July, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Lone Star Set To Resume Racing On Saturday After Two Live Programs Cancelled

Saturday's Summer Turf Festival at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, featuring four stakes worth $750,000, will go on as scheduled after an impasse that led to racing being cancelled on Thursday and Friday was resolved.

Terry Meyoicks, national manager of the Jockeys' Guild, texted the Paulick Report Friday evening to say that Saturday's card at Lone Star Park is “good to go,” indicating riders were satisfied they will have access to medical specialists in the event of an on-track accident.

Meyocks, officials from track owner Global Gaming Solutions, and insurance broker John Unick were among those working to resolve a problem that arose after jockey Carlos Montalvo suffered head injuries in a July 4 spill. While he received treated at a local hospital, Montalvo said he has been unable to see a head trauma specialist or to undergo surgery because the track's $1-million insurance coverage for on-track accidents is not being honored by some medical facilities or specialists. Meyocks said some doctors wanted up-front payments for treatment rather than waiting for claims to go through.

The issue came to a head on Thursday when jockeys chose not to ride when they felt they were not getting assurances they would be able to see specialists. Friday evening's card was also cancelled while the parties worked on a solution.

Meyocks did not provide details.

Saturday's program begins at 11 a.m. CT, with the first of four stakes, the $150,000 Wasted Tears, scheduled for 12:52 p.m. That is followed by the $150,000 Chicken Fried Stakes at 1:20 p.m., the $150,000 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint Stakes at 2:15 p.m. and the $300,000 Texas Turf Classic Stakes.

While the Lone Star Park races will go on, there will be no interstate simulcasting on the Summer Turf Festival races. The Texas Racing Commission ordered Lone Star Park to shut down its interstate simulcast signal beginning July 1, saying the state could not comply with the newly created Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. States that do not comply with the Authority are unable to conduct interstate simulcasting.

According to a report earlier this week in Horseracingnation.com, handle on Lone Star Park's races is down 87 percent since July 1.

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Guild: Insurance Snafu Settled, Lone Star a ‘Go’ for Saturday

Lone Star Park appears ready to resume racing on Saturday, July 16, after the Thursday and Friday programs this week had to be scrapped over jockeys' concerns that a million-dollar insurance policy secured by the track was not sufficient to provide specialized medical care in the event of on-track accidents.

Terry Meyocks, the president and chief executive officer of the Jockeys' Guild, confirmed to TDN shortly after 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday that, “We're good to go on Saturday. We got the assurances that the jocks will be comfortable with.”

Issues over the insurance policy at Lone Star first surfaced after jockey Carlos Montalvo suffered head injuries there in a July 4 racing spill.

A Paulick Report story earlier this week stated that Montalvo claimed he was unable to find a medical specialist willing to honor the accident policy purchased by Lone Star's parent company, Global Gaming, even though that policy is nearly identical to others around the nation that do provide sufficient coverage. The issue reportedly had to do with surgeons and other doctors wanting to get paid up-front rather than waiting for insurance claims to be processed.

When the Lone Star riding colony couldn't ascertain that the policy would provide sufficient coverage moving forward, they opted as a group not to ride the Thursday, July 14, races. Track management attempted to work with the insurance underwriter on Friday to rectify the situation, but when that didn't happen by late afternoon, Lone Star itself called off the July 15 program.

Asked what fundamental changes were made to satisfy the jockeys that they would get proper care, Meyocks declined the opportunity to elaborate.

“I think we're going to keep that to ourselves. But the jocks are comfortable with it,” Meyocks said.

“Lone Star has done everything they can to work with and correct the situation,” Meyocks said. “It's just one of those situations that maybe the system needs to be looked at and further explained. But we haven't had this situation anywhere else, and I don't know if it's just timing, or whatever. But we got it corrected, and hopefully it will be a positive [development] for the future that we can take nationwide, which is what we've been talking about for the last four or five years.”

Although Lone Star itself had yet to make an official announcement in time for the deadline for this story, it appears as if Saturday's “Summer Turf Festival” and Sunday's “Stars of Texas” programs featuring nine total stakes will go as scheduled, with post times both days at noon Eastern.

