covid-19 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Queen’s Plate Scheduled for Aug. 22

The 162nd running of the $1-million Queen’s Plate, the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, will be held Sunday, Aug. 22 at Woodbine, Woodbine Entertainment announced Tuesday. Contested annually to showcase Canada’s finest 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, The Queen’s Plate is one of the country’s premier sporting events and North America’s oldest continuously run stakes horse race.

Held at the end of June in past years, The Queen’s Plate was moved to late summer in 2020 and run Sept. 12 without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One-eyed champion Mighty Heart (Dramedy) scored a dominant victory in the race, which produced the third highest wagering handle in its history.

“While it is clear the impact of COVID-19 will continue to be felt into the new year, we are optimistic that this timing for The Queen’s Plate could give us the best opportunity to welcome guests back at Woodbine Racetrack for the most exciting event on the Canadian horse racing calendar,” said Jim Lawson, President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. “We look forward to the 2021 racing season and the opportunity to restore The Queen’s Plate as one of the top social events in Toronto.”

Details regarding attendance and ticket sales will be announced in the coming months, along with Woodbine’s full Thoroughbred stakes schedule for the 2021 meet, which is expected to begin Saturday, Apr. 17.

The post Queen’s Plate Scheduled for Aug. 22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Derby Museum Offering Free Virtual Field Trip To 40 Classrooms Around The Country

With the stress of distance learning wearing on teachers and students in Kentuckiana and across the country, Kentucky Derby Museum is thrilled to give 40 teachers and their classrooms a free virtual field trip.

It is tradition for schools across Kentucky and Southern Indiana to visit the Kentucky Derby Museum for an annual field trip to explore the grounds of world-famous Churchill Downs, interact with two floors of Museum exhibits, and participate in educational programming. Now, the Museum is expanding its passion of teaching students about the history of the world's greatest horse race to classrooms across the country!

Forty teachers will receive a free virtual field trip which includes:
-Kentucky Derby related education program of his or her choice
-Churchill Downs All-Access Student Tour
-Kentucky Derby Museum Exhibits Tour
-Question and Answer Session

In a typical year, the Museum sees over 15,000 students a year on field trips. Due to the pandemic, the Museum's Education Team has not been able to conduct its highly sought after in-person field trips and has missed interacting with students inside the Museum and on tours at Churchill Downs. Virtual field trips have been an excellent way for the Education Team to connect with students and teach about the rich history of the Kentucky Derby.

To enter, teachers need to fill out this form online. Kentucky Derby Museum will choose at random, 20 local teachers from the Kentucky and Southern Indiana area, and 20 teachers from across the country.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization feeling the economic effects of the pandemic, this giveaway has been made possible through generous donors of the city-wide Give for Good Louisville campaign this past fall, benefitting a number of local non-profit organizations.

Why study the Kentucky Derby?
The Kentucky Derby is important to study as the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States. It is a cultural event, drawing over 160,000 people around the world with tens of millions of people watching on television. It is Kentucky's signature event, replete with traditions, legends and icons. It is a major economic event, with a $217 million impact on the region. The Museum's Education Team also helps students understand the roles of everyone involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing, including the horse, jockey, trainer, veterinarians, and grooms. The Education Team also teaches about the diversity involved in the Kentucky Derby's history, from female owners, trainers and jockeys to the African American jockeys who dominated the early days of the sport, and the Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern populations who also contribute greatly to the Derby story. The Education Team's work is made possible by generous donors and with support from University of Louisville, Equine Industry Program and Godolphin KIDS. All Museum educational programs are tailored to meet Core Academic Standards.

Sneak Peeks of our Virtual Field Trip offerings and Museum b-roll can be found here.

The post Derby Museum Offering Free Virtual Field Trip To 40 Classrooms Around The Country appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Thoroughbred Owner Conference To Be Offered As Free Series Of Virtual Panels Over Nine Months

OwnerView announced today that the 2021 Thoroughbred Owner Conference will be held as a free series of virtual panels over nine months. The conference series, hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Dean Dorton, and Stoll Keenon Ogden, will be held on the first Tuesday of each month starting March 2.

“This new format for 2021 enables us to offer informative, educational and enjoyable panels on Thoroughbred ownership to anyone interested from the convenience of wherever they happen to be,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. “Each month's conference will cover a topic that is relevant to Thoroughbred ownership and, when possible, coincides with what is happening in the Thoroughbred industry at that time of year.”

