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Ron Walker Named Jockey Club Steward at Finger Lakes

Ron Walker has been named The Jockey Club steward for Finger Lakes Racetrack and will take the place of Samantha Randazzo, who was appointed as The Jockey Club steward for The New York Racing Association tracks. Walker has been involved with horse racing since 1981 and has been an owner, breeder, trainer, and racing official. Prior to becoming steward at Finger Lakes, he was the state steward for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, spent nine years as the presiding steward for the New Mexico Racing Commission and also worked as a steward at Mahoning Valley Race Course and at Calder. He is Racing Officials Accreditation Program certified.

“Ron's many years of experience in the racing industry make him an excellent candidate to fill the role of steward at Finger Lakes,” said Stuart S. Janney III, chairman of The Jockey Club.

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Illinois Racing Board Member Criticizes Churchill For ‘Shortsighted,’ ‘Self-Defeating’ Decision To Sell Arlington

One member of the Illinois Racing Board, author and journalist Alan Henry, had a lot to say about Churchill Downs Inc.'s decision to put Arlington Park up for sale at the monthly board meeting. According to the Chicago Daily-Herald, Henry called CDI's refusal to sell the property to another racing entity “a shortsighted and self-defeating posture” that would irreparably tarnish the company's brand.

“While CDI's stock is currently riding high, the corporate graveyard is full of companies whose leaders lost sight of their brand and in doing so lost the loyalty of their customers,” Henry said. “In the long run, the company that trumpets its bond to horse racing and wants to keep the brand in good standing across all its platforms has to respect current horseplayers and keep attracting new ones. To do that, you've got to honor the horse and the horsemen and mean it, and that starts by keeping tracks open, not closing them down.”

Henry referenced CDI's shut downs of California's Hollywood Park and Florida's Calder Race Course, adding that CDI now sees Arlington as “disposable” in an effort to protect the nearby CDI-owned Rivers Casino.

CDI announced the sale of Arlington on Feb. 23, 2021, indicating that it would host live racing at the Illinois track through the 2021 season, which is scheduled to end on Sept. 25.

Read more at the Chicago Daily-Herald.

The post Illinois Racing Board Member Criticizes Churchill For ‘Shortsighted,’ ‘Self-Defeating’ Decision To Sell Arlington appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Report: Gulfstream Considers Adding Tapeta Course To Offset Turf Use

The Stronach Group's COO Aidan Butler told the Thoroughbred Daily News this week that Gulfstream Park may become the first track in North America to have three surfaces, adding a Tapeta surface to its standing dirt and turf courses.

The addition of a synthetic track would offset the use of Gulfstream's turf course, Butler explained, which now faces an increasing work load in 2021 after the closure of Calder. Running Calder as Gulfstream Park West for two months out of the year, Gulfstream officials had been able to give the primary turf course a rest.

Mike Lakow and Bill Badgett were the initial forces behind the idea to install a Tapeta course.

“This was Billy and Mike's idea, that we maybe could get a Tapeta track in there as part of the turf course,” Butler told the TDN. “You would then have the perfect three surfaces. That would rest up the turf a little bit. And should the weather change, it would give you a lot of options to keep turf races together. Also, from a safety standpoint, it would be nice to have more than one surface for training in the mornings.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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