That's welcome news to Lone Star horse people, who had already been reeling in the aftermath of a Texas Racing Commission decision not to comply with the July 1 Horse Racing and Integrity Safety Act (HISA) rules activation.

That decision not to align with HISA put Texas out of compliance with new interstate simulcasting requirements that HISA is using as a cudgel of compliance. So the commission then had to order that the signal from the state's tracks could not be exported out of state and that advance deposit wagering companies could not take betting on Texas races.

Trainer Karl Broberg, a perennial leader at Lone Star and a resident of Texas, had 10 horses entered at Lone Star on the combined Thursday and Friday programs. None of them got to race because of the insurance uncertainty.

“This is a no-win situation for me,” Broberg told TDN. “I'm obviously disgusted that it came to this. My guess is that it probably could have been handled better by both sides. But in light of what Texas horsemen have already been dealing with, with regard to such an uncertain future with HISA and how they plan on dealing with it going forward, this is pretty painful.

“But by the same token, I do feel bad [about] the insurance and medical care that Montalvo received,” Broberg said. “It sure seems like there were some failures in getting him in at the right hospital, where if that had been handled correctly from the beginning, none of this probably transpires.”

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CHRB Meeting Focuses On Proposals Designed To Reduce Injury

The California Horse Racing Board conducted a public meeting in Del Mar at the Del Mar Hilton on Thursday, July 14, 2022. Chairman Gregory Ferraro chaired the meeting, joined by Vice Chair Oscar Gonzales and Commissioners Brenda Washington Davis and Thomas Hudnut.

The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB Website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the Webcast link. In brief:

Chairman Ferraro reported on the meeting the previous day of the Medication, Safety, and Welfare Committee convened by himself and Commissioner Hudnut. The agenda focused on efforts to protect horses and riders, including proposed regulatory amendments focusing on horses with particular profiles that research indicates are at a greater risk of injury, particularly horses returning from layoffs. To that end, the Board approved for public notice three amendments detailing extensive procedures and requirements pertaining to racing and training soundness examinations and the reporting of same. Horses that have not raced or worked for extended periods, including 2-year-olds that have never raced or worked, and certain horses coming off the Veterinarian's List, as well as certain horses arriving from jurisdictions not overseen by the CHRB, will be subject to these amended rules.
Dr. Ferraro also reported on a discussion of a proposal to set limits on the accumulation of high-speed furlongs in works and races, again based on research at the University of California, Davis, that has determined unequivocally that excessive high-speed activity increases the risk of serious injury. Commissioner Hudnut, Chief Veterinary Dr. Tim Grande, and industry representatives pointed to the difficulties of crafting such a rule, given differences in training methods, track surfaces, horse abilities, and other variables. Dr. Ferraro said it became clear that the matter requires further study.

Another proposed regulatory amendment would limit multiple inter-articular injections to a single joint within a certain timeframe and require diagnostics in advance of those injections. The Board directed staff to draft such a rule for future consideration.

The Board approved the license for Golden Gate Fields to conduct a race meet that will operate from August 26 through October 2.
The Board approved the license for the Humboldt County Fair to conduct a race meet that will operate from August 19 through August 28. Note that the final week of racing in Ferndale will overlap with the first week of racing at Golden Gate.
The Board approved the license for the Sonoma County Fair to conduct a race meet that will operate from August 4 through August 14. This marks a return of live racing in Santa Rosa following the pandemic. In conjunction with the license, the Board approved an agreement between the Fair and the Thoroughbred Owners of California regarding entry conditions.
The Board authorized the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association to conduct a horse sale on August 18 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Such sales are subject to the rules of the CHRB and the requirement for a veterinarian to oversee the health of the horses.
The Board authorized Fasig-Tipton to conduct a horse sale on September 27 at Fairplex Park in Pomona.
In his report to the Board, Executive Director Scott Chaney noted that equine fatalities decreased by 8 percent during the last fiscal year, from 72 to 66. This followed a decease of 50 percent in the previous two fiscal years. “As the overall numbers approach zero, each successive reduction will be more difficult, but the CHRB is committed despite this challenge,” said Chaney. “As the Board knows, the HISA safety regulations went into effect on July 1. From a substantive standpoint, stakeholders will see little change. Logistically, there are hurdles and we are working through them in partnership with the Authority (HISA).
“In speaking about the changes under HISA, however, I would be remiss in not acknowledging that the crop rule became less strict here on July 1,” Chaney continued. “Thoroughbred riders may now strike overhand. It is also not lost on me that the British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) just announced that they will no longer allow overhand striking in racing (other than for safety). It is difficult to see the BHA make a positive step forward while we, through no fault of our own, take a step backwards. I urge the Authority to reconsider their approach to crop use, and in so doing, acknowledge what is exceedingly clear to me, that the riding crop does not have a future in horse racing.”

