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EQUITANA USA’s 2020 Exhibition Canceled Due To COVID-19

Due to increased concern over public safety resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, EQUITANA USA's live three-day celebration of the horse is canceled for 2020. The world's largest equestrian trade fair and expo was originally scheduled for Sept. 25-27, at the Kentucky Horse Park. The event and its exhibitors, fans and performers will look forward to the 2021 event, slated for Oct. 1-3, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

“EQUITANA USA is a shared place and time for all disciplines, breeds, ages and levels of the equine industry,” said Meghan Margewicz, the event's director. “But the safety of everyone associated with the event is always our first priority. After many discussions with the Kentucky Horse Park, exhibitors, presenters and attendees, we made a difficult, but necessary decision to cancel this year's celebration and work to create an amazing reunion for everyone in 2021.”

All EQUITANA USA 2020 ticket holders will be refunded electronically. No further action by ticket holders is required.

EQUITANA USA invites equestrian professionals, enthusiasts, and everyone interested in learning more to follow its social channels and e-newsletters for updates on the live 2021 event, a virtual celebration kicking off this September, and a year-round celebration of our community through digital education, entertainment and conversation.

Exhibitors interested in the 2021 event, virtual celebration, or year-round promotional opportunities can learn more here or by contacting Kaitlyn Fritz at kfritz@reedexpo.com.

About EQUITANA USA & Reed Exhibitions: EQUITANA USA is a three-day celebration of the horse that invites equestrian professionals and enthusiasts of all riding levels and ages, disciplines and breeds to gather for education, entertainment, instruction and shopping. Reed Exhibitions, producer of EQUITANA USA is a leading global events business. It combines face-to-face with data and digital tools to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 500 events in almost 30 countries across 43 industry sectors, attracting more than 7 million participants. Reed Exhibitions is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.

The post EQUITANA USA’s 2020 Exhibition Canceled Due To COVID-19 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Turf Paradise Facing Uncertain 2020-2021 Meet

Ongoing tensions between the management of Turf Paradise and Arizona-based horsemen is placing the upcoming 2020-2021 meet under a cloud of uncertainty. Last week, Turf Paradise released a press release detailing plans to push back its opening day from Oct. 17 to Friday, Nov. 27. The revised dates meant an overall reduction in live race days from 133 to 110.

“We are working with AZHBPA [Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association] president Bob Hutton as to a date when the horses can begin to arrive in the stable area,” said track general manager Vincent Francia, in the release.

According to Hutton, his organization emailed last Thursday the operators of Turf Paradise a list of 17 questions and concerns surrounding such issues as the multi-year agreement that the HPBA entered into with Turf Paradise, stable area renovations, and contingency plans in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 infections this winter, including a promise not to close the track prior to the end of the scheduled meet.

When Turf Paradise suddenly closed its doors earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, track management gave the horsemen days to vacate the premises–a move the facility later shied away from.

The response to the 17 emailed questions, however, failed to allay the Arizona horsemen’s concerns, said Hutton. As such, he said that he advised trainers “to make up their own mind” about whether to stable and race at Turf Paradise when the facility opens its doors once again.

“But my recommendation would be to, based on the track not being able to guarantee that they’ll run the entire meet, then you’ll probably need to make other plans,” said Hutton, who added that he’ll be sending his horses to alternate tracks this winter.

TDN attempted to reach Francia by email and by phone Tuesday, but did not receive a response before publication.

These developments form just the latest chapter in a protracted stand-off between the horsemen and Turf Paradise management. Earlier in the year, a simulcasting dispute led The Stronach Group’s Monarch to pull its signal from the state, dealing a sizeable blow to the industry’s coffers.

The crux of the issue surrounded Arizona Downs, one of three tracks in the state. When Arizona Downs reopened for live racing in 2019, Monarch sent its signal to the track itself but not to the track’s network of off-track betting sites (OTBs). In contrast, Monarch distributed its signal to Turf Paradise and its network of some 60 OTBs.

Near the start of March, the HBPA voted to withdraw the Turf Paradise signal from all Stronach Group affiliates. Before that could happen, however, the track was closed due to the onset of the global pandemic.

When Turf Paradise closed its doors at the beginning of May, track management sent the Arizona HBPA a letter giving the organization 30 days to “remove its belongings” from its Turf Paradise office and to “remove the trailer [medical trailer] from Turf Paradise property.” Ordinarily, all HBPA equipment would have remained at the facility during the summer, said Hutton.

According to Hutton, Turf Paradise failed to answer HBPA concerns about whether the organization would be permitted office space at the track during the upcoming meet.

The two parties appear to agree on some things, however. Turf Paradise’s proposed Nov. 27 starting date, detailed in last week’s press release, would have jeopardized the various sales stakes and Arizona bred races that typically occur at the end of October and the beginning of November, said Hutton.

But Turf Paradise agreed to a compromise, said Hutton–a Nov. 1 stating date for the meet. “That would be the only thing we agree upon,” he said.

The next Arizona Racing Commission meeting is slated for Aug. 13.

The post Turf Paradise Facing Uncertain 2020-2021 Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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MSW Purses: $97K Derby Week, $75K Rest of Churchill Meet; $70K at Keeneland

Projected autumn purse levels for maiden special weight races on the Kentucky circuit were revealed during a video meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee on Tuesday.

Ben Huffman, director of racing at Churchill Downs, said, “We’re going to have two [MSW] purses. We’re going to supercharge [GI Kentucky] Derby week, like we’ve been doing. And that maiden purse Derby week is going to be $97,000. The remaining nine days are going to be $75,000.”

Churchill had closed out its spring/summer season at the $79,000 level for MSW races.

The MSW races for the 17-day Keeneland Race Course meet will be $70,000, the same level as the July mini-meet.

Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing, said that his track will “basically give away the same amount of money this fall as we did last fall” in terms of overall purses.

“As we sit today, there will be limited participation of owners or fans on-track, so at this hour we are not projecting significant daily earnings from on-track wagers. We hope that changes,” Elliston added.

Both tracks had their requests approved unanimously for KTDF funding, which means a recommendation from the advisory committee to release that money will be forwarded to the full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission board for final voting at its next meeting.

Kentucky Downs MSW purse levels were not discussed on Tuesday because the track had already requested funding for its September season back in June. At that time, a track official said the MSW level projected to be $90,000.

The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race (HHR) gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down racing, the KTDF was not able to generate revenue via (HHR) gaming and on-track wagering between March and June. It has since been able to recoup some funding with the limited reopening of HHR.

“To give you a sense of how fragile this is…had the governor not taken the act that he did to permit historical racing to comeback online, for us it may be $200,000 to $300,000 a month in KTDF funds that wouldn’t be earned. So God forbid if we have a continuation of a problem or an escalation of a problem where we had to rescind the activity. It could really encroach upon the numbers that we had,” Elliston said.

Bill Landes III, the chairman of the fund’s advisory committee, who represents the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (KTOB), echoed that sentiment. “Our situation, as everybody knows, is in flux,” he said.

The post MSW Purses: $97K Derby Week, $75K Rest of Churchill Meet; $70K at Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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