Tag: The Biz

Racing dates for 2024 at Colonial Downs were approved today at the Virginia Racing Commission meeting. The 27-day live racing season will be held over nine weeks from Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, September 7. The New Kent racetrack will race three days per week, Thursday through Saturday.

“The success of the 2023 meet, which brought weekend racing back to Colonial Downs, was a credit to the tremendous support here in Virginia from the owners, trainers, horseplayers, hard-working staff, and partners,” said Senior Director of Racing Operations Frank Hopf. “We're excited to build upon the momentum and look forward to a tremendous 2024 season.”

The Festival of Racing including the Grade 1 Arlington Million is slated for Saturday, August 10. The Grade 3 Virginia Derby will anchor the closing day card on Saturday, September 7. The entire stakes schedule for the 2024 season will be made available in the coming weeks.

The 2023 season offered more than $650,000 per day in purses and boasted an average of 8.19 starters per race. Average daily handle was $2,658,028. Purse money for the 2024 season is expected to be nearly $700,000 per day.

About Colonial Downs

Colonial Downs Racetrack, in New Kent, Virginia, hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – the Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track. The Colonial Downs Group, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates Rosie's Gaming Emporiums® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, Emporia, and Dumfries which offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting as well as Rosie's Game Room in Collinsville, which features a limited selection of some of their best HHR titles plus full card simulcasting. The 2024 live racing season, which consists of 27 days from July 11 through September 7, is highlighted by the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Grade 1 Beverly D. and Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes on August 10 and the Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby on September 7.

The post Colonial Downs Will Host 27 Race Dates In 2024; Arlington Million Slated For Aug. 10 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Oaklawn Park have launched a new pilot program under which a designated area will be available for veterinarians to administer any intra-articular corticosteroid injections at the racetrack during Oaklawn's 2023-2024 race season beginning this Friday, December 8.

As HISA laid out in its Strategic Response to recent equine fatalities, many stakeholders, including a significant number of individuals calling into HIWU's confidential tip line, have questioned whether Covered Persons are properly and accurately reporting intra-articular corticosteroid injections. In order to address this issue and ensure injections are administered in compliance with HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) regulations, HISA proposed two possible solutions: (1) a designated area at the racetrack for all intra-articular injections to be administered; or (2) the requirement of a short video of the veterinarian performing the intra-articular injection to be uploaded with the injection report.

Oaklawn has volunteered to test the first of these potential solutions. Under this pilot program, Oaklawn will offer a designated private location at its Summer Bird Barn for intra-articular injections and will compensate Covered Persons who volunteer to have them administered there up to $250 for the first 100 intra-articular corticosteroid injections this season. All intra-articular corticosteroid injections prescribed and administered by a veterinarian at Oaklawn must be observed in-person by Oaklawn Integrity Officer Beverly Fowler, or another designated racetrack employee, regardless of whether it is administered in the designated location.

The pilot program at Oaklawn will be used to determine the feasibility and value of this approach, as well as to identify challenges that would need to be resolved for it to be successful nationally.

“HISA is thankful for Oaklawn Park's willingness to test this process, which has been used successfully in sport horses for many years,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “By testing this concept, the Oaklawn team is contributing meaningfully to HISA's efforts to make the sport safer and more transparent. Based on horsemen and veterinarian feedback and results, designated intra-articular injection treatment areas may eventually be presented to the Racetrack Safety Committee to consider promulgating a uniform rule.”

“Oaklawn Park is pleased to be a leader in equine health and safety,” said Louis Cella, President, Oaklawn Park. “It is clear to us that the sport must evolve and continue to do everything in its power to keep horses safe. We support HISA's efforts to explore new methods of ensuring safety and integrity and we appreciate our horsemen's support and engagement.”

Prior to each intra-articular injection at Oaklawn this season, the trainer or veterinarian must inform the Integrity Officer of the day and time it will be administered to ensure she or a designee are present. Injection appointments may be scheduled by calling the Integrity Officer at 501-762-3864. The veterinarian and Integrity Officer, or their designee, must fill out and sign an accompanying form and submit photos of the medication that is being injected. A copy of the form will be provided to the veterinarian administering the injection, the trainer, the Integrity Officer's office and the State Veterinarian.

About the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law, it charged the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA is implementing, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which went into effect on May 22, 2023.

The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures.

The ADMC Program includes a centralized testing and results management process and applies uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms are administered by an independent agency, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the Program, accredits laboratories, investigates potential ADMC violations and prosecutes any such violations.

About Oaklawn Park

Located in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, Oaklawn is one of the premiere Thoroughbred racetracks in the country since 1904, best known as the home of the Arkansas Derby. The casino features slots, live table games, and sports betting year-round. Our newest offering is Oaklawn Sports, an online sports wagering platform. Live racing is held from Dec 8, 2023, to May 4, 2024, and simulcast racing throughout the year. Plan your visit at Oaklawn's luxurious hotel, multi-purpose event center, luxury Astral Spa, and several dining options.

The post HISA, Oaklawn Park Launch Pilot Program To Test Designated Intra-Articular Injection Treatment Area appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ascot Racecourse has announced that total prize money in 2024 will reach a record £17.5 million (US$22.o4 million), an increase of 3.9 percent on 2023 values.

