The track received unanimous permission to do so during Tuesday's Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission meeting.

Presque Isle's director of racing, Matthew Ennis, described the track's reasoning for dropping the dates.

“We always take a hard look at our purse funding as we're going throughout our offseason to make sure that we have competitive purses for the upcoming meet,” Ennis said. “We suffered a very poor January as a result of weather, mainly. [And] coming out of January we had discussion with [Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association executive director Todd Mostoller]. In doing some simple math, it was determined that if we were able to eliminate those days we could stay competitive for our daily purses.”

Ennis said it is possible that Presque Isle will consider carding additional races on certain cards to make up for the relinquished dates.

“We have agreed to look at, as we go through our season, adding races to give them back to the horsemen,” Ennis said. “We're hoping for improved results here with our slots revenue.”

The dates that have been abandoned are Aug. 22 and 29 plus Sept. 5 and 12.

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The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association will run 23 stakes at Pennsylvania tracks throughout 2024, including five for PA-Sired, PA-Bred runners.

2-year-olds will have added opportunities, as the PA-Sired, PA-Bred Stallion Series returns in its third year with four stakes worth $400,000. The Series will continue into 2025 with races for 3-year-olds, with a $50,000 breeder bonus paid out to the top three point-earning horses after the third leg.

The first of 23 stakes with purses of $100,000 will be run April 22 at Parx Racing: the Unique Bella for fillies and mares, and the Page McKenney H., each at seven furlongs for older horses.

Penn National will host two $100,000 stakes on its Penn Mile card Friday, May 31–on the turf for older horses.

State-bred stakes action continues at Parx and Presque Isle Downs throughout the summer, with the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association's signature event, Pennsylvania's Day at the Races, to be held Aug. 26 at Parx. Four $100,000 stakes are on the card that celebrates state-bred runners.

Kicking off the PA-Sired, PA-Bred Stallion Series are the Whistle Pig and Miss Blue Tye Dye (the latter for fillies), both worth $100,000 and run at a distance of six furlongs. They are among the four state-bred stakes offered on Pennsylvania Derby Day Sept. 21 at Parx.

Presque Isle Downs will host five $100,000 Pennsylvania-bred stakes starting in July and two for juveniles on back-to-back weeks in October. The $100,000 Shamrock Rose S. for juvenile fillies will once again be run on Thanksgiving Eve at Penn National in November, followed by the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery at Parx one week later.

Over a five-week span at the end of the year, $400,000 in purses for juveniles is up for grabs as the PA-Sired PA-Bred Stallion Series continues Dec. 30. The $100,000 Wait For It S. and $100,000 Miss Behaviour S. (for fillies) will be contested at seven furlongs.

View the complete list here.

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Kicked straight into the lead by Irad Ortiz, Jr., El Terreno set the pace from a couple of paths off the inside down the backstretch and got her opening quarter-mile in a solid :22.15. Traveling well in hand on the turn with her jockey riding high in the saddle, the dark bay opened up on her rivals into the final furlong and was never out of a high gallop while reporting home an eased-down, 4 1/4-length winner. Bubbly Champagne (Bee Jersey), who just missed in the Our Dear Peg S. two starts back and the second choice here at 33-10, made some late headway from the latter half of the field to round out a chalky exacta while never any sort of danger to the winner.

“She was very impressive. She did everything on her own,” the winning jockey commented. “She broke out of there. I didn't have to ask her. She was quick and then she relaxed. Turning [for] home, I just motioned to her and showed her the stick one time and she finished on her own.”

A 25th 'Rising Star' for the sadly lost Speightstown, is out of a half-sister to Argentinian stakes winner and Group 1-placed Meguial, the dam of GISW I Want Revenge (Stephen Got Even), SP A Story of Revenge (Tale of the Cat) and Meg Fitz (Tapit), whose son Real Men Violin (Mendelssohn) was runner-up in last month's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs.

Palma, bred in New York by Newtown Anner Stud, was purchased for $500,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale by Castleton Lyons, where her sire stood from 2004-2007 after relocating from Country Life Farm in Maryland. From 2008 to his death in May 2021, Malibu Moon resided at Spendthrift Farm.

