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Mixed Meet At Zia Park Reduced To 36 Race Dates, Scheduled To Begin On Oct. 5

With the impact of COVID-19 sparing few in the racing industry, including Zia Park, the New Mexico oval originally scheduled to commence its live meet on Sept. 21 will now kick off its racing season on Monday, Oct. 5. Due to significantly reduced purse funds resulting from an ongoing shutdown of Zia Park's casino operation starting on March 16, the New Mexico Racing Commission approved a reduction in the track's live racing calendar from 54 to 36 dates with the meet running through Wednesday, Dec. 23.

The track will now operate on a three day a week schedule with live racing conducted on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with a 12:00 P.M. (Mountain) post time. Currently, on-track spectators, including simulcasting, will not be permitted but will be evaluated in the future. In the event casino operations resume by Nov. 1, Zia Park will add one racing date to each of the final four weeks of its 2020 season. Overnight purses are projected to be approximately $95,000 per day with Quarter Horse races comprising the first four races of each card with the final six featuring Thoroughbreds.

Due to the consolidated racing calendar and limited purse funds, the Hobbs America Futurity and Derby Quarter Horse stakes have been cancelled for 2020 with all nomination fees for those events to be refunded. The stakes schedule will also be abbreviated and feature only state bred races – with the annual New Mexico Classics to be raced over two days – Monday, Nov. 9 for Quarter Horses and Wednesday, Nov. 11 for Thoroughbreds. Horsemen are reminded that registration certificates are due to the racing office by 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25 in order to establish a “zero date” for entries.

“This year has been a roller coaster to date and while our 2020 season will be shortened, we are glad to be able to provide the New Mexico racing industry with a needed bridge in terms of racing opportunities and stabling,” said Zia Park Vice President and General Manager Bill Belcher.

The first condition book covering the first 12 race dates (through Oct. 28) and both horsemen and racing participants are encouraged to go to www.ziaparkcasino.com/racing for safety protocols to be implemented for the upcoming race meet.

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Arizona Horsemen Secure Some Disputed Purse Funds

At the six-month mark of the shutdown of live racing in Arizona that is the result of both the pandemic and a prolonged fight over off-track betting (OTB) privileges, the Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) has reportedly secured some of the disputed money from the horsemen’s account that had been controlled by Turf Paradise and placed it into a trust to pay purses if and when racing resumes elsewhere.

This news was shared in the form of a widely circulated email that made the rounds on social media Monday. It was purportedly written to the AZHBPA membership by National HBPA president Leroy Gessmann and dated Sept. 12.

“[AZHPA president] Bob Hutton, with suggestions from the Board members, was able to acquire part of our purse fund from Turf Paradise,” the email stated. “These funds are now in our control in a trust account and will remain there until our legal issues with Turf Paradise are resolved. When they are available, they will only be used for purse money, for whatever track wants to run a live meet! We have retained an attorney that is working on getting the rest of our money and all money earned in 2021 by Turf Paradise’s OTBs. If [Turf Paradise] won’t host a live meet for Arizona horsemen, they should not be able to profit from our business.”

The state’s two commercial tracks are Turf Paradise in Phoenix and Arizona Downs 82 miles north in Prescott.

Turf Paradise ended its spring meet prematurely Mar. 14 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation. Last month track management withdrew its dates request for a traditional 2020-21 autumn-to-spring meet, citing liability concerns related to COVID-19.

Arizona Downs is the former Yavapai Downs. It reopened in 2019 under the new name but called off part of its race meet because of a simulcasting signal dispute that eventually wound up in the courts. Its 2020 summer season never started as scheduled because local health officials would not extend permission to reopen under pandemic conditions.

At a Sept. 10 Arizona Racing Commission meeting, members of the horse racing community lobbied for officials to help clear the way for expanded dates at Arizona Downs.

“Arizona Downs future with racing is totally dependent on the proposal that Arizona Downs presents to the HBPA board,” the email stated. “The HBPA will make sure the purses are funded properly and that the management team is performing to the standards that the Arizona Horsemen deserve…The HBPA is about live racing and any permittee that doesn’t support live racing will not be recognized by our group. No permittee will be able to operate OTBs after Dec. 31, 2020, without having a live meet!”

At the Sept. 10 commission meeting, chairman Rory Goree said that moving forward, the commission needs to “start looking at what the requirements are regarding live racing versus having an OTB [and] what powers we may have regarding if [a licensee is] not offering live racing [but still operating] OTB networks.”

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Del Mar Maintains Purse Levels For 2020 Fall Stakes Schedule

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will present its seventh fall race meeting – officially titled the Bing Crosby Season in a salute to the seaside track's founder – with 16 stakes worth $2,250,000 scheduled during a 15-day session starting on Saturday, October 31.

Despite the concerns and obvious issues around the ongoing pandemic, the track was able to maintain the same purse amounts for its stakes as presented in 2019, including $300,000 incentives for its pair of Grade Is and $200,000 for its two Grade IIs.

