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Stronach Group Tracks Announce Continuing Support Of Jockeys’ Guild

1/ST RACING and the Jockeys' Guild announced this week that 1/ST RACING will continue its long-term support of the Jockeys' Guild and its member jockeys.

Under the terms of the Agreement effective Jan. 1, 2021, each of 1/ST RACING's venue racetracks (Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, and The Maryland Jockey Club operating Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park) will continue to make payments to the Jockeys' Guild to subsidize health, life and accident insurances, as well as short-term and long-term disability benefits for jockeys who are members of the Guild and ride at 1/ST RACING racetracks.

“1/ST RACING is pleased to continue supporting the Jockeys' Guild,” said Craig Fravel, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST RACING. “Guild members compete daily at 1/ST RACING venues and their safety and well-being is integral to our sport, during and after their careers. 1/ST RACING looks forward to continue working with the Jockeys' Guild to advance and promote safe racing for horse and rider.”

Terry Meyocks, President and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild, said: “We truly appreciate the on-going, strong working relationship we have with 1/ST RACING and their continuation of support for the Guild and its members. We have worked together on several important issues including promoting and striving to create a safe racing environment, as well as providing assistance and resources for severe and traumatic brain injuries suffered by the human athletes in our sport. We are grateful for Belinda Stronach, 1/ST Chairman and President and the rest of the members of 1/ST RACING for their support of our member jockeys and the sport of horseracing.”

For more information on 1/ST please visit www.1st.com and follow @1stracing on social.

For more on the Jockeys' Guild visit www.jockeysguild.com.

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Ahead Of Winter Storm, Laurel Moves Sunday Card To Thursday, Feb. 4

Due to a winter storm expected to hit the Mid-Atlantic region, the Maryland Jockey Club has moved Sunday's scheduled nine-race program at Laurel Park to Thursday, Feb. 4.

Post time for the Feb. 4 card remains 12:25 p.m.

Laurel's network of off-track betting outlets will remain open.

Winter Storm Orlena is forecast to start in the Midwest early this weekend and bring heavy snow to the Washington D.C. and Baltimore area beginning Sunday.

With the transfer of live racing, Laurel will offer a full nine-race LARC simulcast presentation from Gavea, Brazil Sunday with a 12:20 p.m. first post.

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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Action From Three Racetracks

The Stronach 5, which continues to offer a strong return on investment and an industry-low 12-percent takeout, will feature races Friday from Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields.

The action begins at 3:55 ET with Laurel's eighth race, a very competitive optional allowance claiming event at a mile for 3-year-old fillies.

The favorite is likely to be Team Gaudet's Fraudulent Charge, a daughter of Will Take Charge who stepped up off a debut victory in November to finish second by a nose in the $100,000 Gin Talking Stakes behind multiple stakes winner Street Lute. Malibu Beauty cuts back a bit in distance for trainer Gary Capuano after setting the pace and finishing fourth Dec. 26 in the $100,000 Anne Arundel. The 11-horse field also includes Chloe Rose, a daughter of Twirling Candy from the stable of Brittany Russell, who won in her second start by 2 ¼ lengths at a mile.

The second and third legs of the Stronach 5 will be hosted by Gulfstream. The second leg, Gulfstream's eighth race, features $6,250 claimers going a mile. Favored Zonic drops in company, gets the rail and Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle. The third leg, Gulfstream's ninth race, is a $75,000 allowance optional claimer at five furlongs on the turf for 3-year-old fillies. The wide-open seven-horse field has a tepid 3-1 choice in Magical Soul from the barn of John Kimmel. Six of the seven horses are 6-1 or under.

The third race at Golden Gate Fields will serve as the fourth leg in the Stronach 5. The 5 ½ furlong maiden event for 3-year-old fillies has a 2-1 favorite in The Gee Factor, who drops out of maiden special weight company for trainer Doug O'Neill. Trainer Jonathan Wong will saddle first-time starter Old West.

The Stronach 5 wraps up with Gulfstream's 10th race, a five furlong claiming event for fillies and mares which have never won three races. It's a wide-open race with Wedontbelieveher the 7-2 morning-line favorite with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle for Luis Ramirez. Fawkes Racing Inc.'s Ms Big Spring (9-2) draws the rail and jockey Tyler Gaffalione. Arindel's Lailoni enters off a 15-month layoff for trainer Gilberto Zerpa. Jose Ortiz is named.

Friday's races and sequence

· Leg One – Laurel Park 8th Race: (11 entries, 1 mile) 3:55 ET, 12:55 PT

· Leg Two – Gulfstream Park 8th Race: (8 entries, 1 mile) 4:11 ET, 1:11 PT

· Leg Three –Gulfstream Park 9th Race: (7 entries, 5 furlongs turf) 4:42 ET, 1:42 PT

· Leg Four –Golden Gate Fields 3rd Race: (8 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 4:49 ET, 1:49 PT

· Leg Five –Gulfstream Park 10th Race: (10 entries, 6 furlongs) 5:13 ET, 2:13 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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Despite $20K Monthly Exterminator Bill, Rat Problem Persists in Laurel Stables

Despite paying more than $20,000 monthly to exterminators to try and quell an ongoing rat problem on the Laurel Park backstretch, the infestation has persisted, leading track management to seek additional professional help by soliciting new bids from additional companies.

Sal Sinatra, the president of the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC), which owns both Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, disclosed the plan of action during the Jan. 28 Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) meeting.

Sinatra has mentioned the track's efforts to control the rats at previous MJC meetings. But when he didn't bring up the subject during the MJC's monthly update that was on the agenda, commissioner Thomas Bowman asked him to detail a private discussion the two of them had recently about the rats, because Bowman said other commissioners should be aware of what is going on.

“We tried the experiment of emptying one barn out and letting the exterminators in there to do a 'full-court press,'” Sinatra explained. “It seemed to work for a couple of weeks. But after the horses and everybody were settled back in, they returned.”

As is the case in any rodent-control effort, educating the people who work in the stables about proper protocols and getting them to adhere to those guidelines is a key component of the plan.

“Right now it's a work in progress,” Sinatra said, adding that there will be a renewed focus to “clean up some bad practices that we all do back there that are actually keeping the rats, you know, healthy.”

Sinatra said that effort includes making sure horse feed is tightly secured in containers that are above ground level and taking care not to dump uneaten horse feed near the shed rows when meal buckets are cleaned out.

“We're currently paying well over $20,000 a month to these people [and] we need some extra expertise,” Sinatra said. “It's not that the company that were using isn't doing a good job and aren't responsive. But whatever they're doing, they're not getting ahead of the rat infestation.”

The commission's other business was brief on Thursday. The MJC voted by voice without objections to eliminate the allowable race-day threshold for clenbuterol that it proposed back on Oct. 22. No objections to the rule had been lodged during the rule's public commentary period. It takes effect Mar. 1.

J. Michael Hopkins, the MRC's executive director, said this time frame would “give all the horsemen ample time, if they are using clenbuterol, to cease using it for at least 30 days” before the rule takes effect.

The MJC also voted, without any voiced objections, to clarify, on an “emergency” basis, the language on its no-Lasix policy for 2-year-olds and in graded stakes races.

Other jurisdictions have recently enacted similar clarifications that led to unintended consequences when horses shipped from one racetrack to another and/or dropped out of stakes company back into a Lasix-allowed race.

Although the exact language of this new rule was not read into the record, Hopkins explained it is designed to prevent a horse from having to sit out for 60 days and then become recertified by a veterinarian as a bleeder to resume using Lasix, which unfairly penalizes those horses that participated in Lasix-free races.

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