Coronavirus
Churchill Downs Racetrack released the first condition book for its upcoming spring meet, which is now scheduled to begin May 16. A total of 125 races cumulatively worth $7,265,000--for a daily average of $559,000--are offered in the first condition book, which covers racing from May 16-June 5. Maiden special weight races offer a purse of $79,000 and allowance races range between $81,000 and $88,000. All purses include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. The stakes schedule throughout the meet features 16 stakes totaling $2,250,000. The first graded stakes...
The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) in conjunction with the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program have announced the release of the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey. The results of the survey, whose participants will remain anonymous, will be shared with Kentucky and federal lawmakers to assist in policy-making decisions to best meet the needs of the industry. "Kentucky's horse industry has 35,000 individual operations," said Elisabeth Jensen, the executive vice president of KEEP who oversees the body's daily operations. "These businesses provide nearly 80,000 jobs in Kentucky and...
The French racing community received good news on Monday, with the confirmation that racing will be authorised in Paris on May 11. Paris had been declared a "red zone" under the coronavirus lockdown restrictions in France, but France Galop President Edouard de Rothschild tweeted the positive news on Monday morning. "We obtained and received from the Prefecture de Police de Paris the authorisation to resume racing on May 11," de Rothschild tweeted. "This is very good news and a real victory!" The French government had earlier announced its support of...
An ambitious concept to counter the ongoing disruption caused to Germany's racing finances by the COVID-19 lockdown, initiated by entrepreneur and racehorse owner Lars-Wilhelm Baumgarten along with Guido Schmitt and Christian Sundermann, has succeeded in its objective. The idea is based on popular television entertainment show "Wetten, dass..?", which subjected contestants to viewer-determined forfeits if unable to complete bizarre tasks. In one case, a blindfolded farmer successfully recognized his cows by the sound they made while chewing apples. However, in this sporting scenario, the trio declared they'd find 100 people...
Sunday Racing's Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) successfully defended his title and took the G1 Tenno Sho Spring by a nose over Stiffelio (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) at Kyoto on Sunday. He is the fifth horse to take the 3200-metre feature in consecutive years, while granting his trainer Takahisa Tezuka his sixth Japanese Group 1 crown and pilot Christophe Lemaire his 29th. Before empty stands as spectatorless racing continues in Japan from the coronavirus, the even-money favourite stayed well off the fence in midfield from his wide draw. Fierement traveled...
Confident that racing will resume shortly at Santa Anita, the track's racing department has released a stakes schedule that covers May 16 through the end of the meet on June 21. There are several changes to the stakes program, including new dates for the GI Santa Anita Derby and GII Santa Anita Oaks, as well as reduced purses for many of the track's top races. Santa Anita is hoping to begin racing again on May 15, but is still waiting approval to do so from the Los Angeles County Department...
Santa Anita has published its first condition book since live racing was put on a hiatus as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The book, published Thursday afternoon, spans May 15 to May 25, and includes a number of prestigious stakes races, including the GI Shoemaker Mile S. and the GI Gamely S. Entries close on Tuesday, May 12 for the following Friday—what would be the first day of racing at the track since mid-March. Racing was formally cancelled there Mar. 20. There has been no official announcement that Santa...
In a first-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), said he was "more than cautiously optimistic" that the Sep. 5 GI Kentucky Derby will proceed as rescheduled, ideally with spectators allowed to attend by adhering to whatever form of COVID-19 social distancing is appropriate at that time. As part of a broader scope of fiscal progress reports, Carstanjen also gave updates on construction projects at the gaming firm's two Thoroughbred racetrack properties in Kentucky, where work is both ongoing and...
Churchill Downs Racetrack officials have announced that opening day of the 2020 Spring Meet will be Saturday, May 16. After opening weekend on May 16-17, racing at the historic Louisville racetrack will be staged Thursdays through Sundays with a special holiday Monday card on Memorial Day, May 25. Post time for the first race each day will be 1 p.m. (all times Eastern). Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman is crafting a condition book for the schedule of races, including a revised stakes schedule, and it is expected to be...
Give Back for Special Equestrians, an all-volunteer nonprofit 501(c)(3), is issuing an S.O.S Save Our Stables Emergency Relief Fund calling on the equestrian community to help save therapeutic horseback riding stables for disabled children and veterans throughout South Florida. When schools closed Mar. 13 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therapeutic horseback riding stables across South Florida were forced to close their barn doors. Without revenue from riding lessons and with high monthly operating and maintenance costs in excess of $500 per horse for basic necessities like shoes, shelter, shavings, hay,...
During his Thursday press briefing, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced that the state's racetracks will resume racing May 14. No spectators will be allowed to attend the races. "In regard to horse racing, on May 14 we will start spectator-less, without people, horse racing," Justice said. "It will be able to resume at that time. It takes a couple of weeks of active training and conditioning before it's safe for the horses, so they will be starting back very, very soon in preparation for us to have spectator-less horse...
Though April 2020 was a month of social distancing and working from home, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program withstood the trend of solitude and sent 60 retired Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses into new and loving homes. This is the largest number of April adoptions the program has ever accomplished since its inception in 1992. The program also received 225 applications from potential adopters, which is a 100% increase from months prior. "I'm very proud of our entire team for pulling together to ensure our mission is moving forward during the...