The first panel of the series, sponsored by Keeneland, will be held Tuesday, March 2, and will cover the economics of racehorse ownership. Panelists are George Bolton, owner; Maggi Moss, owner; Sarah Reeves, attorney and member, Stoll Keenon Ogden; and Jen Shah, tax director, Dean Dorton. The panel will be moderated by Mike Penna of Horse Racing Radio Network.

“The economics of owning racehorses is one of the most essential aspects of ownership for new and even veteran owners, so we picked it as our first topic of the series,” Falter said. “Other topics are finding your Thoroughbred athlete, partnerships and syndicates, claiming Thoroughbreds, and five additional ownership topics.”

Each conference panel will be streamed live, and attendees will be able to ask questions during the discussion via typed messages that will be addressed at the end of each panel. Replays of the conference series panels will also be available at a later date.

“For the best experience and the option of asking questions in real time, we recommend registering for the series and watching live,” Falter said. “We will offer replays, but it will not be the same, interactive experience.”

There is no registration fee for the live or recorded virtual conference series, but registration is required. For more information about the owner conference series, including the schedule of panels and registration, please visit ownerview.com/event/conference or contact Gary Falter at gfalter@jockeyclub.com.

OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on aspects of ownership such as trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing.

The need for a central resource to encourage Thoroughbred ownership was identified in the comprehensive economic study of the sport that was commissioned by The Jockey Club and conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2011. The OwnerView site was launched in May 2012.

The post Thoroughbred Owner Conference To Be Offered As Free Series Of Virtual Panels Over Nine Months appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Renovations Ahead For Oklahoma Training Track, Patron Area At Saratoga

The Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga could be getting a much-needed rework this year, according to reports presented by NYRA officials at a meeting of the Franchise Oversight Board on Monday. The board gave its approval to NYRA's budget for 2021 and anticipated maintenance projects, including the updating of the Oklahoma.

According to NYRA, the training track hasn't had significant work done on it since the 1960s. Investigation by the association after the close of training in 2020 found there were spots in the track's sand base that were inconsistent. The horsemen voiced approval for a plan to take up the entire track cushion and replace the base with a limestone material similar to that on the main track. The railing will also be replaced with a safety rail and the track will be widened 10 to 12 feet through the stretch and backstretch. Officials also hope to improve the pitch and elevations throughout the track surface. In one spot there's as much as a three foot difference between the 3/4 pole and 7/8 pole, which was put in to direct water drainage. One challenge to this process will likely be the pine trees that border the backstretch, as their proximity and root systems could make them barriers to the update process. The association is in touch with a landscape architect to determine the best resolution.

Saratoga could also see an upgrade to the popular Post Bar, next to the walking ring and the Shake Shack. The area, which is currently covered by a tent, could be replaced by a two-story structure with a permanent enclosed structure ideal for group sales. A deck on top of the structure would offer a unique view of the paddock, and NYRA officials said they're hopeful the removal of the tent could improve visibility/available space to some general admission patrons.

Monday's meeting also included a financial report from NYRA, highlighted by improved figures for its NYRA Bets platform in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift from in-person wagering to online only created an increase in activity for all ADW companies and NYRA CEO/president David O'Rourke estimated NYRA Bets is “about in the middle of the pack in terms of growth, which is good.”

O'Rourke guessed that about 60 percent of new wagering activity to the NYRA Bets platform was coming from existing customers who just didn't have an account before. The remainder however, he attributes to casual sports fans who had not previously spent much wagering on horse racing but began doing so while racing had extra coverage from FOX Sports and NBC in the spring and summer when other sports were halted. He also said those customers seem to have stuck around from summer to the Breeders' Cup, when other live sports had resumed.

For 2021, NYRA does not anticipate having fans on-site through at least spring and made its budgets based on a 25% attendance reduction for the Belmont Stakes and a 12% reduction at Saratoga to allow for social distancing.

Based on the increased activity from NYRA Bets, the association predicts an increase of $1.1 million in net income for 2021 over its 2019 net income. A reduction in operating expenses, both from not having fans on-site as well as corporate restructuring is the other factor in the predicted increase.

The post Renovations Ahead For Oklahoma Training Track, Patron Area At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post