Churchill Downs
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) has approved temporary licenses for six Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) properties to begin accepting in-person sports wagers on Thursday, Sept. 7, the company said via a release Wednesday morning. CDI will operate Race and Sports Books at its racetracks and Historical Racing Machine (HRM) facilities in Kentucky which include: Churchill Downs Racetrack: 15 sports betting kiosks, 168 sq. ft. video screen, 20 large format televisions; Derby City Gaming & Hotel: 15 sports betting kiosks, 300 sq. ft. video screen, 12 large format televisions; Ellis...
A dozen stakes cumulatively worth a record $3,775,000 will be offered during the 14-day September Meet at Churchill Downs, which runs Sept. 14-Oct. 1 (pending Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund final approval). The meet will offer horsemen plenty of opportunities to prep for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita, led by the GII Lukas Classic for 3-year-olds and the GIII Ack Ack--a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race for the Dirt Mile--Saturday, Sept. 30. Additionally, the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks series will kick-off Saturday,...
by Dr. Sara Langsam After having read Dr. Thomas Little's Open Letter to the Industry regarding HISA, I thought it was important to share a different voice and perspective. For the last 20 years, I have practiced as a private racetrack practitioner with one of the largest racetrack veterinary practices in the country. I agree with Dr. Little that private veterinary practitioners are a critical component of making sure horses are ready and sound for racing. However, I disagree with his views on HISA and its relationships with private practitioners....
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Credit owner Richard Bahde with nailing the description of Taxed's (Collected) climb from modest beginnings to a start Saturday in the historic GI Alabama S. at Saratoga Race Course. "It is a Cinderella story. It's something that doesn't happen very often," Bahde said. "I'm sure that over time there have been $50,000 claiming horses that have gone on to win graded stakes races, but there's just not that many." Veteran trainer Randy Morse claimed the gray filly for Bahde at Churchill Downs on Nov. 20 in her third...
Frank L. Jones, Jr., a prominent owner, breeder, and servant to the horse industry through decades of work on the boards of several Thoroughbred organizations, passed away Thursday, Aug. 10 after a long illness. The Louisville businessman was 87. In addition to other roles, Jones spent more than 30 years as the owners' vice president of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), where he was instrumental in negotiating contracts for owners and trainers with racetracks. He was also chair of the Kentucky HBPA's finance committee and a legislative...
Both Churchill Downs ($120,000) and Keeneland Race Course ($100,000) are projecting maiden special weight (MSW) purses this autumn to be level with the money paid out at the same meets in 2022. Those figures were revealed by representatives of the two tracks Thursday during a meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee. The Churchill MSW purses for this year's two fall meets (Sep. 14-Oct. 1 and Oct. 29-Nov. 26) have been unchanged since 2020. In 2020, Churchill offered split MSW purse values in September-$97,000 during the pandemic-rescheduled...
Racing will return to Churchill Downs as scheduled for the track's regularly scheduled meeting beginning Sept. 14. The announcement comes following an "evaluation of existing safety protocols and a thorough assessment of industry best practices," according to a release from the track. Operations at the Louisville oval were suspended in early June following a rash of breakdowns during the first month of the meeting that began only a few days prior to the running of the GI Kentucky Derby. The balance of the Churchill spring meet was run at Ellis...
Why didn't the New York stewards disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in a controversial running of the GII Jim Dandy S. Saturday at Saratoga? The wagering public bet $3,167,647 on the race and that doesn't include any of the horizontal wagers. After Forte and Irad Ortiz Jr. bulled their way off of the rail near the top of the stretch, bumped Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and took away his path, it looked like the horse deserved to come down. But that didn't happen. The bettors deserved an explanation....
Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), said during a quarterly earnings conference call Thursday that nearly two months of internal investigation into the deaths of 12 Thoroughbreds during the shortened spring meet at the gaming corporation's flagship Louisville track has yielded "nothing that jumped out as the apparent cause." Carstanjen added that CDI will soon be announcing new safety protocols to be implemented for the scheduled September return of racing to Churchill Downs, but he did not disclose details about what to expect. During the...
Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) will "update and refresh" the Jockey Club Suites at the Louisville oval in a $14-million renovation, the company announced late Wednesday. The modernization project will be finished prior to the 2024 Kentucky Derby. "The Jockey Club Suites are a core premium hospitality product," said Churchill President Mike Anderson. "This renovation project will ensure existing and future suite holders are provided the entertainment experience Churchill Downs is known for and our guests have come to expect for Kentucky Derby Week and all other racing events." All 61...
A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed the class-action lawsuit against trainer Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), that was initiated by a group of horseplayers who alleged negligence, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment because their losing pari-mutuel bets on the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby weren't honored as winners after Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for and was subsequently disqualified for a betamethasone overage. The July 20 order tossing the case out of United States District Court, Western District of Kentucky (Louisville Division), could have ramifications on a...
MGSW Fulsome (Into Mischief) has been retired and will stand the 2024 breeding season at Gary Broad's Walmac Farm in partnership with Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, the farm announced Monday. A Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Brad Cox, Fulsome broke his maiden in his first start at three in January and proceeded to win three of his next four outings--and five overall as a sophomore--including the GIII Smarty Jones S. and the GIII Matt Winn S. He also finished third to Proxy (Tapit) and West Will Power (Bernardini) in...