The mare's yearling colt by Volatile was knocked down to Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures for $135,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale and she foaled a Knicks Go filly this past Mar. 18 before visiting Dialed In.

2nd-Gulfstream, $61,000, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($75,000), 12-15, 2yo, f, 5f (AWT) (off turf), :55.67, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.
EL TERRENO, f, 2, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Palma, by Malibu Moon
2nd Dam: Meguial (Arg), by Roy
3rd Dam: Starry Night (Arg), by Fitzcarraldo (Arg)
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $54,600.
O-Castleton Lyons; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY); T-Christophe Clement. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.

Post-time favorite #3 EL TERRENO ($2.80) doesn't let us down as she and @iradortiz go gate to wire in Race 2 at Gulfstream for @clementstable. The 2 year old filly by Speightstown is owned by @castletonlyons.

LIVE racing continues on @FanDuelTV. Bet on @FDSportsbook. pic.twitter.com/jYyYghfYZU

— TVG (@TVG) December 15, 2023

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The suspension was lifted pursuant to HIWU Rule 3247 (e). The rule reads: “…if it considers it appropriate to do so on the specific facts of the case, the Agency may lift the Provisional Suspension.”

Suspensions that had been issued to R. McLane Hendriks, Carlos Milian, Javier Morzan and Guadalupe Munoz Elizondo were also lifted.

A full hearing in all five cases are still pending.

Like Brion, Hendriks was facing a cocaine positive. Milian had a horse test positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide and Morzan and Elizondo had trainees test positive for metformin, a medication commonly prescribed in humans for type 2 diabetes.

It is not clear why the suspensions were lifted, but in the case of Brion, HIWU likely factored in the possibility that the positive test for cocaine was the result of environmental contamination. Brion, a former assistant to Jonathan Sheppard, was facing a suspension of up to two years.

The Brion-trained Chasing After You (Speightstown) tested positive after winning a Sept. 19 claiming race at Presque Isle Downs.

“Obviously, it's been a very stressful week,” Brion said. “I was totally blindsided by this. I don't give my horses cocaine. It's good that they are continuing to change protocols, what they do and how they handle things. It's just a shame that it has to happen through trial and error. In my case, I was written up in the TDN about being suspended for a banned substance. That's hard. I'm hopeful that it's all heading in the right direction. I think they are taking what they are learning from these situations and trying to make the system better. I am appreciative of that.”

Brion believes that this was a case of environmental contamination and that it emanated from the receiving barn at Presque Isle Downs.

“I believe it came through the receiving barn at Presque Isle,” she said. “Trainers are held 100% responsible and I'm all for being held responsible. But we don't scrub, clean and power wash receiving barns, so when we ship in, we don't have control over that. The receiving barns aren't clean. If we are going to be held to this level, zero tolerance, and everything falls back on us, then tracks need to make sure that the stalls we ship into are completely sanitized. And that's not the case at most of the tracks we go to.”

Brion noted that other trainers have found themselves in similar situations.

“I applaud what they are trying to do, but there have been a couple of positives where the levels are very low and it seems to be contamination,” she said. “We are not the bad guys. I have been training for only three years and when something like this happens, it really rocks you.”

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Yet the 30-year-old jockey, who is soft-spoken but highly driven, managed to build enough out-of-town business to the point where he has just completed a demanding six-day run of riding at six different tracks in the Northeast and Canada.

His whirlwind tour included more than 1,800 miles of driving, nearly all of which he accomplished solo Oct. 11-16 while amassing a 2-4-2 mark from 14 mounts at Parx, Laurel, Delaware, Aqueduct, Woodbine and Presque Isle.

“Anyone have a helicopter I can borrow?” Conner had humorously asked on Twitter during the midway point of his journey.

And no, on the seventh day Conner did not rest. TDN spoke to him via phone Oct. 17 while he was driving 110 miles from his home on a small farm near Penn National to ride at Parx, where the six-day streak had first begun Oct. 11.

