Duncan, credited with revolutionizing the starting-gate experience for horses while working on and eventually heading the New York Racing Association gate crew for five decades, will be honored with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence, it was announced Wednesday.
Duncan will be presented with the award at the 55th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony on Jan. 22 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida.
Two Mid-Atlantic veterinarians have been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for possessing and attempting to distribute products that contain banned substances, according to rulings posted on the HISA website.
The California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday will hear a proposal for 18 weekends of racing at three venues in Northern California in the spring and summer, the fourth time in the last year an official attempt has been made to revive racing in that part of the state.
At three consecutive board meetings last April through June, the racing board rejected proposed meetings at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, or the Big Fresno Fair.
All-sources handle at New York Racing Association tracks – Aqueduct and Saratoga – in 2025 was $2,070,660,489, down 0.9 percent compared to the $2,088,905,480 in 2024.
There were 196 racing days in 2025 compared to 190 in 2024. Average daily handle in 2025 was $10,564,594, down 3.9 percent from the average of $10,994,239 in 2024.
Jockey Gregg McCarron, who won 2,403 races in a 24-year career and is the brother of Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron, died Thursday at his home in Airy, Md., after suffering a heart attack. He was 77 years old.
A native of Dorchester, MA., Gregg rode in 20,595 races during a career that started at Suffolk Downs in Boston in 1969 and ended in Maryland in 1993. He was the leading apprentice rider at Rockingham Park in 1969, according to Chris McCarron.
A Florida state senator on Friday morning introduced companion legislation to a House bill that would allow Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., to decouple its racing and casino licenses as early as the summer of 2030.
Qualifying berths for Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31 will be available to the winners of 45 races in 12 countries outside of North America through the organization’s Win and You’re In program, according to an announcement released on Thursday.
The statement detailed qualifying races other than in the United States and Canada. The North American qualifying races will be announced in the spring, the Breeders’ Cup said.
Global Tote, one of the three major bet-processing companies in the United States, has launched an account-wagering service using the brand of Monmouth Park in New Jersey, the two companies have announced.
The new advanced-deposit wagering operation, or ADW, is a major foray by Global Tote into the account-wagering market. The operation, called Monmouthbets, is currently available to residents of Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, Global Tote said.
A federal judge has issued a summary judgment in favor of Churchill Downs Inc. in a case that pitted the company’s account-wagering operation against Michigan gambling regulators.
The judge, Hala Y. Jarbou, who had initially issued a preliminary injunction in the case allowing Churchill’s ADW, Twinspires.com, to continue to operate in the state, cited a recent U.S. Sixth Circuit Court ruling that said Churchill was likely to prevail on the merits of its arguments.
