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Fair Grounds Replaces ‘Jackpot’ Pick 5 With Traditional Early, Late Pick 5 Wagers

When the Fair Grounds' 149th season of racing kicks off Thanksgiving Day at the New Orleans, La. track, a traditional early and late Pick Five will replace the Black Gold Five, a jackpot wager that had been in place for the past several years.

On a regular basis, the early Pick Five will encompass races 1-5, and the late Pick Five will be offered on the final five races of the card. The 50-cent minimum wager will pay 100% of the day's pool plus any carryover coming into the day to those who correctly select 5-of-5 winners. Should no one pick 5-of-5, 25% of the pool will be paid to those who select the most winners, with the remaining 75% of the pool carrying over to the following day's late Pick Five sequence.

In addition to the newly implemented early and late Pick Five, Fair Grounds will also offer an early Pick Four, which will now move to races 2-5, as well as two other Pick Fours later on the card. Rolling Pick Threes and daily doubles remain a staple of the wagering menu.

Fair Grounds will also make a key change to their horizontal wagering platform. Beginning this meet, any race that is taken off the turf after a sequence has started will revert to ALL on any live tickets. This rule only applies to turf races moved to the main track. Any scratch in a race that did not switch surfaces will result in the bettor getting a replacement of the post time favorite.

A complete list of wagering information, special wagers, and with key racing dates for the meet can be found at: https://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-2021-Thoroughbred-Racing-Season-Wagering-Info-FINAL-.pdf

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Fair Grounds Releases 2020-21 Stakes Schedule

Fifty-one stakes worth a combined $7.055 million will be offered during Fair Grounds’s upcoming 76-day 2020-21 Thoroughbred racing season, which is set to begin Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, the track announced Monday.

“We are proud to once again continue our growth and support of the Thoroughbred racing industry with our purse allocations and this diverse and dynamic stakes schedule” said Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots president Doug Shipley. “We look forward to our 149th racing season and the continuation of bringing many of the best horsemen and jockeys from around the world to enjoy the high caliber racing at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.”

The Louisiana Derby Day card Mar. 20 will feature eight stakes worth a total of $2.425 million, including the 108th running of the $1-million GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby for 3-year-olds. The third and final local prep on the Road to the GI Kentucky Derby, the race is worth 100-40-20-10 points to the top four finishers. Run at 1 1/16 miles, the 53rd running of the $400,000 GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks for 3-year-old fillies offers the same number of points en route to the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks.

The other preps at the New Orleans oval for the Derby will take place Jan. 16 with the GIII Lecomte S. and Feb. 13 with the GII Risen Star S. Louisiana Champions Day will be held Dec. 14, featuring 10 stakes restricted to Louisiana-breds. The purse for the opening day Thanksgiving Classic for older male sprinters has been increased $25,000 to $125,000.

The 2020-2021 Fair Grounds racing season runs through Sunday, Mar. 28. Regular post time will be 1 p.m. CT. The exceptions are Louisiana Derby Preview Day (Feb. 13 at noon CT) and Louisiana Derby Day (Mar. 20 at 11 a.m. CT).

The post Fair Grounds Releases 2020-21 Stakes Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Fair Grounds Releases 2020-21 Stakes Schedule Worth $7.055 Million

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots has announced that 51 stakes worth a combined $7.055 million will be offered during the upcoming 76-day 2020-21 Thoroughbred racing season, which is set to begin Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26.

“We are proud to once again continue our growth and support of the Thoroughbred racing industry with our purse allocations and this diverse and dynamic stakes schedule,” said Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots president Doug Shipley. “We look forward to our 149th racing season and the continuation of bringing many of the best horsemen and jockeys from around the world to enjoy the high caliber racing at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.”

The “Louisiana Derby Day” card on March 20 will feature eight stakes worth a total of $2.425 million, including the 108th running of the Grade II $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby for 3-year-olds.

Previously run over nine furlongs on dirt, the distance of Louisiana Derby was extended to 1 3/16ths miles last season. The third and final local prep on the Road to the Grade I $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, the race is worth 100-40-20-10 points to the top four finishers. Run at 1 1/16 miles, the 53rd running of the Grade II $400,000 Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks for 3-year-old fillies offers the same number of points en route to the Grade I $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks.

