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These are uncertain times for Monmouth Park. The foal crop is down, their horse population is way down, and they're having trouble filling fields. That's what happens when you are one of many players in an overloaded Mid-Atlantic region and you are the only track that does not get revenue from casinos. (Monmouth does get a $10 million subsidy from the state to prop up purses, but that could be reduced to $2.5 million in 2027). Yet, better news may be around the corner. Bills have been introduced to have...

This wasn't easy. Since Hawthorne last ran a Thoroughbred race, checks have bounced to harness horsemen, the Illinois Racing Board pulled the plug on last year's Standardbred meet, the owners have declared bankruptcy, and there still has been no concrete news on when or how a casino might be built at the track. Way back in 2019, legislation was approved that allowed Illinois racetracks to operate casinos. Hawthorne's casino project has remained in limbo ever since. Hawthorne filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 27, a move that actually helped...

Very near the final hour, the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA) and Gulfstream Park have landed on a three-year live racing agreement, some details of which were shared in joint press releases issued Tuesday. This agreement is a federal requirement for a racetrack to conduct live racing and simulcast its signal nationwide. Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group (TSG), is statutorily required to conduct a minimum of 40-days live racing to operate its casino. Without a horsemen's agreement, Gulfstream Park would still have been able to conduct...

Despite efforts dating back to May, negotiations around an annual purses and race dates agreement between the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA) and Gulfstream Park remain at an impasse. The current horsemen's agreement expires Dec. 31. This agreement is a federal requirement for a racetrack to conduct live racing and simulcast its signal nationwide. Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group (TSG), is statutorily required to conduct a minimum of 40-days live racing to operate its casino. Without a horsemen's agreement, Gulfstream Park would still be able to...

Hastings Racecourse and Casino, a track located in Vancouver, British Columbia that began racing in 1889, has ceased the conduct of thoroughbred horse racing at the facility with immediate effect, the track announced Friday evening. In a statement posted to social media, the track noted that racing is typically conducted between the months of April and October and as such, there were no horses currently stabled on site. "This was an extremely difficult decision, especially given the historical legacy of Hastings Racecourse in the local community and its importance to...

Delaware Park Casino, the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, the Delaware Jockeys' Health and Welfare Benefit Fund and the Delaware Park Jockeys Association teamed up to donate $20,000 to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF), the organizations announced in a joint statement Saturday. Delaware Park has developed a unique funding mechanism for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund donation as, over the course of the live racing season, each jockey donates a dollar from each mount fee. Delaware Park Casino, the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Delaware Jockeys' Health and Welfare...

The Florida House of Representatives on Friday passed controversial Thoroughbred decoupling legislation by a 70-34 vote at 6:10 p.m. HB 167 is a wide-ranging gaming bill, but the only section of it that came up for debate during the Apr. 25 legislative session was the decoupling aspect. As passed by the House, the bill would remove a statutory requirement that Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs run a minimum number of live Thoroughbred races in order to operate the respective casino and card room at each venue. The language of...

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...

Dale Romans may train primarily in Kentucky but he comes to Gulfstream every winter. Few trainers anywhere have their finger on the pulse quite like Romans does when it comes to industry issues, which is why he was the week's Gainesway Guest of the Week and asked to help unravel the situation in Florida. The TDN Writers' Room podcast is sponsored by Keeneland. Romans, who is also the president of the Kentucky HBPA, said he took his eye off the ball because he was so sure that Santa Anita would...

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...

Delaware Park Casino & Racing, the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, the Delaware Jockeys Health and Welfare Benefit Fund and the Delaware Park Jockeys Association teamed up Saturday to donate $20,000 to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The check was presented after the tenth race at Delaware Park Saturday. Over the course of the live racing season, each jockey donates a dollar from each mount fee and Delaware Park Casino & Racing, the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Delaware Jockeys Health and Welfare Benefit Fund each match the dollar. The...

The convicted New York-based harness racing veterinarian Louis Attilio Grasso, who is scheduled to report to federal prison Jan. 24 to begin serving a 50-month sentence for his admitted role in peddling drugs in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy sweep of arrests, was arraigned Friday in Pennsylvania on charges that he swindled $21,646 from a casino over the past week by allegedly conspiring with a dealer in a cheating scheme. According to stories first reported by the Pennsylvania news outlet the Times Leader and the gaming industry site Casino.org, security...