The Board approved a change of officers at Game Play Network, a licensed ADW.
Public comments made during the meeting can be accessed through the meeting audio archive on the CHRB website.

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Stakes Veteran City Man Gets First Graded Win In Forbidden Apple

Almost 20 years after campaigning Grade 1-winning millionaire Forbidden Apple, trainer Christophe Clement picked up his second triumph in his former trainee's Grade 3, $175,000 namesake race at Saratoga Race Course with New York-bred City Man, who scored his fifth lifetime stakes win for owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Patty Searles and Peter Searles.

A stakes winner on the NYRA circuit for the past four years, City Man also picked up his first graded stakes victory in the one-mile inner turf test, entering from a troubled seventh against his state bred counterparts in the Kingston on May 30 at Belmont Park.

“It was very unlucky last time, he was trapped,” said Clement, who won the 2017 Forbidden Apple with New York-bred Disco Partner. “Today, it worked out. Great trip. He's been a bit unlucky lately, so it was fun to have a good trip and he won well. It's fun to win the Forbidden Apple, because I did train Forbidden Apple.”

City Man exited post 9 and was angled toward the rail by jockey Joel Rosario to settle in seventh position as a headstrong Yes and Yes led the field into the first turn through an opening quarter-mile in 23.31 seconds over the firm going.

Yes and Yes was joined by Get Smokin down the backstretch, who ran on even terms with the pacesetter through a half-mile in 47.23. Meanwhile, City Man maintained his inside position with Public Sector to his outside as the field approached the far turn.

Rosario moved his charge back to the outside as the field reached the quarter pole with Get Smokin as the new leader. But a tenacious City Man launched a devastating bid from the far outside and seized command inside the eighth pole to win by 2 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:33.76.

Atone finished second, a nose ahead of the Chad Brown-trained Public Sector, a two-time graded-stakes winner last year at the Spa.

Rounding out the order of finish were Get Smokin, Set Piece, Mira Mission, Wolfie's Dynaghost, Sanctuary City, Scuttlebuzz, Clear Vision and Yes and Yes. Analyze It was scratched.

Now a six-time winner, City Man banked $96,250 in victory while enhancing his lifetime bankroll to $653,053 through a 22-6-4-3 record. He paid $26.60 for a $2 win bet.

The victory only solidified the chemistry between City Man and Rosario, who was aboard for four of the horse's five stakes conquests.

“I was very comfortable. For a second, I was between horses passing the three-eighths, but he was handling everything fine. He put in a good run today,” Rosario said. “Turning for home when we started moving, I got lucky and got out in front of them. Chad's horse was outside me and it looked like every time I asked him [City Man] to do something, he was moving forward.”

Three of City Man's five stakes wins have taken place against open company, including his 2022 debut in the Danger's Hour on April 9 at Aqueduct as well as the 2020 Gio Ponti at Aqueduct.

“He's a good New York-bred, but he's also a good horse. He won the open stakes at Aqueduct in April, so let's enjoy this and see what's next,” Clement said.

Bred in the Empire State by Moonstar Farm, City Man is out of the City Zip mare City Scamper and was bought for $185,000 out of the Off The Hook consignment at the 2019 OBS April Sale.

Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga Race Course with an 11-race card, featuring the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana in Race 8 and the Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford in Race 10. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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