“Lengthening the distances of all three of our Road to the Derby races proved to be quite popular with the horsemen,” said Fair Grounds racing secretary Scott Jones. “The Lecomte drew 14 entries, the Risen Star had 23 entries and was split into two divisions, and the Louisiana Derby had an overflow field. Our progressive schedule of 3-year-old races for both the boys and girls gives horsemen a great opportunity to develop their horses and compete for excellent purses.”

A pair of nine furlong, high-impact stakes for older horses are also scheduled on the Louisiana Derby Day program – the Grade II $400,000 New Orleans Classic and the Grade II $300,000 Muniz Memorial Stakes, to be run over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course. In addition, four undercard stakes are slated for the lucrative card, including the $100,000 Tom Benson Memorial for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on grass and a trio of Louisiana-bred events – the $75,000 Costa Rising Stakes, a 5½-furlong turf sprint, the $75,000 Crescent City Derby for 3-year-old males at 1 1/16 miles and the $75,000 Crescent City Oaks for females at 1 mile and 70 yards.

On January 16, the “Road to the Derby Kickoff Day presented by Hotel Monteleone” features a pair of key 3-year-old events — the Grade III $200,000 Lecomte Stakes, which was extended from a mile to 1 1/16 miles last season, and the $150,000 Silverbulletday Stakes for fillies at 1 mile and 70 yards. The top four finishers in each race receive 10-4-2-1 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks respectively.

Four stakes for older horses will also be presented on the January 16 program, including the $125,000 Louisiana Stakes, which was elevated to Grade III status and received a $25,000 purse increase, at 1 1/16 miles, the $125,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes at 1 1/16 miles over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf and the $100,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on grass.

On February 13, “Louisiana Derby Preview Day presented by Lamarque Ford-Lincoln” features a pair of key 3-year-old stakes — the Grade II $400,000 Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford-Lincoln, which was extended from 1 1/16 to 1 1/8 miles last season, and the Grade II $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes presented by Fasig-Tipton, for fillies to be contested over 1 1/16 miles. The top four finishers receive 50-20-10-5 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks respectively.

The Rachel Alexandra has produced the last two of the last three Kentucky Oaks winners in Monomoy Girl and Serengeti Empress and 2014 victress Untapable also took down the Run for the Lilies. Our 2020 third place finisher Swiss Skydiver has gone on to win five graded stakes, including the Alabama (G1) in advance of a runner-up finish in in the Oaks, and the Preakness (G1) against the boys. With such a stellar history of recent participants, Fair Grounds remains hopeful the Rachel Alexandra will soon achieve Grade I status is deserves.

Four stakes for older horses will also be presented on the February 13 program — the Grade III $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, the Grade III $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes for at nine furlongs on turf, the $100,000 Colonel Power Stakes at 5½ furlongs on turf and the $100,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

The December 19 “Santa Super Saturday presented by Coca-Cola” card offers a six-pack of $75,000 stakes. Four of the races are for older horses — the Tenacious Stakes at 1 1/16ths miles, the Richard R. Scherer Memorial Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs on turf, the Blushing K.D. for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the Buddy Diliberto Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The other two are six furlong events for juveniles – the Sugar Bowl Stakes for the boys and the Letellier Memorial Stakes for the girls.

Louisiana Champions Day presented by Acadian Ambulance will be held on December 14. With the races run over various divisions and distances on both dirt and turf, the program features ten stakes restricted to Louisiana-breds. Each Louisiana Champions Day stakes is worth $100,000 with the exception of the Louisiana Champions Day Classic, which carries a $150,000 purse.

The purse for the opening day Thanksgiving Classic for older male sprinters has been increased $25,000 to $125,000. The $60,000 Shantel Lanerie, to be run on March 21, has been repurposed as a route race for older Louisiana-bred fillies and mares.

The 76-day, 2020-2021 Fair Grounds racing season runs through Sunday, March 28. Regular post time will be 1 p.m. CT. The exceptions are Louisiana Derby Preview Day (February 13 at noon CT) and Louisiana Derby Day (March 20 at 11 a.m. CT).

