The Jockey Club

In data released by The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database for 2019, the rate of fatal injury for Thoroughbreds last year dropped to 1.53 per 1,000 starts from a rate of 1.68 in 2018. It was the first time the rate has decreased since 2016, and overall the fatality rate is down 23.5% from the 10-year high of 2.0 per 1,000 starts in 2009. Based on the data, 99.84% of flat racing starts at racetracks that participated in the EID occurred without a fatality. A graph depicting all updated statistical...

The FBI and the Department of Justice have done what the horse racing industry had failed to do for decades. They caught and are prosecuting high-profile trainers for doping infractions as part of an investigation that has finally torn the lid off of what had been the shadowy and secretive world inhabited by racing's cheaters. The entire industry owes a debt of gratitude to these agencies. The problem is, it's not the FBI's job to clean up horse racing. It has more important matters to deal with. There may be...

The latest bombshell to hit the racing industry was dropped Monday morning, when 27 individuals--including trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro--were named in four separate indictments alleging that they had engaged in a "widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants' control." The indictments list a number of illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) that the 27 individuals allegedly manufactured, distributed and used. They include erythropoietin (EPO)--a hormone...

Ken Wilkins got it right: "The challenge is to identify and solve the real problem--we do not have enough people that want to own racehorses. More owners will create more demand for our breeding product, period. Conversely, less demand will exacerbate all our problems. It has already impacted us and we are experiencing a slow and sure gradual shrinking of our business. What can each of us do to achieve the outcome of increasing ownership? Let us start with asking the right question. How can we increase demand for our...

This Sunday marks a year to the day Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) suffered catastrophic injuries during a morning workout at Santa Anita, unleashing a tempest of opprobrium the likes of which the industry has never before faced in terms of intensity and sustained impact. Of course, Battle of Midway's fatal injury wasn't alone the catalyst--the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Breeders' Cup winner was one of three fatalities at the track within two days. His death was also the 18th to mar the facility since racing had resumed towards the end of...

The Jockey Club has completed a contribution of more than $750,000 from its commercial businesses to the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory (RSTL) for equipment and other assets to expand services to additional racetracks across North America, the organization announced Tuesday. The need to increase and sustain the future of research and innovation in track safety testing by the RSTL was expressed by Dr. Nancy Cox, dean, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, at The Jockey Club's Aug. 11, 2019, Round Table Conference. Following Dr. Cox's remarks last...

The 2020 edition of the Fact Book is now available in the Resources section of The Jockey Club website at www.jockeyclub.com. The Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing and auctions in North American and also includes a directory of Canadian, international, national, and state organizations. Links to the Breeding Statistics report that is released by The Jockey Club each September and the Report of Mares Bred information that is published by The Jockey Club each October can be found in the Breeding section of...

The Jockey Club's 2020 Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing will be held Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Saratoga Springs City Center in Saratoga Springs, NY, The Jockey Club announced Tuesday. Additional details, including the conference agenda, will be released this summer. The Jockey Club Round Table Conference was first held July 1, 1953, in The Jockey Club office in New York City. The following year, it was moved to Saratoga Springs, where it has been held every August since. The two-hour conference has featured a myriad of...

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) has approved nearly 7,000 awards and classes at more than 1,400 shows in 41 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces for 2020. Awards are to be distributed in a variety of disciplines, including eventing, dressage, Western and English pleasure, hunter/jumper, endurance, Western performance, games, and polocrosse. Awards are also available at some events for Thoroughbreds within their first two years of showing or for Thoroughbreds within two years of their last start. A full calendar can be viewed here. T.I.P. will also host...

Applications for two college scholarships offered by The Jockey Club totaling $21,000 are now open. The pair of scholarships will be awarded for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2020. First awarded in 2017, The Jockey Club Scholarship offers $7,500 per semester to a student pursuing a bachelor's or higher degree at any university and has demonstrated an interest in a career in the Thoroughbred racing industry. Criteria to be considered for The Jockey Club Scholarship include career aspirations, activities involving the equine or Thoroughbred industry and high...

The Fashionable Fillies Luncheon will head west for the first time this year, landing on Mar. 8, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation announced Thursday. The traditional summer luncheon will again be held in Saratoga Springs, with both events benefiting the foundation. Hosted in Santa Anita's Chandelier Room, the March event will include cocktails, lunch, and the opportunity to shop from local vendors. All proceeds will be earmarked by the foundation to benefit the backstretch community in Southern California. "The Fashionable Fillies Luncheon...

Calumet Farm has topped the individual breeders list in North America in 2019 with $12,545,854 in earnings, according to statistics released Wednesday by The Jockey Club Information Systems. Calumet Farm bred 410 starters with 332 wins, 310 seconds and 323 thirds out of 2,435 starts. Kenneth L. Ramsey & Sarah K. Ramsey was second with earnings of $8,249,834 with 276 wins out of 1,779 starts. Calumet Farm also topped the breeders list that includes partners with $12,760,517 in earnings and 337 wins from 2,459 starts. WinStar Farm, LLC came in...