People | Horse Racing Free Tips

Monmouth General Manager Bill Anderson Named 2021 Recipient Of ‘Buddy’ Raines Awards

The biggest disappointment of Bill Anderson's teen years was coming to grips with the realization that he could no longer make weight to be a jockey. For his professional future it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

A fixture at Monmouth Park since 1980 in a variety of roles, Anderson – currently the track's general manager – has been named the 2021 recipient of the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Distinguished Achievement Award, it was announced today.

The Raines Award, now in its 26th year, is presented annually just prior to Monmouth Park's season opener. The track's 76th season of live racing gets underway on Friday, May 28.

Anderson, a former trainer and track superintendent at Monmouth Park, finds his name added to a prominent list of past Raines Award recipients who have been recognized for their professionalism, integrity and service to Thoroughbred racing.

“It's a great honor and it's especially meaningful for me because I know or knew everyone who has received this award, including Buddy Raines,” said Anderson. “Monmouth Park is my home and has been for quite a while now. So it means a lot to me personally to receive this award.”

Anderson's Monmouth Park-based training career spanned from 1980 to 2012 and produced 857 winners, including Grade 3 winner J J's Lucky Train. He transitioned to being Monmouth Park's track superintendent in 2012 before being named general manager in 2016.

“It's a well-deserved honor for someone who has been synonymous with Monmouth Park for as long as I can remember,” said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, the operators of Monmouth Park. “His work ethic and passion for Monmouth Park are things that have never wavered, from his days as a trainer to being the track superintendent to his current role as general manager.”

Anderson, who hails from Minnesota, began galloping and riding horses as a teenager in the late 1950s, getting his jockey's license at the age of 16. He started riding quarter horses at Fort Pierce, South Dakota, before weight issues forced him to go in another direction. He then worked for both D. Wayne Lukas and Clyde Rice during their quarter horse days in the early 1960s before transitioning to Thoroughbreds in the late 1970s.

“When I look back it's hard to believe where my life has taken me,” said Anderson. “I started at Midwest tracks that few people have ever even heard of. I thought Jefferson, South Dakota, was the big time. I've been very fortunate to have been in this business as long as I have been.”

Monmouth Park's 53-day meet gets underway with four straight days of live racing over the Memorial Day weekend from Friday, May 28, through Monday, May 31. Racing will be conducted on a Friday through Sunday schedule throughout the summer.

Post times on Friday is 5 p.m. Post time on Saturdays, Sundays and special Monday holiday cards is now 12:15 p.m.

The list of previous Raines Award winners:

1996: J. Willard Thompson

1997: Danny Perlsweig

1998: Warren A. “Jimmy” Croll

1999: Joe Pierce Jr.

2000: Peter Shannon

2001: Dennis Drazin

2002: Sam Fieramosca

2003: Charles and Marianne Hesse

2004: Janet Laszlo

2005: Richard Malouf

2006: John Forbes

2007: Ben Perkins Sr.

2008: Gerald and Carolyn Sleeter

2009: Joel Kligman

2010: John Tammaro III

2011: Frank Costa

2012: John Mazza

2013: Ebby Novak

2014: Chuck Spina

2015: Bob Baffert

2016: Ed Barney

2017: Bob Kulina

2018: Mike Musto

2019: Tim Hills

2020: Leonard Green

The post Monmouth General Manager Bill Anderson Named 2021 Recipient Of ‘Buddy’ Raines Awards appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Len Ragozin, 92, Creator Of ‘The Sheets,’ Passes

Len Ragozin, whose Ragozin Sheets revolutionized handicapping of horse races more than 50 years ago, died peacefully in Vermont on Thursday at the age of 92.

The eldest child of Sarra and Harry Ragozin, Len lived most of his life in Manhattan. He was frugal and devoted much of his efforts and the profits of the business he founded, The Ragozin Sheets, to anti-racist, pro-worker causes.

