Aidan Butler

After open letters to the industry Thursday from 1/ST President Aidan Butler and The Jockey Club backed the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, Breeders' Cup Limited also voiced support. Breeders' Cup Limited supports the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would permanently prohibit the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and end their export for that purpose abroad. This measure represents a critical step toward ensuring all horses, regardless of their stage of life, are treated with decency and care. Breeders' Cup...

Following 1/ST President Aidan Butler's open letter to the industry Thursday outlining 1/ST's support for the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, The Jockey Club expressed additional support of the SAFE Act and the future of horse racing, pledging to advance landmark legislation and see it become law.  The Jockey Club stands with 1/ST President Aidan Butler and his colleagues at 1/ST for their support of the SAFE Act and their recent, highly effective work to gain attention for this critical issue for the future of horse racing. We pledge...

In an industry that does not always speak with one voice, there should be one clear point of agreement: we are judged by how we care for our horses. Without a firm commitment to equine welfare, our sport cannot sustain its future. We owe them safety, dignity, and lifelong care. Everyone involved in racing shares responsibility for these horses, not only during their careers, but long after. The era of "business as usual" is over. This is a business, but it is also a responsibility that requires integrity and a...

The $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational will for the first time be included in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, Breeders' Cup Limited and 1/ST announced Thursday. The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 94 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners will receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the 2026 Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. As part of the global series of automatic qualifying races...

A new performance-based rating system for Thoroughbreds has been launched by Equibase to provide "more options for tracks to consider when developing race conditions," the company said in a release Thursday. The first such race using the Equibase rating will be contested at Santa Anita on Friday, Oct. 24. The Equibase rating provides an algorithmically generated predictive performance score based solely on race outcomes and measurable factors such as speed, race strength, track conditions, and trip factors and was developed with the input of industry stakeholders with the goal of...

Effective this weekend, 1/ST RACING will discontinue selling the simulcast signal from Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park to Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico to address increasing concerns regarding horse welfare and safety at that racetrack, it was announced Thursday evening. This announcement comes in agreement with the horsemen's groups in Florida and California after other measures in recent years have failed to substantially bolster the care for racehorses in Puerto Rico, particularly when horses are no longer racing. "Exporting our signal to Hipódromo Camarero represents millions of dollars of...

Graded races at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park have been renamed in honor of the late trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Christophe Clement, 1ST, which operates both racetracks, announced Wednesday. Beginning in 2026, the GII Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita will be renamed the D. Wayne Lukas Stakes, while the GIII La Prevoyante Stakes at Gulfstream Park has been renamed the Christophe Clement Stakes. "D. Wayne Lukas and Christophe Clement were not just generational horsemen, they were top-class people," said 1/ST President Aidan Butler. "Santa Anita and Gulfstream were...

Florida's Gulfstream Park has partnered with BSV Digital to begin using a high-resolution digital starting gate board. Gulfstream is the first pari-mutuel facility in North America to do so. In lieu of the traditional static signage at the starting gate, the digital starting board is capable of real-time graphics and customized content. The new gate will display post positions and race logos, as well as seasonal branding and partner messaging. "Our goal is to blend tradition with technology in a way that enhances the spectacle of racing," said Aidan Butler,...

Michael Willman, a former publicity director who worked at Santa Anita Park for nearly two decades, has sued the racetrack, its ownership, and several management executives, alleging that he was fired in March 2024 under the pretext of using inappropriate language when making an off-color joke to a subordinate, but that the "real reason" he was terminated was for refusing to participate in a purported cover-up of alleged mismanagement following a series of highly publicized horse fatalities that occurred at Santa Anita in 2019. According to the civil complaint filed...

The Thoroughbred racing community is at a crossroads. Our sport is one of the most exhilarating and cherished pastimes, and the participants are among the finest people one could ever hope to meet. Yet, we find ourselves in a challenging era, particularly in states lacking clear legislative support, where the future looks increasingly uncertain. As a participant in Thoroughbred racing in California, I have closely followed the economics and politics of our sport for the past decade and have witnessed its steady decline. From hotwalkers to the executive staff of...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. has had some big days since he came to the U.S. from his native Barbados in 2011, but perhaps none bigger than last Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He had three stakes wins, including a score with Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhahaarar ({GB}) in the GII Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes and a win with Mystic Lake (Mo Town) in the GII Inside Information Stakes. But the one that really mattered was the victory by White Abarrio (Race Day) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes....

A week and a half before Saturday's Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park's glitziest event of the year, former The Stronach Group (TSG) executive Keith Brackpool stood before an assembled group of industry stakeholders and warned them the event might not go ahead in 2029, even if a bill to decouple Thoroughbred horse racing from casino licenses passes the state legislature. "We have said, this passes, this bill passes, that we will commit to racing here at Gulfstream at least through 2028," Brackpool told the crowd, according to a recording of...