This excludes the industry-owned QIPCO British Champions Day.

Royal Ascot (to be held June 19-22) will be worth a record £10 million (US$12.6 million) with no race run for less than £110,000 (about US$138,500), up from £100,000, and all Group 1 races worth a minimum of £650,000 (about US$819,000), up from £600,000.

This includes increases to the King Charles III Stakes (formerly the King's Stand Stakes), St James's Palace Stakes, Gold Cup, Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes, which were all run for £600,000 in 2023.

Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot Racecourse, said:

“We are pleased to be delivering these prize money increases in 2024 against a backdrop of uncertainty and an unprecedented number of negative headwinds for the industry. The financial impact on all facets of the industry is already being acutely felt.

“It is, however, crucial for Royal Ascot to maintain its position on the global stage at a time when participants at home and abroad have so many alternative lucrative options away from Britain.

“Whist the main increases have been made to the Royal Meeting to enable us to get to £10 million for the first time, we have made increases in other areas of the program as well.

“These include increases to fit with the new Premier fixture structure, including at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup, where there is a particular focus on maintaining full fields.

“Importantly, no race at Ascot will be run for less than in 2023 including at our Core (non-Premier) fixtures. This is in spite of a reduction in central funding to this element of the program, which has therefore required further increases in executive contribution.”

The post Ascot Boosts Prize Money For 2024; Royal Meeting Worth Record £10 Million appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ever since news broke late last week that a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered California stewards to disqualify Justify from the 2018 Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, readers have been asking us: does this mean he's no longer a Triple Crown winner?

The answer is no. Here's why.

In the fall of 2019, the New York Times reported that the 2018 Triple Crown winner had a positive test for scopolamine after the Santa Anita Derby in April 2018. Scopolamine is used to treat gastrointestinal illness in humans and is thought by some experts to behave as a bronchodilator. It's naturally found in jimson weed, and has been believed to contaminate hay, sometimes resulting in a positive test.

According to the Times, trainer Bob Baffert was informed of the positive test prior to Justify's trip to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, and exercised his right to a split sample test at that time. In August, the California Horse Racing Board – which did not issue a complaint or schedule a public hearing – voted unanimously and privately in executive session not to proceed with the case.

It's true that Justify's win in the Santa Anita Derby earned him enough qualifying points to run in the 2018 Kentucky Derby, which he won. There are no such qualifying requirements in place for the Preakness or the Belmont.

After stewards declare a race official, state racing officials do not have the power to disqualify a horse from his or her placing unless a post-race drug test from that race reveals a substance that goes against regulations. Kentucky regulators could not disqualify Justify after the fact from the Kentucky Derby because he did not have any post-race testing issues there.

Further, Kentucky regulators don't write the conditions of the race that require qualifying points for participation – that is left to Churchill Downs.

In the years since 2018, Churchill put a new rule in place regarding medication violations with respect to Derby hopefuls.

“If the connections of a horse have been notified by a regulatory body about a medication violation from participation in a Road to the Kentucky Derby or Road to the Kentucky Oaks race, and that violation would result in disqualification, any accrued points from the race will be revoked until the matter reaches a legal conclusion,” reads a current section from the Kentucky Derby's website. “Accrued points will be reinstated if the matter is legally overturned prior to the running of the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks.”

That policy was put in place since the Justify case, however – in all likelihood because of it – and cannot retroactively apply.

Would Justify still have held the Triple Crown title if the stewards had disqualified him from the Santa Anita Derby in a timely manner in 2018?

Probably.

Even if the stewards had decided to disqualify the horse based on the scopolamine positive, they wouldn't have been able to act until the split sample testing came back. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Baffert didn't get the results of the split sample test until May 8, three days after Justify won the Kentucky Derby. There is commonly a delay of weeks or even months between split sample results and a regular hearing (which did not happen in this case). Even if the hearing had been scheduled May 9, 2018, and the horse was disqualified from the Santa Anita Derby, the Preakness and Belmont don't have the same points requirements for entry, so he would have presumably entered and won those races regardless.

With no mechanism for his Kentucky Derby victory to be voided in 2018, he still would have been the winner of all three races.

What about the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority – could this have happened under the current HISA system?

HISA wasn't in effect in 2018, and has no ability to act retroactively on cases that took place before the organization's creation. Under the new national rules, however, scopolamine falls into a category of substances considered “atypical findings” rather than “positives” for controlled or banned substances. With atypical findings, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit launches an investigation and tries to learn what it can about the source of the substance. If HIWU determines the substance was not administered to the horse intentionally and was probably the result of contamination, it will drop the matter.

It's difficult to say whether HIWU would have dismissed this case, but Justify's stablemate Hoppertunity also came up with a scopolamine positive around the same time. Baffert's hay supplier later produced hay samples that contained jimson weed, though it's unknown whether there was jimson weed in a shipment that went to Baffert. It's possible that under HISA/HIWU, the case would have had no impact on the horse's finish in the Santa Anita Derby, and may not have been publicly disclosed as a positive.

The post No, Justify Isn’t Going To Lose His Triple Crown Title; Here’s Why appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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