Len attended City & Country, a ground-breaking, progressive elementary school in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, and provided a life-saving mortgage in the 1970s when it faced financial difficulties. He also attended The Horace Mann Lincoln School and Harvard University.

In the pre-computer era, Len developed the algorithms that became The Ragozin Sheets, the outstanding individual thoroughbred horse performance records used by major owners, trainers and handicappers. He described that experience and his methods of handicapping in a book: “The Odds Must Be Crazy.”

When the now computerized company producing The Ragozin Sheets was sold, Len donated most of the sale proceeds to fund the Len Ragozin Foundation, which provides support to groups and individuals working on innovative ways to put progressive ideas into practice.

Len is survived by his sister, Nikki Keddie, his brother David Ragozin, a daughter, Alexa Manning, granddaughter, Adeline Manning, and ex-wife and longtime best friend Marion Buhagiar, who was with him during his final days.

As he wished, Len was cremated without ceremony. No memorials are currently planned. Donations from friends and comrades who remember Len and share his ideals are welcome at the Len Ragozin Foundation (lenragozinfoundation.com).

Read more about Len Ragozin here and here.

The post Len Ragozin, 92, Creator Of ‘The Sheets,’ Passes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

French Champion Jockey Boudot Suspended After Being Charged With Rape

Reigning champion jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot has been suspended from riding for three months by France Galop as a result of being charged with rape.

The three-time winner of France's cravache d'or was stood down along with fellow jockey Pierre Bazire, who has been charged with failing to report a crime over the same incident, after both appeared before France Galop stewards on Friday.

France Galop said that while both jockeys are presumed innocent the stewards had issued a precautionary suspension because of the “seriousness of the allegations against them” and “the damage to the image of racing.” The measures can be lifted or renewed if further information is brought to the stewards' attention.

Boudot, 28, was released on €50,000 [$60,710] bail on Wednesday after spending two days in police custody, having been charged with the rape of a 25-year-old female work rider. This followed an investigation into a complaint made following a party in Cagnes-Sur-Mer on France's Cote d'Azur in February.

The lawyer representing the woman said it was highly likely his client, who works for a racing stable in Chantilly, was drugged before she was raped, making her unable to give consent. Boudot denies the charges.

The charges were announced by the state prosecutor in Senlis in the department of Oise, which also comprises France's main racing centre in Chantilly.

Boudot and Bazire were also identified as persons of interest in a case of witness intimidation. Both were placed under judicial control with Boudot barred from entering the Oise department.

Boudot is also being investigated over another rape complaint from 2015 in which the victim also alleged she was drugged. He denies the allegations.

Boudot, champion jockey in 2015, 2016 and 2020, has become one of the world's top riders. He won the 2019 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Waldgeist, has ridden the winners of four French Classics and rode two winners at last year's Breeders' Cup.

In France this year he has already ridden 105 winners, double the number of the next rider in the jockeys championship.

This story was reprinted with permission by Horse Racing Planet. Find the original piece and more content here.

The post French Champion Jockey Boudot Suspended After Being Charged With Rape appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Victor Espinoza Tabs Tom Knust As New Agent

Victor Espinoza has hired Tom Knust as his new agent.

The Hall of Fame member and three-time Kentucky Derby winner who celebrates his 49^th birthday May 23 parted company last Saturday with Brian Beach after a historic eight-year run.

For more than three years, Beach's priority has been maintaining vigilance on his wife Lotta's recovery from an accident on a horse, which in part diminished his time representing Espinoza, who opted for a full-time on-track presence now that he's fully healthy and life is returning to a degree of normalcy with the pandemic on the wane.

“Victor came to me and I thought he would fit well with Abel (Cedillo, whom the agent also represents),” said Knust.

“They're both great riders who hope to pick up promising 2-year-olds and stakes horses. I spoke with Abel and he wasn't hesitant at all. He was fine with it so we decided to give it a try.”

The post Victor Espinoza Tabs Tom Knust As New Agent appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post