Tag: Horse racing news

Protesters March Outside Churchill Downs, Demand Justice For Breonna Taylor

Planned racial injustice protests took a crowd of demonstrators past the gates at the frontside of Churchill Downs on Tuesday. The afternoon's demonstrations resulted in 64 arrests for charges of obstructing the roadway and disorderly conduct, acting Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder told whas11.com. The protests were scheduled by national organization Until Freedom at the end of a four-day conference dedicated to the pursuit of justice in the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was killed by Louisville police in March of this year.

One of Until Freedom's co-founders, Linda Sarsour, was among those arrested.

Protesters met around 2:00 p.m. at South Central Park, then marched to the Louisville Metro Police Department Training Academy where they changed letters on the marquee to read “I see murderers.” From there, the protesters marched toward Churchill Downs, crossing the bridge on Central Avenue near Cardinal Stadium.

Arrests were made when protesters blocked the street, and Until Freedom march coordinators urged those who didn't wish to be arrested to stick to the sidewalks. Those protesters arriving at the frontside of Churchill Downs chanted “F*ck your Derby,” and hung a sign with Breonna Taylor's name on it near the front gate.

Calls from Louisville's Black community to boycott the race reach as far back as mid-July, but they have gotten louder as the Sept. 5 race gets closer.

The Justice and Freedom Coalition is one of four groups now calling for a boycott of the Kentucky Derby – joined by No Justice No Peace Louisville, the Louisville chapter of Black Lives Matter, and the national group Until Freedom – who say it an inappropriate time to hold the event while there is unrest in Louisville.

“You can understand people's frustration,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in his daily news briefing Tuesday. “Certainly, those that hold the Kentucky Derby have absolutely no control over the timing of the [Breonna Taylor] investigation, or when we will have any type of results. I hope there can at least be a positive dialogue there. That's certainly a large facility in an area of Louisville where a lot of good could be done together.”

LMPD units have been stationed outside the Churchill Downs stable gate for the past several days, according to multiple sources, and that presence is expected to continue as the ramp up to Sept. 5 continues. Churchill officials are taking other extra precautions for this year's spectatorless Kentucky Derby, including a hard perimeter, which is not usually part of the day's security plan.

Sources inside Churchill told the Paulick Report that the track is ready to go and that there are multiple plans in place which can be implemented to respond to rising levels of unrest around the area.

The post Protesters March Outside Churchill Downs, Demand Justice For Breonna Taylor appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Announces Schedule Of 44 Challenge Races Over Next Two Months

Led by the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1), the Irish Champion Stakes (G1) and Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), a total of 44 automatic berths into the 37th Breeders' Cup World Championships will be up for grabs over the next two months as Breeders' Cup Ltd. today released its schedule of Breeders' Cup Challenge Series races for September and October.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge, now in its 14th year, is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid for a corresponding race in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held on Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

“Win and You're In” qualifiers will be contested in Brazil, Canada, England, Ireland, France and the U.S. over the September-October time frame, including 27 Grade or Group 1 stakes.

Among the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series racing highlights are:

  • Three “Win and You're In” automatic qualifiers for the $7 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), featuring the 145th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico for 3-year-olds on Oct. 3, the first Triple Crown race to be in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. Bookended around the 1 3/16-mile Preakness are the 1 1/8-mile Awesome Again Stakes (G1) on Sept. 26 at Santa Anita Park and the 1 ¼-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park on Oct. 10.
  • Five Challenge Series races in Ireland on Sept. 12-13 during Irish Champions Weekend. There will be three races at Leopardstown on Sept. 12: the 1 ¼-mile Irish Champion Stakes (G1) for an automatic position in the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1), the 1-mile Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes (G1), giving the winner a free position into the $2 million Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), and the 1-mile KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes (G2), awarding the winner an automatic qualifying spot into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). On Sept. 13 at The Curragh, automatic berths will be contested in the 5-furlong Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (G1) for a “Win and You're In” into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1), and the 7-furlong Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) giving the winner a free berth into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).
  • Woodbine in Toronto will host three “Win and You're In” turf races, beginning on Sept. 19 with the 1-mile Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1) for a free slot into the gate of the $2 million FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF (G1). The following day (Sept. 20), the 1-mile Natalma Stakes (G1) will give the winner an automatic starting position in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), and the 1-mile Summer Stakes (G1) will offer a “Win and You're In” spot for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. NBCSN will televise the Ricoh Woodbine Mile on Sept. 19, and the Natalma Stakes and the Summer Stakes on Sept. 20 as a part of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing.”
    In addition to the Awesome Again, Santa Anita will be home to six more “Win and You're In” races, starting on Sept. 19 with the 5 ½-furlong Speakeasy Stakes. The Speakeasy winner will receive a free berth into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2). The Sept. 26 card will feature the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah Stakes (G1) for an automatic starting position into the $2 million TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1), the 1 1/16-mile Chandelier Stakes (G2) for a free qualifying spot into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and the 1 ¼-mile Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1) (Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf). On Sept. 27, Santa Anita will run the 6-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2), a “Win and You're In” for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and the 1 1/16-mile Zenyatta Stakes (G2) with the winner earning an automatic slot in the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
  • Brazil will host its Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race on Sept. 27 with the 1 ½-mile Grande Premio Brasil (G1) at Hipodromo da Gavea in Rio de Janeiro for an automatic starting position into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf.
  • There will be nine Breeders' Cup Challenge races during Keeneland's Fall Stars Weekend on Oct. 2-4. Those races include five Grade 1 events: the 1 1/16-mile Darley Alcibiades (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies) on Oct. 2, the 1 1/16-mile Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance), the 1-mile Shadwell Turf Mile (FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile presented by PDJF), the 1-mile First Lady presented by UK Healthcare (Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf) on Oct. 3, and the 1 1/8-mile Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) (Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff) on Oct. 4. NBCSN will provide live coverage of Breeders' Cup Challenge races at Keeneland on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4 as a part of the “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing.” NBC also will air coverage from Keeneland on Oct. 3 during its Preakness Stakes broadcast.
  • On Oct. 4 at ParisLongchamp in France, there will be five Group 1 Breeders' Cup Challenge races, led by the 1 ½-mile Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Longines Breeders' Cup Turf), along with the 5-furlong Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines (Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint), the 1 ¼-mile Prix de l'Opéra Longines (Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf), the 7-furlong Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf) and the 1-mile Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf).
  • The 2020 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series will conclude on Oct. 10 with five races at Belmont Park. In addition to the Jockey Club Gold Cup, there will be the 1-mile Champagne (G1) (TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance), the 1-mile Frizette (G1) (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies), the 1 ¼-mile Flower Bowl (G1) (Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf) and the 6-furlong Futurity (G3), (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint).

