The Florida Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that will allow racetracks other than Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to cease live racing without giving up their casino licenses.
The bill had already passed in the House on Tuesday during a special session called solely to consider the bill and the approval of a gambling compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has partnered with the University of Kentucky and the Racing Surface Testing Laboratory to launch a three-day online curriculum focusing on the cultivation and maintenance of turf courses, the partners announced on Friday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Steve Beshear, the former governor of Kentucky, and several racing-industry stalwarts have been selected to be board members of the nascent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the organization announced on Wednesday.
Beshear, whose son Andy is the current governor of Kentucky, was one of nine people named to the board of directors, which is comprised of five members with no direct connection to racing and four members who have some racing experience. The board is expected to name a chairman at its first meeting, the organization said.
Bolstered by a rare April running of the Kentucky Oaks, total handle on U.S. Thoroughbred races in April of this year was $1.10 billion, according to figures released on Wednesday by Equibase, an amount that compared favorably to the same month two years ago, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Jockey Club announced Tuesday that it will begin publishing the American Racing Manual with the 2021 edition, which will be made available free on its website as part of its online Fact Book.
Daily Racing Form had continuously published the ARM since it was introduced in 1896. DRF will continue to contribute content to the ARM, helping to maintain many of the longstanding features familiar to readers.
The NBC-TV broadcast of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday had a 7.1 rating and a 22 share, according to the network, figures that represent a decline from the broadcast of the race in 2019, the last time it was held on the first Saturday in May.
In 2019, the race portion of the broadcast had a 9.8 rating and a 25 share. Last year, when the Derby was held on Sept. 5 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the broadcast had a 4.8 rating and a 14 share.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will consider a rule next month limiting riders to six overhand whip strikes in a race after its rules committee on Monday approved the proposed regulation.
The new rule would set in motion a process to place a whip-use rule on the books after an earlier effort stalled late in the process last year. The KHRC approved similar limitations on whip use last year, but the rules were not taken up by a legislative body in the state that must ratify new regulations.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The defendants in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority have filed a motion to dismiss the action, contending that the plaintiffs have no standing in the case and that the lawsuit fails “to state a claim on the merits.”
Total handle on the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville was down 3.7 percent when compared to the total amount bet on the 2019 edition of the race, the last time the race was held on the first Saturday in May, according to charts of the races.
Total handle on Saturday’s Derby race, which was held under coronavirus restrictions that limited attendance to roughly one-third of capacity, was $153.66 million, compared to the record $159.61 million bet on the race in 2019, according to the charts. Both races had 19 horses.
The California Horse Racing Board has issued a complaint against trainer Jeff Metz for a finding of a bisphosphonate in the post-race urine sample of a horse that raced in September of last year, but the attorney for Metz said that the trainer “never” administered the substance to the horse and predicted that he will be exonerated.
