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ESPN to Broadcast Live Races From Saratoga

ESPN 104.5 The Team, the Capital Region’s radio home for sports, will feature live, full card coverage of all the action from Saratoga Race Course each weekend during the 2020 season.

Live coverage from Saratoga will begin each Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. and include every race through final post broadcast on 104.5 FM and streamed worldwide at 1045theteam.com or by downloading the free 104.5 The Team App.

Presented by NYRA Bets, NYSCOPBA and Bud Light, the weekend broadcasts will simulcast a portion of Saratoga Live, the award-winning horse racing telecast produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports. The audio simulcast will feature expert commentary and analysis from the paddock to post time of each race from Greg Wolf, Andy Serling, Maggie Wolfendale, Richard Migliore, Acacia Courtney, and Jonathon Kinchen.

On Fridays, the station will also air the live race calls by NYRA track announcer John Imbriale during the Levack and Goz show which will originate from Saratoga beginning at 3 p.m.

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Maryland Institutes Lasix Free 2yo Program

The Maryland Jockey Club, The Stronach Group and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association have reached an agreement for a Lasix-free pilot program through 2023 that will facilitate Lasix-free races for 2-year-old horses, Lasix-free graded stakes, a minimum number of racing days per week during any Maryland Jockey Club meet and a substantial increase in committed funding for the Beyond The Wire aftercare program.

The program, which was the result of weeks of good-faith discussions among all parties, was reviewed and approved subject to the adoption of emergency regulations, which will hopefully be advanced in short order, by the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) at its July 16 meeting.

Under the agreement, in 2020 Lasix will not be administered to 2-year-olds within 48 hours of a race. From 2021 through 2023, 2-year-old races and graded stakes will be carded Lasix-free. As a result of COVID-19, live racing has been held only twice a week since Laurel Park reopened at the end of May. This agreement provides for a minimum of three live racing days per week during all Maryland Jockey Club meets at current purse levels beginning July 23.

The agreement also calls for a study with respect to Lasix-free racing and states, “The parties agree to discuss in good faith, in consultation with the MRC, the development, implementation and funding of a study and related protocols for post-race scoping of horses to obtain relevant data. The protocols for such study shall include, but not be limited to, establishment of study research parameters and objectives; identification and selection of the horse population for the study; development of scoring, criteria and other scientific methods; selection of persons to conduct the study; and other matters relevant to the study.”

Importantly, the joint agreement paves the way for an enhanced commitment to racehorse aftercare in Maryland through the Beyond The Wire program, which relies heavily on an $11 per-start contribution from owners. That revenue wasn’t generated when Laurel was shut down for two-and-a-half months because of COVID-19 restrictions.

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Hong Kong Racing Weathers the Storm

The 2019-2020 racing calendar in Hong Kong was widely referred to as a “season like no other,” and with good reason.

Racing was threatened first by significant social unrest in and around Hong Kong, on one occasion, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, no more than a few kilometres from the stables at Sha Tin Racecourse. Having canceled just one meeting due to the protests, the local racing product was later confronted by COVID-19, a pandemic that shut down operations–at least for a time–at the vast majority of worldwide racing jurisdictions. But Hong Kong racing proved resilient, with the season that concluded July 15 at Happy Valley Racecourse holding up extremely well under dire circumstances.

Though attendance was restricted to varying degrees from late January, overall turnover for the season of HK$121.6 billion was down by just 2.6% over the record 2018/2019 figure and was the third-highest recorded in history. The July 15 finale produced record turnover of HK$1.6 billion alone.

“This city shows time and time again that it has a remarkable ‘Can-Do Spirit’ and that has been apparent in the community as a whole, and also within racing,” said HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “It has been difficult, and it may continue to be so for some time yet, but by continuing racing we have shown Hong Kong’s ability to face great challenges and overcome them.”

