January, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ontario Racing: Purse Funds From Cancelled Races Will Continue To Support Horsemen

Ontario Racing is pleased to notify industry participants that Thoroughbred horsepeople will have the opportunity to access certain purse funds that remain available under the Funding Agreement with Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) as a result of the suspension of live racing in the Toronto Region due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These funds were already committed to the industry through the Funding Agreement for Live Horse Racing between Ontario Racing and OLG. To enable this access, Ontario Racing, OLG and the other parties to the Funding Agreement have entered into an amendment to the Funding Agreement, a copy of which will be posted on the Ontario Racing website.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario Racing created a task force, as it did during the spring lockdown, to address the financial impacts to Thoroughbred horse racing in Ontario.

Eligibility Requirements

Due to the Toronto lockdown coming at the end of the Thoroughbred racing season in Ontario, Ontario Racing Management Inc. (ORM) will work closely with WEG and HBPA to obtain the list of active horses who either raced since Nov. 1 and/or were stabled at Woodbine Racetrack. The distribution of these funds will not require an application.

Subject to being deemed eligible based on the above criteria, racehorse owners will receive a one-time payment of $1,500 for each eligible Thoroughbred horse, which is estimated to cover half of the monthly costs associated with boarding, feed and training fees (veterinary, blacksmith, shipping, and other fees are not included in this estimate).

Ontario Racing will continue to pay the 1.5 percent of purses to the horseperson's associations so they can continue to offer benefits, benevolence activities and additional assistance to those in need.

In addition, Ontario Racing has arranged for increased flexibility when dealing with potential future lockdowns in the province by sharing the details of a streamlined support payment process with OLG.

Upon OLG's approval, Ontario Racing will be in a position to apply a consistent approach to reallocating undistributed purse funds in the event of a lockdown, similar to other support programs offered to the industry in the past year. This increased flexibility and consistent approach will allow Ontario Racing to provide industry support in a timely manner should other racetracks in Ontario be impacted by future pandemic control measures.

The post Ontario Racing: Purse Funds From Cancelled Races Will Continue To Support Horsemen appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Winner Essential Quality Officially Booked For Southwest Stakes

Trainer Brad Cox told the Daily Racing Form on Tuesday that Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Essential Quality will make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 15. The other alternative had been the G2 Risen Star over nine furlongs at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 13, but the slightly shorter distance of the Southwest won out in the end.

“The right thing for him off the layoff would be the mile and a sixteenth,” Cox told drf.com.

The Godolphin homebred son of Tapit is undefeated in three career starts, and has been working steadily at the Fair Grounds since late December. Essential Quality is expected to be named the Champion 2-Year-Old of 2020 at Thursday's Eclipse Awards ceremony.

Eclipse Finalist Alexander Crispin Continues Strong Maryland Tradition Of Apprentice Riders

Jockey Alexander Crispin is one of three finalists for the Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice of 2020. The winners in 17 equine and human categories will be announced during a virtual ceremony starting at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Maryland-based riders have captured 11 of the 46 Eclipse Awards as champion apprentice, the most recent being Weston Hamilton in 2018. Other winners are Chris McCarron (1974), Ronnie Franklin (1978), Alberto Delgado (1982), Allen Stacy (1986), Kent Desormeaux (1987), Mike Luzzi (1989), Mark Johnston (1990), Jeremy Rose (2001), Ryan Fogelsonger (2002) and Victor Carrasco (2013). Hamilton and Carrasco continue to be based in Maryland.

Maryland Jockey Club host and analyst Naomi Tukker had a chance to talk to Crispin about his 2020 season and what it would be like to win the Eclipse Award.

Crispin graduated from Puerto Rico's famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica in December 2019 and made his pro debut last Jan. 1 at Hipodromo Camarero. After coming to the U.S. late last winter, Cripsin was fifth in his mainland debut aboard Time Marches On March 7, 2020 at Turfway Park.

He continued to ride in the Midwest, picking up his first win March 12, 2020 on Thorpe d'Oro at Turfway, until moving his tack to Delaware Park for the summer. Crispin finished the Delaware meet as its leading apprentice, ranking second overall with 58 wins and fourth with more than $1.3 million in purse earnings.

Crispin arrived in Maryland in late October, two weeks into Laurel Park's fall meet, and wound up leading all apprentice riders and ranking third overall with 29 wins while banking $725,920 in purses earned.

The post Eclipse Finalist Alexander Crispin Continues Strong Maryland Tradition Of Apprentice Riders appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Joe Sharp Handed 30-Day Suspension, Will Appeal

Trainer Joe Sharp has been hit with a 30-day suspension and fined $2,500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) after five horses he trained tested positive for the medication levamisole during a 16-day period at Churchill Downs in November, 2019.

Sharp has said that the levamisole was found in an over-the-counter dewormer he purchased and used to treat his horses. He said he consulted with veterinarians before using the product and was told that it complied with pertinent racing and medication regulations.

In addition to the Kentucky positives, eight Sharp-trained horses tested positive at the Fair Grounds around the same time. For the Louisiana violations, Sharp was not suspended, but did have to pay a $1,000 fine for each horse.

The Kentucky commission could have suspended Sharp 150 days, or 30 days for each positive, but decided not to do so because Sharp was not notified of the initial positive before the others occurred.

Sharp's suspension is scheduled to run from Feb. 12 through Mar. 13. However, his attorney, Clark Brewster said that an appeal will be filed and he expects to get a stay of the suspension before Feb. 12.

According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) website, levamisole is a Class 2 drug and carries a B penalty. With Class B medication violations, the minimum penalty suggested by the ACRI is a 15-day suspension and a $500 fine for the first violation.

Brewster's defense will rest on his contention that levamisole itself is not a banned substance in Kentucky. Brewster said that levamisole is only prohibited when it metabolizes into a more serious drug, aminorex, which, he said, did not happen in the case of Sharp's horses. Aminorex is a stimulant and, under ARCI classifications is a Class 1 drug.

Brewster also cited a 2015 cause in which the KHRC suspended trainer Daniel Werre for a full year after a levamisole positive. The suspension was reversed by the Franklin Circuit Court, which cited its finding that the KHRC had improperly classified the drug at the time. Werre was eventually given a seven-day suspension.

“The stewards sent out this notice saying [levamisole] is a class B drug,” Brewster said. “Not only is it not a class B, it's not listed at all. They held a hearing where I strongly urged them to dismiss this and they got real quiet. Then they returned a suspension of 30 days and fines. It was truly astonishing, We expect public servants to apply the law based on what is set forth.

Brewster continued, “He was initially denied stalls at the Fair Grounds and owners pulled horses from him. That's all because the stewards issued a notice of positives on him and didn't even understand what was and was not on their list. Once they took that course, they weren't courageous enough to look back and make the right call.”

The five Sharp-trained horses who tested positive in Kentucky are Street Dazzle (Street Sense), Blackberry Wine (Oxbow), Chitto (Into Mischief), Zero Gravity (Orb) and Art Collector (Bernardini). All five have been disqualified. Blackberry Wine and Art Collector won the races in questions, Art Collector was later taken away from Sharp and turned over to Tom Drury. He went on to win the GII Blue Grass S. and the Ellis Park Derby.

The post Joe Sharp Handed 30-Day Suspension, Will Appeal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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