Conner said the extensive travel was worth it, although maybe more in terms of getting his name out there and getting noticed rather than money.

“I was a little worried the last couple of weeks before we shut down, because I didn't have a plan. I didn't really know what business would be like with the break. Winning when you have to ship in from out of town is always tough,” Conner said.

And what fueled him on his rigorous commutes beyond aspirations of bettering himself?

“Good music and podcasts,” Conner said. “And I definitely drank too much Mountain Dew to keep me awake and focused. For most of the week it was rainy, kind of gloomy. So it wasn't the best driving, but nothing crazy happened. That's always helpful.”

“But it's been pretty good,” Conner continued. “I've been really, really busy. Busier than I've been all year, honestly. And the horses are running well, so that helps. [The week on the road]  paid for the trip, and a little more.”

The day after Penn went on hiatus, Conner had four mounts on the GI Pennsylvania Derby card at Parx, where his best finish was third aboard Mish (Field Commission) in the $300,000 Parx Dirt Mile S.

Honor D Lady | Coady Photography

That mount was for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., who also sent Conner to ride in Oklahoma the next night, Sept. 24, aboard Honor D Lady (Honor Code), who won the GIII Remington Park Oaks at 7-1 odds.

“Winning the Oaks was huge,” Conner said. “That really helped, being off for the month.”

Conner returned home and rode at various mid-Atlantic tracks over the next two weeks. His calendar then came together better than he expected it would in the second week of October.

He began the six-tracks-in-six-days tour with 220 miles of round-trip driving Oct. 11 and a third-place finish in a Parx starter-allowance with a $26,000 purse.

The next day, Oct. 12, the 240-mile round trip to Laurel netted Conner a second and a win, with the victory coming in a $60,940 allowance/optional claimer.

On Friday the 13th, Conner trekked 170 miles round-trip to Delaware, riding fifth with one mount, then second with another in a starter-allowance with a $30,000 purse.

“Parx, Laurel, Delaware, I just go back and forth for those as day trips,” Conner said as if racking up 630 collective miles on three consecutive days constituted normal workday commuting.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, Conner drove 180 miles to Aqueduct to ride Salvaje (Kantharos) in the $125,000 Floral Park S. The field scratched down to four as an off-the-turfer, and he managed third with his 6-1 shot behind a 3-10 winner.

“I drove to Woodbine from there. It was about nine hours, and I got to Woodbine around midnight,” Conner said of the 500-mile trek that included an international border crossing. “Then I just slept in until 10 in the morning and got some rest.”

Those two Woodbine mounts (one in a stakes) again came courtesy of trainer Joseph.

Conner explained that after he won the GII Penn Mile for a different trainer in 2022, Joseph had contacted him with praise for his riding, and had offered to give him business if he switched his tack to Gulfstream, where Joseph is based.

Conner tried it for a weekend in June 2022 and won a race, but respectfully declined the offer to move to Florida full-time because he thought it would be too tough to get additional mounts on that highly competitive circuit beyond those that Joseph offered.

“Saffie has helped me a lot,” Conner said. “He's been so good to me, and given me an opportunity to ride a lot of nice horses. I tell people all the time I'll go anywhere he wants me to go, just to have those opportunities. Now he sends me where it fits for him and when I'm available. It's been good riding for new people at new tracks and to get recognized a little bit outside of the usual.”

At Woodbine Oct. 15, Conner was second aboard the 15-1 Mystic Lake (Mo Town) in the $125,000 Glorious Song S., and he ran fourth with his 18-1 shot in a maiden allowance.

Woodbine to Presque Isle meant another border crossing and 180 more miles. Out of six mounts for six different trainers on the Oct. 16 card there, Conner won a $30,000 maiden allowance and finished second in a maiden-claimer.

Tyler Conner | Lauren King

On the 310-mile drive back home in the dark, Conner said he got help splitting time behind the wheel from a Penn-based buddy who had also been up at Presque Isle to race.

