kentucky horse racing commission | Horse Racing Free Tips

KBIF Awards $15.9 Million in 2021

The 2021 Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Funds (KBIF) distributed funds totaling $15.9 million to the state's breeders, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced Monday.

“Every Thoroughbred farm, big or small, contributes to the equine industry's combined economic impact of $6.5 billion, which also employs 60,494 Kentuckians,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “Kentucky is known as the 'Horse Capital of the World' for a reason and it's important we support those in this industry to ensure its continued success.”

The KBIF is funded through a percentage of the sales tax paid when a stallion is bred to a mare in Kentucky. Since the fund's inception, more than $200 million has been distributed to Kentucky breeders for winning eligible races worldwide.

Kentucky-bred horses won 315 group/graded races in 2021. The winners of 4,412 races, including 299 graded races, received an award from the KBIF.

The post KBIF Awards $15.9 Million in 2021 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Medina Spirit’s Derby Drug Positive Hearing Reportedly Postponed

A long-awaited Feb. 7 Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) stewards' hearing regarding Medina Spirit's positive test result for betamethasone in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby reportedly got postponed from Monday to the following week.

After a wait of 283 days since the alleged infraction, Monday's hearing involving trainer Bob Baffert apparently has been rescheduled for Feb. 14.

WLKY-TV in Kentucky first broke the news of the non-hearing and its new date.

TDN attempted to confirm the report by sending emails to KHRC chief state steward Barbara Borden, KHRC executive director Marc Guilfoil, and Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson III, asking each to explain the reason for the postponement.

None of those queries yielded replies prior to deadline for this story. The email to Borden was forwarded to a spokesperson for Kentucky's Public Protection Cabinet, who replied with the same boilerplate response that the KHRC has been issuing to the media for over a week now on this subject: “The KHRC is bound by regulation from providing information about the stewards' hearing prior to the issuance of a stewards' ruling.”

The post Medina Spirit’s Derby Drug Positive Hearing Reportedly Postponed appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

KHRC Considering ‘Claiming Jail,’ Additional Workout Reporting Rules

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's Rules Committee has approved recommending a Kentucky “claiming jail” rule and additional workout reporting regulations during the next KHRC meeting on Feb. 15, according to bloodhorse.com.

If approved, a horse claimed in Kentucky will not be able to race outside the state for 30 days from the end of the meet at which it was claimed.

Many states already have a “claiming jail” rule on the books, though Kentucky had previously faced court challenges from owner Jerry Jamgotchian over a similar regulation. KHRC general counsel Jennifer Wolsing was confident that the new rule would pass legal scrutiny.

Additionally, horses starting after lengthy layoffs could be required to have additional workouts prior to those starts, an idea initially proposed by the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation on behalf of bettors.

The committee suggests that a horse entered off a 90-day break be required to show two reported workouts (one within 20 days of entry), and a horse off a 180-day break be required to show three reported works (one within 20 days of entry). Current regulations require horses entered off a rest of 45 or more days to show one work within 20 days of entry.

The rules committee will recommend the new rules during the Feb. 15

Wesley Ward Suspended 30 Days Over Positive Test For Diabetes Drug

Trainer Wesley Ward has been fined $500 and suspended for 30 days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission due to his trainee Averly Jane testing positive for metformin in the $150,000 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes at Churchill Downs on April 28, 2021.

According to medlineplus.gov, metformin (a Class B drug) is used to treat type 2 diabetes by decreasing the amount of glucose absorbed from food and the amount of glucose made by the liver; it also increases the body's response to insulin. Metformin has been examined in several studies regarding equine metabolic syndrome.

Fifteen days of the suspension have been stayed by the commission due to mitigating circumstances (number of violations in relation to overall
record), provided Ward does not have an additional Class A or B positive during the next 365 days. The dates Ward will serve are Jan. 26 through Feb. 9, inclusive.

“It's the fifth-most dispensed drug in the United States for diabetes,” Ward told the Daily Racing Form. “It was four nanograms. It's just a shame. I don't know how it got into the horse's system, and it obviously didn't make her run faster.”

Ward also told DRF that a shipping company employee informed him he has taken metformin twice a day for 30 years to manage his diabetes. Ward and attorney Darrell Vienna argued in a hearing with the KHRC that the case was environmental contamination, but Ward told DRF he respects the final decision of the stewards.

Averly Jane has been disqualified from her victory in the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes and purse money forfeited, moving Vodka N Water (Steve Asmussen) into first. The filly's record includes two additional stakes wins in 2021, the Skidmore at Saratoga and the Indian Summer at Keeneland, before she finished fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Averly Jane wins the Skidmore

The post Wesley Ward Suspended 30 Days Over Positive Test For Diabetes Drug appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post