The complete Breeders' Cup Challenge Series schedule can be accessed here.

As part of the enhanced benefits to horsemen competing in the series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees and guarantee a starting position in a corresponding Championships race for winners of all Challenge races. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 26 to receive the rewards, and those rewards must be used in the year they are earned.

Breeders' Cup also will provide a $10,000 travel allowance for starters within North America that are stabled outside of Kentucky, and a $40,000 travel stipend to the connections of all Championship starters from outside of North America.

The post Breeders’ Cup Announces Schedule Of 44 Challenge Races Over Next Two Months appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Legislative Committee Approves Partial Lasix Ban

The Kentucky Legislature’s Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations met Tuesday and took measures that allowed regulations that ban the use of Lasix in 2-year-old races this year and also in graded stakes next year to go into effect.

The committee did not hold a vote, a procedure that produced the same results as if had voted to approve the regulations.

Tuesday’s hearing was the latest in what has been a contentious battle between pro and anti-Lasix forces in Kentucky, a fight that may now be over as the committee has the final say on racing regulations in the state.

The Kentucky tracks are among a number of racing jurisdictions that have taken steps to cut back on the use of the controversial drug that is used to control bleeding.

Led by the Kentucky HBPA and the National HBPA, the pro-Lasix forces expressed their displeasure with how the meeting was handled. Each side was allowed only one witness. Dr. Clara Fenger, who spoke on behalf of the horsemen, said she was told that each side was allowed to have three speakers. She also said her testimony was cut off before she had a chance to read her entire statement.

“This was a done deal and we had no shot,” Fenger said. “We knew that going in.”

Committee member Damon Thayer, who is the majority floor leader, said there was nothing unusual about the number of people who were permitted to speak.

“Both sides had equal time to present their case, including the racing commission and a representative of the HBPA and some veterinarians,” Thayer said. “Their complaints are much ado about nothing. This was just the final obligatory step in a long process that has included two meetings of the equine drug research council, meetings of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and public comments periods that every regulation has to go through. There’s really nothing to that complaint. This is the process that every regulation goes through and there was nothing abnormal about it.”

Fenger, a practicing vet in Central Kentucky, said that any steps to cut back on the use of Lasix would be detrimental to the overall health of the horse.

“The banning of the therapeutic medication, Lasix, is one of the most dangerous proposals ever concocted by our racing commissioners,” she said. “Two horses perished from exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage in Kentucky since the KHRC has begun posting these deaths on their website. Banning Lasix in any group of horses will guarantee a higher number of such deaths.”

Dr. Bruce Howard, the equine medical director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, was the lone speaker allowed to talk on behalf of the proposed new medication rules.

“By adopting this compromise and moving away from the use of race day furosemide we can come into alignment with the rest of the racing world and help lessen the negative public perception that exists surrounding medication issues in racing,” Howard said. “We will minimize the argument that furosemide enhances performance by causing fluid elimination which reduces a horses weight by an estimated 10 to 20 pounds.”

Howard added that there have been 60 2-year-old races run so far this year in Kentucky without Lasix and that out of 532 starters only one had been observed bleeding from the nostrils after the race.

“This is a compromise between those who want to eliminate Lasix all together and those who want to keep the status quo,” Thayer said. “I think it is a good compromise, by eliminating Lasix use in 2 year-old-races and stakes races. It’s a good starting point for other states to consider and I am happy that Kentucky is leading the way. As the great Lasix debate rages I’d like to think this is a good middle ground.”

Lasix was not the only medication dealt with in the new regulations. New rules include a ban on bisphosphonate use in horses under 4-years-old; non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), may be given no closer than 48 hours pre-race instead of 24; the race day use of electronic therapeutics has been banned; trainers must make veterinary records available if they are asked for by racing officials.

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