“I'm actually enjoying the traveling right now,” Conner said. “I would hopefully like to keep riding at other bigger tracks and ride in more big races. I'm working on getting to Kentucky. But I'm just kind of waiting on an answer from an agent right now, and depending on what he wants to do, I'll go from there.”

Conner was born into a racing family. His father, John Conner, is a former trainer who now owns horses and is an in-demand farrier. His mom, Sandra Conner, rode regularly from 1989 up until Tyler was born in 1993. His stepmom, Erin McClellan, currently trains at Penn.

Yet Conner said he didn't gravitate to becoming a jockey until after he had quit high school and earned his GED while working as a groom. Prior to that, ever since he was about age five, his passion had been motocross.

“That's all I did growing up, was ride motorcycles. I still do, on occasion,” Conner said. “I guess I figured I'd try riding horses out of necessity. I kept getting hurt on the motorcycles, and I had to find a job that would pay better than grooming, so I started riding. I had never been on a horse before that.”

Conner laughed politely at the suggestion that not too many jockeys find their calling in race-riding because they think it's a less dangerous option than what they had been doing.

“I know anything can happen, but riding horses is definitely safer at this point. The chances of injury are a lot lower, it seems like,” Conner said.

Wednesday, Oct. 18, was technically Conner's first day off in a week. But that just meant he wouldn't have mounts booked in afternoon or evening races.

“Oh, yeah, I'll still go to work at Penn for morning training, for sure,” Conner said.

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Provisional suspensions can result in suspensions of up to two years. The suspension has been postponed because Brion has yet to either request a split sample or inform HIWU that she has waived her right to have a split sample tested. Brion had one starter Saturday, sending out Crabs N Beer (Blofeld) to a fifth-place finish in the Maryland Million Turf S. at Laurel.

Brion took to X Friday to proclaim her innocence.

“For those of you who know me know that this is not an accurate depiction of my operation,” she tweeted. “I have retained a lawyer & we will fight to the end to clear my name. She came back w/a lvl under 200 PICOgrams–clear contamination. I'm hopeful facts/common sense will prevail.”

For those of you who know me know that this is not an accurate depiction of my operation. I have retained a lawyer & we will fight to the end to clear my name. She came back w/a lvl under 200 PICOgrams-clear contamination. I'm hopeful facts/ common sense will prevail pic.twitter.com/UCaKhOu8SD

— Keri Brion (@Keri145) October 13, 2023

Brion has hired attorney Drew Mollica.

“We are in the process of evaluating the evidence and will have more to say next week,” Mollica said. “We intend a vigorous defense of the case.”

The Brion matter was posted to the HIWU website Friday. Mollica said he was under the impression that HIWU suspensions would not be made public until after the results of a split sample had been received.

“I am surprised that before any B sample came back this became a public issue,” Mollica said.

Brion is the second trainer to be provisionally suspended for a cocaine positive in little more than a month. HIWU has charged that the R. McLane Hendriks-trainee Princess Javoncia (Animal Kingdom) tested positive for cocaine after an Aug. 16 race at Penn National.

Brion was a long-time assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard before going out on her own in 2021 when Sheppard retired. She has won 73 races from 585 career starters. Her accomplishments include finishing one-two-three in the 2021 Jonathan Sheppard S., named for her mentor.

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Led by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission staff, the sweeps took place first in Erie at Presque Isle Downs before spending three days downstate at Parx Racing in Bensalem through Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby.

As part of their integrity program, the Commission once again put together a group of investigators–this time from nine states, plus representatives from England–and set them to work policing the barns and stable gates.

“We do this as part of our commitment to the integrity of horse racing in the Commonwealth and for the safety and security of the horses involved,” said Director of Enforcement, Jason Klouser. “The Commission is able to assemble such a large team of investigators through the contacts made from the Organization of Racing Investigators, whose members are the best and brightest when it comes to enforcement at their local tracks.”

