Tag: The Biz

NBC Sports presents live coverage of the $1 million Florida Derby (G1), a key prep race ahead of the 149th Kentucky Derby, as part of the 1/ST RACING TOUR this Saturday, April 1, live at 6 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock from 1/ST's Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

2023 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Forte, who currently sits fourth in the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings, is the ⅘ morning-line favorite in the 1 ⅛-mile Florida Derby and looks to capture his fourth Grade 1 stakes race.

The Florida Derby will award a total of 200 Kentucky Derby qualification points, with 100 going to the winner of the race.

Ahmed Fareed hosts Saturday's coverage alongside analysts Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey who has won the Florida Derby three times, and Randy Moss.

The Florida Derby marks the second of three consecutive Saturday afternoons with Kentucky Derby prep races coverage across NBC, CNBC and Peacock, continuing with the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 8 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream live coverage to desktops, mobile, tablets, and connected TVs via authentication, giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING

NBC Sports is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series.

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Stakes-winning trainer Raul Velarde Vega was issued a summary suspension by stewards in New Mexico on March 24 after a horse he trained was scratched by a veterinarian and became the subject of a warning notice from the El Paso County Animal Welfare Department.

Vega trainee Cause For Love Too, a 3-year-old Quarter Horse filly, had been entered in the second race on March 21 at Sunland Park. According to New Mexico Racing Commission executive director Izzy Trejo, racing officials became concerned when the filly arrived at the paddock.

Photographs of the filly show that she had significant protrusion of ribs and large wounds with areas of raw skin on her hindquarters, on either side of her tail.

Trejo said that after her scratch in the paddock, Cause For Love Too was sent to the test barn, where staff took photographs to document her condition. Due to an ongoing shortage of regulatory veterinarians at Sunland, the filly had not had a pre-race inspection done the morning of the race, so her appearance in the paddock was the first time officials had seen her that day.

“The NMRC then called the New Mexico Livestock Board when the stable gate security told us that the horse left the grounds quickly with the owner of the horse hauling it,” Trejo said via email.

The commission provided the Livestock Board with contact information for Vega and the horse's owner, Erika Aldrete. Livestock Board officials learned the horse had been taken to a property in El Paso, Texas. The El Paso County Animal Welfare Department caught up with the horse and issued a warning to Vega, requiring the horse's owner or custodian to have Cause For Love Too evaluated by a veterinarian within one week.

Trejo said the commission subsequently required the horse to be presented to New Mexico racing officials for out-of-competition testing and examination.

Stewards issued a summary suspension of Vega for conduct detrimental to racing. Vega is scheduled to have a hearing on his summary suspension March 31.

Cause For Love Too has made one other lifetime start, in a Feb. 24 maiden race going 870 yards at Sunland in which she finished eighth of eight, trailing throughout and finishing 14 lengths behind the seventh-place horse.

Vega has trained 91 Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred winners from 847 starters in a career that stared in 2013. Last year was his most prolific season, with 205 Quarter Horse starts and 70 Thoroughbred starts. He is a stakes-winning trainer of Thoroughbreds and a multiple graded stakes-placed trainer with Quarter Horses. Last year, Vega ranked 35^th in the nation by earnings for Quarter Horse racing.

The post Stakes-Winning Trainer Summarily Suspended After Horse Scratched Over Welfare Concerns appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The 2023 Thoroughbred racing season at Louisiana Downs kicks off on Saturday, May 6. The 61-day live racing season will run through Tuesday, September 12.

The Bossier City racetrack will complete its annual Quarter Horse meet on Saturday, April 1 and is looking forward to preparing for opening day of the Thoroughbred live racing season on Saturday, May 6. Now under its second year of operation under Rubico Acquisition Corporation, president and owner Kevin Preston and his team continue to make improvements to both the racetrack and onsite casino.

“As you know, we have made significant changes to the track and have enhanced many of the areas including adding over 100 new slot machines to the casino floor, opening up two new restaurant concepts, adding our sportsbook and freshening up all aspects of the race track,” said Preston. “This year we have added many special features to our live race broadcasts. As we move into 2023, we have a lot of additional changes happening for this upcoming racing season.”

One of many goals set by Preston, was bringing back the track's marquee race, the Super Derby. Inaugurated in 1980, the annual event attracted the top owners, trainers and jockeys in North America. Belmont Stakes winner Temperence Hill won the first edition of the Super Derby. Three Super Derby winners, Tiznow, Sunday Silence and Alysheba were voted the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year, the industry's highest award.

Louisiana Downs brought back the Super Derby in 2017 with Mr Misunderstood winning on the turf for trainer Brad Cox. Reverted to the main track, the next year, Hall of Fame conditioner Steve Asmussen won the next two editions with Limation in 2018 and Rotation in 2019.