The turnover generated by Hong Kong bettors on the local product was understandably down by 8.3%, as the Hong Kong Jockey Club was forced to either close or offer barebones services at its 100 Off-Course Betting facilities in addition to the attendance restrictions at the racetracks. The overall handle figures were offset by commingling, which increased to HK$23.58 billion, a 25.3% improvement on last season. Hong Kong wagering on races simulcast into Hong Kong from overseas increased by 12.9%.

“We are pleased with how much interest our customers have in our simulcast programmes from the leading race meetings around the world,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “We saw this even more in the second World Pool at Royal Ascot, which proved a huge success–with individual race turnover up by more than 49% on 2019–and we look forward to expanding the World Pool concept next season, with Hong Kong as a vital hub for global wagering.”

The Hong Kong Jockey Club prides itself on contributing to the betterment of Hong Kong society at large. The Club, the city’s largest tax payer, paid HK$12.113 billion to the government in 2019/2020, while a significant sum, including special emergency funding to battle COVID-19, was paid in charitable contributions to a wide range of entities.

Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “There was a compelling public interest element to our desire to continue racing through COVID-19, from Chinese New Year to the end of the season, during which time our tax contribution from racing was more than HK$6.2 billon. This has enabled us to not only keep donations at last year’s level but also increase it due to our contributions via the COVID-19 Emergency Fund.”

Racing returns to Sha Tin Sept. 5.

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Exultant Named Hong Kong Horse of the Year

Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) was named 2019/2020 Horse of the Year in Hong Kong Thursday in a virtual ceremony, as stricter social distancing protocols within the context of a third wave of coronavirus in the region put pay to the scheduled live proceedings.

Bred by Ballygallon Stud, Exultant won four of his seven trips to the post during the season, calling on all his class and stamina for victories in the G1 FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2000m) and a successful defence of his title in the G1 Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup (2400m) (see below). The Tony Cruz-trainee carried 133 pounds in annexing the G3 Centenary Vase H. (1800m), was victorious in the G2 Jockey Club Cup (2000m) and was a gallant third when trying for the repeat in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m) in December. In addition to Horse of the Year, the son of Contrary (Ire) (Mark of Esteem {Ire}) was also recognized as champion middle distance horse and champion stayer for the second year in a row. Exultant is the first Horse of the Year trained by someone other than John Moore since the 2011-2012 season.

Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) became just the second to sweep the 4YO Classics in Hong Kong, winning the Classic Mile and Classic Cup before a stirring success in the BMW Hong Kong Derby. While it wasn’t quite enough to topple the exploits of Exultant, he was the easy winner of the newly instituted 4-Year-Old Champion award. Golden Sixty was a perfect seven-from-seven during the campaign, earning a first group-stakes badge in the G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup H. (1400m) on New Year’s Day. Trained by Francis Lui and ridden by Tony Cruz Award recipient Vincent Ho, Golden Sixty climbed 37 points in the ratings, from a beginning mark of 75 to his current 112. He was also named most popular horse.

Two-time Horse of the Year Beauty Generation (NZ) (Road to Rock {Aus}) may have lost a step at age seven, but he was accomplished enough to be named champion miler for a remarkable third year on the bounce. Third in search of three straight in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile in December, he was second in the G1 Stewards’ Cup, but displayed his zest for racing

by completing the hat trick in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) before adding the G2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m). A near-miss second in the G1 Champions Mile in April, Beauty Generation trains on at eight with David Hayes.

The consistent Beat the Clock (Aus) (Hinchinbrook {Aus}) annexed the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint and G1 Centenary Sprint Cup en route to being named champion sprinter for the second year in a row. He has been out of the top three just once in his 25 career appearances.

Among the other non-equine categories, Ricky Yiu won his first trainers’ premiership on 67 victories, while Zac Purton outdistanced Joao Moreira to retain his jockeys’ title. John Moore, who saddled his final horses as a licenced trainer in Hong Kong Wednesday, was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

WATCH: Exultant puts them back-to-back in the Champions and Chater Cup

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