Condition Book #1 – https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=CB-FG-20201126-20201213D

Pocket Calendar & Stakes Schedule – https://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-2021-THOROUGHBRED-RACING-AND-STAKES-CALENDAR.pdf

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Churchill To Pay Record Civil Penalty Of $2.79 Million For Clean Water Act Violations At Fair Grounds

On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with the Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company LLC, d/b/a Fair Grounds Corporation (Fair Grounds) that will resolve years of Clean Water Act (CWA) violations at its New Orleans racetrack.

Under the settlement, Fair Grounds will eliminate unauthorized discharges of manure, urine and process wastewater through operational changes and construction projects at an estimated cost of $5,600,000.

The company also will pay a civil penalty of $2,790,000, the largest ever paid by a concentrated animal feeding operation in a CWA matter.

Overview of Company

Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC, d/b/a Fair Grounds Corporation (Fair Grounds) is a horse racing facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The facility is one of Louisiana's oldest commercial horse racetracks and is located in an area surrounded by residential neighborhoods. The facility is a large concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) because it stables or confines more than 500 horses for at least 45 days a year. During a typical horse racing season, Fair Grounds stables as many as 1,800 horses or more at one time. The facility includes a 38.8-acre production area that includes stables, horse stall barns and receiving barns, horse wash racks, horse walkways, horse walkers, manure storage areas, and storage areas for raw materials. The facility also includes a one-mile dirt racetrack and a 7/8-mile turf racetrack, the infield area, the grandstand, the casino, and associated parking areas.

Fair Grounds was purchased by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) in 2004. CDI is a Kentucky entity that operates a number of racetracks, casinos, and other gaming and entertainment entities in eleven states.

Violations

The United States' complaint alleges that Fair Grounds violated the Clean Water Act (CWA), including the terms and conditions of its Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (LPDES) permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the CWA. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, since at least 2012, Fair Grounds has regularly discharged untreated process wastewater into the New Orleans municipal separate storm sewer system (including the London Avenue Canal that is used for fishing), which then leads to Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River, and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico. Fair Grounds is permitted to discharge into the storm sewer system in significant rain events (i.e., when 10 inches of rain falls in 24 hours). However, unauthorized discharges have occurred during rain events as small as a half-inch of rain falling over 24 hours, as well as in dry weather, and would have continued to occur without this settlement. The complaint alleges that unauthorized discharges of horse wash water and other contaminated wastewater occurred more than 250 times between 2012 and 2018. The untreated process wastewater from the facility contains manure, urine, horse wash water, and other biological materials that are “pollutants” as defined by the CWA, the facility's permit, and the applicable EPA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) regulations.

The complaint also alleges that Fair Grounds violated several other permit conditions, such as failure to comply with its Nutrient Management Plan, failure to submit discharge monitoring reports on time, failure to report discharges in annual reports, and failure to include all appropriate monitoring and reporting data for fecal coliform in quarterly reports.

In addition, this case is part of EPA's National Compliance Initiative for Reducing Significant Noncompliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits.

Injunctive Relief

As part of the settlement, Fair Grounds will implement best management practices and construction projects designed to eliminate unauthorized discharges and ensure compliance with its permit and the CWA. Fair Grounds will also perform site-specific sampling, monitoring and hydraulic modeling to help the company and EPA determine whether the remedial actions required by the consent decree are successful in eliminating unauthorized discharges. Furthermore, the proposed consent decree includes a provision requiring Fair Grounds to implement additional remedial measures if these measures do not successfully eliminate unauthorized discharges.

Pollutant Impacts

Pollutants associated with the discharges from this facility include nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), pathogens (bacteria), and organic enrichment (low dissolved oxygen), all of which contribute to water quality impairment in U.S. waters. Other potential environmental and human health risks include transmission of disease-causing bacteria and parasites associated with food and waterborne diseases, fish advisories, and algal blooms.

Health Effects and Environmental Benefits

The objective of the proposed CD is to eliminate the discharge of process wastewater to the New Orleans municipal separate storm sewer system, which ultimately leads to Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. As a result of the settlement, Fair Grounds' unauthorized discharges will no longer enter nearby waters, thereby benefitting the New Orleans' residents and the surrounding communities.

Civil Penalty

Fair Grounds will be required to pay a civil penalty of $2,790,000 within 30 days of the effective date of the CD.

Comment Period

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting a comment is available at the Department of Justice.

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