Churchill Downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Kentucky Derby Museum Launches New African Americans In Thoroughbred Racing Tour

The Kentucky Derby Museum is thrilled to amplify in a new way the stories of Black horsemen, who not only dominated the sport of Thoroughbred racing in the early days of the Kentucky Derby but continue to make a lasting mark on its legacy. Oliver Lewis. Isaac Murphy. Ansel Williamson. These are just a handful of legendary names that guests will learn about during two new immersive opportunities at Kentucky Derby Museum.

On the new African Americans in Racing Tour, made possible with support from Churchill Downs and the James Graham Brown Foundation, guests will walk through Churchill Downs Racetrack while making historically significant stops along the way on this 90 minute experience. Through history, including the Jim Crow era that led to the exclusion of Black jockeys from the sport, and to modern times, guests will learn about the profound impact African Americans have made on horse racing from the very beginning. Visitors will hear incredible stories of how 13 of the 15 horses in the first-ever Kentucky Derby were ridden by Black jockeys, and 15 of the first 28 Derby winners were ridden by Black jockeys. This tour is now available Saturdays at 1 p.m. and is $15 per person.

Secondly, the Museum is launching the “Proud of My Calling” experience, a monthly, 60-minute immersive program where visitors are introduced to incredible Black horsemen through costumed actors, historic paintings, photos and objects from the past. Meet greats like Oliver Lewis, Isaac Murphy and Ansel Williamson. Lewis, a Black jockey, rode Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. Williamson, born enslaved, became a successful trainer, nabbing wins with horses including Aristides in that inaugural Derby. Murphy, also born enslaved, is considered one of the greatest jockeys of all time, winning three Kentucky Derbys and an estimated 44% of his races. This experience is offered monthly and is $20 per person, starting March 27.

These two exciting new opportunities are part of Louisville Tourism's Unfiltered Truth Collection, which features several local attractions highlighting African American contributions to the city and culture.

In line with the Museum's non-profit mission to engage, educate and excite everyone about the extraordinary experience that is the Kentucky Derby, the Museum has been sharing the important role African Americans have had on the Derby for decades. Since 1993, African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing, a permanent exhibit, has chronicled the impact African Americans have had on the Thoroughbred industry and the Kentucky Derby, and features some of the most significant artifacts in the Museum's collection.
Additionally, the Museum's Education Team teaches thousands of students each year about this important history through field trips and in-school teaching.

Coming in Spring 2021, Kentucky Derby Museum is redesigning and moving its African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing exhibit to a larger and more prominent location within the Museum, as well as expanding the footprint of the exhibit. This will allow the Museum to display more of its collection, add new components, and provide visitors the best experience possible. This exhibit will also feature oral history interviews conducted with Louisville's African American community. This expansion is also made possible through support from Churchill Downs and the James Graham Brown Foundation.

Additionally, a traveling African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing exhibit will be created to travel to museums, community centers, visitor centers and churches.

Jockey Oliver Lewis

Jimmy Winkfield aboard Alan A Dale

The post Kentucky Derby Museum Launches New African Americans In Thoroughbred Racing Tour appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Decision to Close HHR has brought Urgency to the Forefront

Two days after Keeneland Association and Red Mile announced they would be shutting their joint historical horse racing (HHR) venture at the Lexington harness racino while imploring the Kentucky legislature to provide “more clarity” regarding the disputed legal status of HHR, Vince Gabbert, Keeneland's vice president and chief operating officer, was called upon during the Jan. 26 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) teleconference to explain why that decision was made in the absence of any formal order from state officials to cease HHR, which is ongoing at other licensed locations despite an apparent dead-end to the case in the courts.

“We did, as you can imagine, some significant research and going back and forth to ensure that we were making the right decision as it relates to our joint entities between us and Red Mile,” Gabbard said. “I will tell you that we feel like we took a very conservative approach.

“But I think in every way possible we've seen the measures that we took over the weekend have helped bring the urgency even more to the forefront than what we had so that the legislature understands the impact that not only racing, but HHR has on the economy in the commonwealth,” Gabbert continued. “And hopefully, we will see a legislative remedy in the next couple of weeks.”

The KTDF, which is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and HHR gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting, has had a rough go of trying to supplement purses at Kentucky's five Thoroughbred racetracks over the past year.

The COVID-19 pandemic first wreaked havoc with Kentucky's ability to generate purses derived from gaming revenue last March, and the effects are still causing major ripples because of spectator-free race meets and capacity limitations at gaming facilities.

Then last week, on Jan. 21, the Kentucky Supreme Court denied a petition for rehearing its 7-0 Sept. 24 judgment that told a lower court to re-examine the legality of historical horse race (HHR) gaming in the commonwealth.

Although the Supreme Court case only involves HHR machines made by Exacta Systems, whose machines are approved for use at Red Mile, Kentucky Downs and Ellis Park, the gaming systems operate in broadly the same manner throughout Kentucky, meaning that a precedent established for one version is likely to affect all forms of HHR gaming.

