Tag: The Biz

The key indicators to measure the success of a race meet were either up or maintained a lofty level at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs came to a close Wednesday.

Purses paid out to horse owners were a record for the 12th straight year. Money wagered was another record, increasing 4.3 percent. Field sizes remained among the highest in the country with an average of 10.42 starters per race.

There's another important metric at Kentucky Downs: Prioritizing hospitality for horse owners and ensuring horsemen have a good time.

“Kentucky Downs' ownership led by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone continually pushes us to present racing in a different way, to look for ways to innovate and improve,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' Vice President for Racing. “We put a premium on creating a memorable experience for our guests, horsemen and our sponsors. Horse owners put on the show. We want to show our recognition and appreciation for that with our hospitality.”

Of course, people having a good time can only be measured anecdotally. Like this:

“It's just fabulous,” said Ted Nixon, whose Storyteller Racing won its first race at Kentucky Downs. “You all have really upped the game in hospitality. I don't know how you make it more friendly.”

“It's a unique venue,” said Mary Nixon, Ted's wife, co-owner of Storyteller and chairwoman of the University of Louisville's Board of Trustees. “The purses are outrageous. It brings the best jockeys, trainers and horses from all over. It's a fun atmosphere. And yeah, when you win a race, it makes it just that much sweeter.”

On top of it, she added, “We got a nice, beautiful bottle of bourbon out of it.”

All-sources wagering on the meet totaled $83,640,261, up from $80,175,928 last year. A total of $25,065,000 was offered in purses for 76 races, including $10,523,750 in purse supplements from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Of the 11 stakes offering $1 million or more in purses, 10 were won by Kentucky-breds.

Total purses paid out this meet is still being verified but is certain to top last year's $17,863,177 for 73 races. Seventy-two different ownership entities won races.

Kentucky Downs no longer just a domestic track but starting to receive international attention. Qatar Racing and the Racehorse Club's Irish-bred The Lir Jet came over from England to take the 2021 Franklin-Simpson (G2). Last year the Joseph O'Brien-trained Kentucky-bred Reckoning Force came from Ireland, via Saratoga, and won Kentucky Downs' mile 2-year-old stakes for Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Fergus Galvin.

Then this year, Mrs. Fitriani Hay's British-based but Kentucky-bred Ancient Rome, ridden by former Irish and British riding champion Jamie Spencer for trainer Charlie Hills, crossed the Atlantic to win the $2 million Mint Millions (G3), America's most lucrative turf race outside the Breeders' Cup.

“We are committed to a world-class race meet,” Nicholson said. “We hope we're seeing the start of a trend of overseas horses coming to run at Kentucky Downs.”

Trainer Jonathan Thomas mentioned the “buzz” about Kentucky Downs even before he won a pair of $1 million races. He said if a trainer doesn't have horses entered to race at Kentucky Downs then owners want to know why not.

“It's like a fresh look at something,” he said. “We're kind of used to seeing the same old thing, just in different venues. This is a different place. Outside of bills and horses not running well, the biggest complaint I hear from owners is 'where has the fun gone?' I think guys have fun here.”

Damon Thayer, Kentucky's Senate Majority Floor Leader, has seen up close the transformation of Kentucky Downs. He worked for Turfway Park in 1998 when he was charged with rebranding the track then known as Dueling Grounds after it was sold out of bankruptcy to Turfway and Churchill Downs. (The track was sold three more times, including to the current ownership group headed by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone in 2019.)

“Yes, the financial success is there with the handle being up,” said Thayer, who attended five of the meet's seven days. “But it also has a cool vibe factor going for it. I also think the prestige of the meet is starting to get baked in across North America. It used to be kind of a quirky, novelty track, and there were some people who wouldn't run here. Now everybody is coming. All the jockeys are here, all the trainers, the big outfits. It exemplifies what's going right with Kentucky racing.”

Kentucky Downs was love at first sight for James Atkins of Virginia, co-owner of Hidden Class, who won a $250,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sales allowance race on opening day and returned to finish a close fourth in Wednesday's $500,000 Pepsi Untapable.

“I loved it there… I'm definitely coming back,” Atkins said. “A bunch of my buddies want to come, too.”

The post Kentucky Downs: Wagering Up 4.3 Percent, Field Size Averages 10.42 Starters appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Gulfstream Park's prestigious Championship Meet – featuring the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Jan. 27 and $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 30 – will offer 68 stakes in 2023-2024 with total purses of $14.875 million.

The Championship Meet, which includes racing over a new turf course, will begin Friday, Dec. 1 and conclude Sunday, March 31.

The Pegasus World Cup Day program, a celebration of World Class racing, entertainment, fashion, food and fun, will feature eight stakes, seven of which have been granted graded status. The Pegasus World Cup, a 1 1/8-mile invitational for 4-year-olds and up, has established itself as the first major target of the new racing season for the classic division. The Pegasus World Cup Turf, a 1 1/8-mile invitational that will be contested by 4-year-olds and up, will be renewed over Gulfstream Park's newly installed turf course. The $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G3), a 1 1/16-mile invitational for fillies and mares 4-years old and up, will also be contested Jan. 27 on the turf course that is scheduled to host 38 stakes during the Championship Meet.