Additionally, because Del Mar serves as California host for the Breeders' Cup races this year, it also will run two California-bred sprint stakes for juveniles that were not on its agenda the past two seasons.

Nine of the 16 fall stakes are graded; nine of the 16 stakes will be run on turf; seven of the stakes – all of them on grass – will be presented over the track's extended closing weekend which begins on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, and goes until closing day on Sunday, November 29.

“Given the current climate of things, we are very pleased to keep our fall stakes purse levels intact,” said David Jerkens, Del Mar's racing secretary. “The response to our summer racing program was exceptional. We are expecting similar results this fall. I am especially excited about our Thanksgiving stakes weekend, which has taken on national prominence.”

The track's two premier stakes will be presented on its closing weekend – the Grade I, $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at nine furlongs on Saturday, November 28 and the Grade I, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on Sunday, November 29. Both are run on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Additionally, closing weekend also will offer the Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one-half on Thanksgiving Friday, November 27 and the Grade II, $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap for 3-year-olds and up and a mile and one-sixteenth on November 28.

Racing will be conducted Saturday and Sunday for opening weekend, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next three weeks, finishing finally with a four-day week around Thanksgiving.

First post daily will be 12:30 p.m. on all racing days with the exception of the track's special holiday card on Thanksgiving Thursday when racing begins at 11 a.m.

There will be six stakes offered for juveniles, led off by the two Cal-bred dashes – the $150,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies on Friday, November 6 and the $150,000 Golden State Juvenile on Saturday, November 7, both at seven furlongs.

Three of the juvenile tests are Grade IIIs – the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs on Sunday, November 15; the $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on the grass on Saturday, November 28, and the $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on Sunday, November 29, also at a mile on the lawn.

The Bing Crosby Season once again will kick off with a pair of $75,000 overnight stakes — the Kathryn Crosby Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf October 31 and the Let It Ride Stakes for 3-year-olds at the same distance and surface on November 1.

As in past years, Del Mar's racing office plans to card eight races during its weekday cards and nine for the weekend programs.

The complete list of stakes follows:

DATE	RACE / CONDITIONS	PURSE / DISTANCE
Sat. Oct 31	Kathryn Crosby Stakes* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$75,000 Added 1 Mile (Turf)
Sun. Nov 01	Let it Ride Stakes* Three-year-olds	$75,000 Added 1 Mile (Turf)
Fri. Nov 06	GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE FILLIES Fillies, Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$150,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 07	GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred	$150,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sun. Nov 08	BETTY GRABLE STAKES Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 14	DESI ARNAZ STAKES Fillies, Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sun. Nov 15	BOB HOPE STAKES (GR. III) Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 21	NATIVE DIVER STAKES (GR. III) Three-year-olds & up	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles
Sun. Nov 22	CARY GRANT STAKES Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred	$100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs
Thu. Nov 26	RED CARPET HANDICAP (GR. III) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 3/8 Miles (Turf)
Fri. Nov 27	HOLLYWOOD TURF CUP (GR. II) Three-year-olds & up	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 1/2 Miles (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28	JIMMY DURANTE STAKES (GR. III) Fillies, Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28	SEABISCUIT HANDICAP (GR. II) Three-year-olds & up	$200,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28	HOLLYWOOD DERBY (GR. I) Three-year-olds	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (Turf)
Sun. Nov 29	CECIL B. DEMILLE STAKES (GR. III) Two-year-olds	$100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)
Sun. Nov 29	MATRIARCH STAKES (GR. I) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up	$300,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

* Indicates Overnight Stakes

The post Del Mar Maintains Purse Levels For 2020 Fall Stakes Schedule appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators for August Announced

Editor’s Note: As a service to the industry and in consideration of the economic changes due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Equibase is currently providing monthly reporting of its Economic Indicators Advisories. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing’s performance throughout the year.

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

August 2020 vs. August 2019

Indicator August 2020 August 2019 % Change

Wagering on U.S. Races* $1,154,522,663 $1,177,165,980 -1.92%

U.S. Purses $104,515,752 $128,293,370 -18.53%

U.S. Race Days 445 515 -13.59%

U.S. Races 3,607 4,026 -10.41%

U.S. Starts 26,964 28,895 -6.68%

Average Field Size 7.48 7.18 +4.16%

Average Wagering Per Race Day $2,594,433 $2,285,759 +13.50%

Average Purses Per Race Day $234,867 $249,113 -5.72%

YTD 2020 vs. YTD 2019

Indicator YTD 2020 YTD 2019 % Change

Wagering on U.S. Races* $7,308,988,910 $7,792,183,885 -6.20%

U.S. Purses $518,901,054 $775,638,076 -33.10%

U.S. Race Days 2,144 3,103 -30.91%

U.S. Races 17,793 25,225 -29.46%

U.S. Starts 140,022 185,746 -24.62%

Average Field Size 7.87 7.36 +6.87%

Average Wagering Per Race Day $3,409,043 $2,511,178 +35.75%

Average Purses Per Race Day $242,025 $249,964 -3.18%

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