The Organization of Racing Investigators, known as ORI, is a membership organization composed of specialists who are employed by state racing commissions and racetracks. The members' tradecraft helps protect the sport and perform a myriad of duties from combating allegations of race fixing, stopping horse doping, and breaking up nefarious activities in the barn areas. Their network fights a host of other offenses which are committed against equine athletes. The Pennsylvania Racing Commission is a regulatory agency, however, ORI members in various other states are commissioned law enforcement agents. No matter their standing, all investigators are essential when it comes to enforcing the rules.

In the lead up to the big day at Parx, the Commission's integrity teams moved across the state in an effort to maintain the integrity of horse racing in the Commonwealth.

Car search at Parx Racing | PSHRC

“The Commission utilizes all industry assets at our disposal to ensure a level playing field for all participants,” Klouser said.

Conducting enforcement operations in the barn area and searching vehicles entering the stable gate at both Presque Isle Downs and Parx yielded results.

Based on updates through the Commission's website, Ruling No. 23096PI was handed down to trainer William Joseph Dowling, when a search found him with two loaded needles and syringes. The 6-year-old dark bay state-bred gelding Saketumi (Maclean's Music) was scratched from the seventh race Sept. 18 and a summary suspension was issued by the board of stewards Sept. 21.

Shifting the search to Parx last Friday and Saturday, Assistant Starter Luis A. Gonzalez Jr. was found in possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. Ruling No. 23254PP indicated that Gonzalez was in possession of a methamphetamine pipe containing residue and marijuana. He was summarily suspended by the Parx Board of Stewards Sept. 22.

“The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission is incredibly proactive at the state level and will continue to liaise with organizations in order to strengthen the integrity of horse racing and the health and safety of the equine athletes,” said Klouser. “The Racing Integrity Team was a collaborative effort between the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, Parx Racing, Presque Isle Downs, and the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.”

Click here to access the state's rulings portal.

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#5 Closethegame Sugar closes strong to take the 4th Race @PID_Casino!

Jockey: @iradortiz
Trainer: Adam Rice
Owner: Adam Rice and Sugar Diaz LLC@PA_HBPA

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/hdqG7OCd7u

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) September 18, 2023

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1st-Presque Isle Downs, $30,600, Msw, 9-5, 2yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:12.44, ft, 2 1/2 lengths.
KENWICK (f, 2, Bernardini–Bell Court, by Street Sense) O/B-Godolphin LLC (KY); T-Eoin G Harty.

The name of Saratoga winning filly Just F Y I (Justify) is a sort of an anagram (rearrangement of letters to form another name) of the moniker of her dad – which is kind of unusual and brave, and therefore worthy of praise. She won on her debut, so novelty and quality are part of her repertoire.

6th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-26, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.06, ft, head.
JUST F Y I (f, 2, Justify–Star Act {SP, $147,605}, by Street Cry {Ire}). O/B-George Krikorian (KY); T-William I. Mott.

There was horseracing in antiquity, and there is antiquity in modern horseracing. So much so that a recent sprint stakes race at Parx Racing Aug. 22 produced a very classical exacta, with a close finish. The winner is called Gordian Knot (Social Inclusion), as in the famous head-scratching problem solved by Alexander The Great with a dramatic blow of his sword on his way to conquering Asia. The runner-up is named Praetorian Guard (Speightster), after the dangerous posse of Roman Emperors – made up of veteran bodyguards who on occasion became a mortal danger to the very ruler they were to protect. “No one reigns innocently”, as it has been said.

SALVATORE M. DEBUNDA SPRINT S., $75,000, Parx Racing, 8-22, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 1:19.83, ft.
1–GORDIAN KNOT, 126, g, 3, Social Inclusion-Mia,
by Put It Back. O-Joseph M. Imbesi. B- Mr. & Mrs. Joe Imbesi.
T-Guadalupe Preciado. $43,200. Lifetime Record: 8-6-0-1,
$386,960.
2–Praetorian Guard, 121, g, 3, Speightster–Super Shopper,
by Super Saver. ($25,000 2yo '22 OBSOPN). O-Conway Racing
LLC (Mark Conway), Over The Moon Racing and Innovest BC
LLC; B-Jimmy L. Gladwell, III (KY); T-Louis C. Linder, Jr. $14,400.

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