Richest Race Ever Run at Gowran Park Headlines New Spring Series

A new Spring Series of median sires races has been added to the Irish Flat racing calendar for 2024 and beyond in what is a significant boost to the three-year-old programme for middle-distance horses. In an announcement made by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), the Irish European Breeders' Fund (Irish EBF) and Gowran Park Racecourse on Monday, the Spring Series will conclude with the €200,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Gowran Classic–the richest race ever held at Gowran Park–on Bank Holiday Monday, June 3.

Three-year-olds with a median price of no more than €75,000 will be able to take part in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Gowran Classic, with entries for the race, run over nine and a half furlongs, set to close on Wednesday, March 13. The winner will receive an automatic free entry into the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday, June 30. This applies to both colts and fillies.

Six races, each worth at least €25,000, make up the series which offers total prize-money of €330,000. The Curragh, Navan and Cork will host four maiden races between them–two for fillies only–and each of these races will be restricted to three-year-olds whose sires achieved a median price of not more than €50,000 in 2022.

A median price of €75,000 will apply to runners in the €30,000 Irish Stallions Farms EBF 3yo Spring Series Race held at Roscommon on Monday, May 13. The same median price restriction will apply to runners in the €200,000 series finale.

There will be free entry, sponsored by Irish Stallion Farms, for all racegoers at Gowran Park on Bank Holiday Monday, June 3 and the racecourse's manager, Eddie Scally, said, “Gowran Park are really excited to host the inaugural €200,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Gowran Classic, the region's richest Flat race.

“This race will form part of an action-packed day both on and off the track this June Bank Holiday Monday with live music and a massive family fun day. We hope the Gowran Classic will attract all the top trainers and riders from both Ireland and abroad and see for themselves the warm Kilkenny welcome.”

Joe Foley, chairman of the Irish EBF, added, “Irish Stallion Farms already sponsor two successful series for two-year-olds, the auction and median series with 27 races in each and a combined value of nearly €850,000.

“We felt it important to develop a similar series for later developing middle-distance three-year-olds; hence the Spring Series was initiated with the valuable €200,000 race at Gowran as its centrepiece. We look forward to seeing this three-year-old series grow and develop and are delighted to support Gowran Park racecourse in particular, who are investing heavily in their facilities.”

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Blacker Handed Three-Month Suspension, $15,000 Fine

The Santa Anita stewards on Sunday issued trainer Dan Blacker a 90-day suspension and a $15,000 fine for 527 separate incidents of failing to undertake the necessary pre-workout veterinary examination reporting process for horses in his care.

The three-month suspension is scheduled to run from Feb. 26, 2024, to May 25, 2024. During that time, Blacker will be denied access to all licensed premises in California.

Last October, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) charged Blacker with failing to comply with regulations requiring that a horse undergoes a veterinary exam within 72 hours of a workout and that the work is entered into a CHRB database. The 527 incidents occurred over a period of a year and a half.

In a statement last October, Blacker took “full responsibility” for the rules violations.

The issue came to light when an unraced Blacker-trainee named Animae (Speightstown) suffered a fatal injury after a July 1 workout at Santa Anita.

The CHRB investigated and found that no pre-workout report on Animae had been filed within three days of the work and that veterinary reports were also not filed for two of three of the filly's workouts prior to the July 1 work.

“During a horse-fatality investigation for the horse Animae, it was found the horse did not have an examination by his attending veterinarian entered into EquiTAPS database during the 72 hours immediately preceding an official workout,” the CHRB complaint read. “Three out of the four official workouts listed for Animae did not have a veterinarian exam listed, including the official workout when the horse suffered the fatality.”

As part of a subsequent broader investigation, the CHRB discovered that from Jan. 1, 2022–when the rule requiring horses to undergo a vet's inspection prior to a workout went into effect–to July 1, 2023, Blacker-trained horses worked 789 times, but veterinary reports were not filed for 527 of those workouts.

In his October statement posted on social media, Blacker wrote that he had always been careful to make sure his horses were properly examined before working.

“I want to make it clear that I am in contact with my veterinary team daily,” Blacker wrote. “We jog up every horse, every day before they go to the track. The horses in training are thoroughly evaluated by myself, my team and my veterinarian on a daily basis.”

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