West Virginia Racing
The stewards at Charles Town Races on Wednesday issued a ruling that will not impose penalties against the licensure of trainer Curtis Bass after deeming that a "trace level" of a cocaine metabolite detected in a $5,000 claiming mare who won Apr. 10 was the result of "inadvertent exposure" to that drug. It's the second time in eight months that the Charles Town stewards have made that type of determination on a cocaine positive, disqualifying the winning horse but not penalizing the trainer. Although West Virginia's Thoroughbred medication testing and...
Joining New Jersey and Colorado, West Virginia has become the third state to legalize fixed odds wagering on horse racing. The legislation was fully completed Saturday and the state's racetracks, sports book and gambling apps can begin accepting the bets whenever they are ready to go. The Legislature passed the bill by a 55-43 count. "I am the general counsel and lobbyist for the Charles Town HBPA, and so that was the impetus for me trying to get this started," said lobbyist Philip Reale. "Fixed odds has been popular in...
Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Following a full hearing in Cleveland between April 23 and April 25 before HISA's anti-doping and medication control program arbitration panel, Ohio veterinarian Scott Shell has been suspended for 21 months and fined $20,000 for possessing four banned substances on Sept. 28 last year at Thistledown Racetrack. The four substances in question were two jars of Carolina Gold/GABA (an amino acid that can be used as a calming...
Kenneth F. Lowe, Jr., the colorful and sometimes controversial chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC), died suddenly earlier this week. His passing was first reported Sept. 4 in a remembrance editorial in the Journal-News of Martinsburg, West Virginia. Lowe was in his mid-70s, and no cause of death had been announced prior to publication of this story. On Thursday, a staffer at the WVRC confirmed Lowe's passing to TDN, but declined to speak on the record about the circumstances of the chairman's death or about his recent health,...
Both Charles Town Races and Mountaineer Park got approval Wednesday from the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) to reduce live racing dates in 2024 compared to recent seasons. The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) chapters at both tracks supported the diminished schedules based on available purse funds and projected horse populations. Right now the placeholders are 158 dates for Charles Town and 121 for Mountaineer. But the exact number of programs will ultimately be contingent on the outcome of several overlapping federal lawsuits that have to do with the...
With the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit set to hear oral arguments Dec. 7 in a case that seeks to reverse a lower court's decision to dismiss a constitutional challenge of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), the two opposing sides have filed new documentation pertaining to a separate but related Nov. 18 decision by the Fifth Circuit that did, in fact, declare HISA unconstitutional. Although it's tough at this stage to get a consensus on what might happen with HISA over the next six...
"Sam Huff saved the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry in West Virginia." That declaration was made by Ken Lowe, the chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission, as approximately 150 friends and business acquaintances gathered Monday afternoon at the Middleburg Community Center in Middleburg, Va. to pay tribute to Robert Lee "Sam" Huff. The Pro Football Hall of Fame football player and Thoroughbred owner and breeder died Nov. 13 from complications of dementia in Winchester, Va. Lowe was one of several speakers at the service, which was held just a...