The racing industry's urgent focus is now on Kentucky lawmakers to legalize HHR, but roadblocks loom in the form of conservative resistance to the expansion of gambling in the state and the fact that the legislature only meets for 30 days in odd-numbered years, with the 2021 session scheduled to end Mar. 30.

The articulation of Keeneland's position and the political leverage it could possibly generate came several hours after a dire Tuesday morning announcement by Ellis Park that its racino could go out of business without the legalization of HHR.

“Without the revenue associated with HHR, there is no realistic path forward for Ellis Park,” Ellis general manager Jeffery Inman said in a statement released to Kentucky's Eyewitness News. “Were we to rely only on racing and simulcast revenue, we could not even keep this 99-year-old facility maintained, let alone provide the financial investment necessary to prepare for and conduct a world-class live race meet. Without HHR support, purses would drop dramatically, resulting in a greatly diminished live racing product. In short, the loss of HHR revenue at Ellis Park would likely threaten the very survival of one of Kentucky's iconic racing venues.”

It's also been nearly four months now since Churchill Downs Inc., (CDI), the gaming corporation that owns the tracks and HHR licenses associated with Churchill Downs Racetrack and Turfway Park, has already halted reconstruction on its demolished Turfway grandstand, vowing not to continue the planned rebuild until HHR's legality gets sorted out.

As Bill Landes III, the chairman of the KTDF advisory committee, glumly put it during Tuesday's meeting, “As if we all don't know, we could use some remediation of HHR.”

But outside of writing letters seeking help to elected and appointed officials in Kentucky (which the KTDF board voted unanimously to do), there were no other concrete ideas proposed to put HHR back on firmer legal footing.

KTDF board member J. David Richardson suggested emphasizing in those letters that “our perspective is a bit unique in that we actually delve into what [HHR revenue] means to Kentucky racing, probably more deeply than virtually any group, I think.”

Richardson said it was important “to let people know that the stewardship of these monies are very closely monitored by this committee and by our staff and are really appropriately used.

“This isn't 'funny money,'” Richardson summed up. “I think it's important to reiterate every now and then how closely we follow every dime.”

To that end, the KTDF voted unanimously to forward approval recommendations to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for $2,061,900 in KTDF funds for Keeneland's spring meet and a range of $4.3 to $4.9 million for the Churchill Downs meet that spans April-June.

Gabbert said that Keeneland's “goal, from an overall purse standpoint, would be to be on par with where we were in spring of 2019.” He did not cite specific dollar amounts.

Ben Huffman, who serves in the dual capacities of racing secretary at Keeneland and the director of racing at Churchill, said that for Keeneland, “I'm kind of putting on the finishing touches of the condition book; actually may go to the printer with it in about 10 days or so. But the maiden special weights will be $79,000. And the 'non-winners of two' allowance race will be $81,000 at Keeneland this spring.”

As for Churchill's levels, Huffman said, “we haven't even met here collectively about spring purses yet,” but that he expects those figures to be available by mid-February.

The post Decision to Close HHR has brought Urgency to the Forefront appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

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.

Source of original post

Backside Learning Center Bourbon Raffle to Fund COVID Efforts

The Backside Learning Center (BLC) will be hosting a Bourbon Bonanza Raffle on February 11. All proceeds will help fund efforts toward COVID-19 vaccine education, access and promotion for backside workers and their families at Churchill Downs.

The drawing will take place at 4 p.m. on February 11 and the deadline for entry is February 10 at 10:59 p.m. Participants will enter to win one of two, eight-bottle baskets with values ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

The first basket, called Cupid's Collection, features Pappy Van Winkle 12-year-old Lot B, Kentucky Par, Blanton's and more. The second basket, the Valentine's Bundle, includes three variations of Wild Turkey, two types of Basil Hayden, 10-year-old Kentucky Owl Rye Whiskey and more.

Tickets are $50 for one chance to win or $200 for five chances.

Baskets will be delivered for winners within the Louisville city limits. All other winners will need to arrange pickup.

“Proceeds from the Bourbon Bonanza will help fund our extensive efforts towards COVID-19 vaccine education, access and promotion for backside workers and their families,” said the BLC's Executive Director Sherry Stanley. “It is very important to us that our clients can make informed decisions that affect the health of their families and the entire community. The BLC is a trusted source of information and support, therefore it is vital that we are well-informed and presenting up-to-the-minute information in order to protect the well-being of the entire equine community of workers and families.”

The Backside Learning Center is a non-profit organization that works to promote community and enrich the lives of equine workers and their families at Churchill Downs. Since the onset of the pandemic, the BLC has provided emergency food relief, created a digital inclusion project to overcome the challenges of virtual learning, provided computers to 20 backside families, offered virtual English classes and more.

To purchase raffle tickets, click here.

To view the event on Facebook, click here.

The post Backside Learning Center Bourbon Raffle to Fund COVID Efforts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post