Preston and Matt Crawford, Louisiana Downs racing operations/racing secretary, worked hard to bring the Super Derby back in 2023. It will be contested on Saturday, September 2.

“We are looking forward to a great Thoroughbred season and the return of the Super Derby,” said Crawford. “Of course, Louisiana Cup Day will return with purses of $75,000 for the six stakes for Louisiana-breds. In addition, we will debut the $50,000 Alabama Stakes and the $50,000 Cotton State Stakes.”

Here is the stakes schedule for the 2023 Louisiana Downs Thoroughbred racing season:

Saturday, June 24

$50,000 Alabama Stakes 3 YO & up 6 ½ furlongs

Saturday, August 5 Louisiana Cup Day

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Juvenile 2 YO LA-Bred 5 ½ furlongs

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Juvenile Fillies 2 YO Fillies LA-Bred 5 ½ furlongs

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Filly & Mare Sprint 3 YO & Up F&M, LA-Bred Six furlongs

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Sprint 3 YO & Up LA-Bred Six furlongs

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic 3 YO & Up LA-Bred 1 1/16 miles (T)

$75,000 Louisiana Cup Distaff 3 YO & Up F & M LA-Bred 1 1/16 miles (T)

Saturday, August 19

$50,000 Cotton State Stakes 3 YO & up Six furlongs

Saturday, September 2 Super Derby

$200,000 Super Derby 3 YO 1 1/8 Miles

The 61-day meet will feature live racing on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday through September 12, with a few Tuesday cards added to the schedule. Post time will be 2:05 pm (Central). For details on simulcasting and special events, visit ladowns.com.

The post Louisiana Downs Brings Back Super Derby In 2023; $200,000 Contest For 3-Year-Olds To Be Held Sept. 2 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Officials have released the first condition book for the 62nd consecutive year of live Thoroughbred racing at Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack, which kicks off on Monday, April 24 with a 1:15 pm first post. The 90-day season runs through Wednesday, Nov. 22. Stall Applications are still being accepted.  

Racing Secretary Jerry Richards, in his second year at Finger Lakes, has added a claiming distance series to the 2023 condition book. The series is named after North Warning, the current track record holder at one mile and five-eighths. Action kicks off on June 19 and features three legs and a final, with the distance increasing with each leg.  

“We're very exciting about the upcoming racing season and the North Warning series,” Racing Secretary Jerry Richards said. “Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack has a long-time history of distance racing and I'm very happy to bring back some semblance from the past.” 

Leg one, to be run at one mile and seventy yards, carries a purse of $12,600 added per division, and will be run as a $5,000 claimer. The claiming price increases to $6,250 for leg two and the purse amount moves to $15,000 added. Leg two, scheduled for July 31, is to be run at one mile and an eighth. The claiming price increases again to $8,000 for leg three and will be run at the classic distance of mile and a quarter on Sept. 11. The purse(s) will grow to $20,000 for that event. The series finale is set for Oct. 23 at one mile and five and a half furlongs and will be run under starter ($8,000 or less) conditions. The purse in the finals is guaranteed at $25,000. 

There is a one-time $250 nomination fee, which is due by June 7. All nomination fees will be added to the purse for legs one and two. Supplemental fees will be accepted between June 8 through July 19 and will be added to leg 3. The cost to supplement to the series is $1,000. 

Horses earn their way into the final by earning points throughout the preliminary legs with four points for a win, three points for a second, two points for a third and one point for fourth. The top 12-point earners from the preliminary legs make the finals. In the event of a claim the points follow the horse. 

For more information about the North Warning series, or the first 2023 Condition Book, please contact the Finger Lakes race office at 585-924-3232, ext. 271. The full first condition book can be found at: https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=CB-FL-20230424-20230524D  

About Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack: In operation since 1962, the facility added gaming to its offering in 2004 and  expanded again in 2013. FLGR is highlighted by over 1,100 gaming machines, the 448-seat Buffet, Remedy Bar &  Lounge, as well as live and simulcast thoroughbred racing. Gaming doors open at 8 a.m. and racing doors open at 11:30  a.m. daily. Home of the $200,000 (estimated) New York Breeders' Futurity and $150,000 (added) New York Derby. For  more information, visit www.fingerlakesgaming.com. 

About North Warning: The Northern Jove gelding made 43 Finger Lakes starts and captured 13 wins, 7 seconds and 8  thirds in his career and currently holds the track record at one mile and five-eighths. Bred by Mrs. Henry D. Paxson, North  Warning was trained by both Dan Conway, Jr. and Stephen Ubbink and won both at sprinting and running long. He broke  out in 1994 when he was a seven-time winner at Finger Lakes all over a route of ground. 

The post Finger Lakes Adds ‘North Warning’ Claiming Distance Series For 2023 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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