The three Pegasus Day invitational races will be supported by the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares; the $200,000 William L. McKnight (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older horses; the $150,000 Fred Hooper (G3), a mile stakes for older horses; the $150,000 La Prevoyante (G3), a 1 ½-mile event for older fillies and mares on turf; and the $100,000 Carousel Club, a mile-and-70-yard overnight handicap on Tapeta for older horses.

For information and updates on the Pegasus World Cup go to: https://www.pegasusworldcup.com/

The Curlin Florida Derby, a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds that has established itself as the premier Triple Crown prep with 25 winners going on to victory in the Kentucky Derby (G1), will headline the March 30 program that will offer 10 stakes, five graded. The $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will also be featured on the Curlin Florida Derby undercard that will include the $200,000 Pan American (G2), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older horses; and the $150,000 Orchid (G3), a 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares.

The $150,000 Ghostzapper (G3), a 1 1/16-mile race for older horses, will round out the graded-stakes action on the Curlin Florida Derby program, which will be supported by the $150,000 Appleton, a mile turf event for older horses; $150,000 Sand Springs, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for older fillies and mares; the $125,000 Sir Shackleton, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses; the $125,000 Cutler Bay, a 7 ½-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds; and the $125,000 Sanibel Island, a 7 ½-furlong race on turf for 3-year-old fillies.

For more information on the Florida Derby go to: https://www.gulfstreampark.com/discover/#special-events

The $150,000 Mucho Macho Man, a mile stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds, will kick off the Road to the 73rd running of the Curlin Florida Derby on the New Year's Day program Jan. 1, followed by the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 3 and the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 2.

The Holy Bull, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds, will headline the Feb. 1 program that will also offer the $150,000 Kitten's Joy (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds; the $150,000 Sweetest Chant (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for sophomore fillies; the $125,000 Claiborne Swale (G3), a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds; and the $125,000 Forward Gal (G3), a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies.

The Fountain of Youth, the 1 1/16-mile key prep for the Curlin Florida Derby, will top a blockbuster program that will feature nine stakes, eight of which are graded, including the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2), a mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies that serves as the major prep for the Gulfstream Park Oaks. The $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), an historic mile event for older horses, and the $200,000 Mac Diarmida (G2), a 1 3/8-mile turf stakes for older horses, will round out the Grade 2-stakes action on the program.

The Fountain of Youth Day undercard will also offer the $150,000 Canadian Turf (G3), a 1 1/16-mile grass stakes for older horses; the $150,000 Honey Fox (G3), a mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares; the $150,000 The Very One (G3), a 1 3/8-mile turf race for older fillies and mares; the $175,000 Herecomesthebride (G3), a mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies; and the $175,000 Colonel Liam, a mile turf race for 3-year-olds.

The $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), the $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3) and the $150,000 Suwannee River (G3) will be renewed on the Dec. 30 program, on which many entrants will be auditioning for invitations to the Pegasus World Cup, Pegasus World Cup Turf and Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf, respectively.

The 2023-2024 Championship Meet stakes schedule will be kicked off Dec. 2 by the finals of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by nominated Florida stallions – the $300,000 In Reality and the $300,000 My Dear Girl for fillies, both at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

For more information go to: https://www.gulfstreampark.com/racing-office/

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Australia's Office of the Racing Integrity Commissioner (ORIC) has released a dramatic final report on its Independent Review into the Victorian Racing Industry's Victim Support and Complaint Processes. The report details a work environment “where harassment, abuse and assault have taken place unchecked.”

Especially prevalent in the report is that such abuse has been seriously underreported.

“The dark flip side of loyalty has been a culture of silence across the industry that is underpinned by an historical and widespread, tacit discouragement of reporting,” the report said. “At times, those who have raised complaints have been the subject of overt retaliation. A number hold the perception that perpetrators of abuse have been protected.”

Racing Victoria's Chief Executive, Andrew Jones, said: “The Final Report is extensive and confronting. It contains accounts of experiences across the past 50 years that no-one should be subjected to. While the Review covered all three codes (Thoroughbred, Harness, and Greyhound racing), it is clear there were unacceptable practices in the thoroughbred racing industry. And, while the industry has come a long way, there are still issues to deal with.

“We thank sincerely those who had the courage to come forward and share their experiences. We acknowledge the harm suffered and, on behalf of the industry, apologize for it. No one should experience physical or sexual abuse, assault or harassment, including in their workplace, and everyone, from employers to colleagues, has a role in ensuring that.

“Racing's workplaces have changed substantially for the better. The Final Report recognizes that we have taken comprehensive steps to better prevent and respond to harm.

“However, it makes clear that we have more work to do. This includes ensuring those experiencing harm have greater confidence to come forward. Should a serious workplace issue arise, we want all participants to know that they have free and confidential pathways open to support them.

“Our independent counselling service Stableline, our Participant Protection and Wellbeing Managers, and Jockey Assistance Program are all available to support participants and their families.

“RV will now work through each of the detailed recommendations in the Final Report and look at how best to add to our existing programs and processes. We thank the Commissioner and Review team for the work undertaken.”

Australian Trainers' Association (ATA) Chief Executive, Andrew Nicholl said: “The Final Report provides for stark reading. We echo the sentiments expressed by RV – no one would disagree, one victim of physical or sexual abuse, assault or harassment is one too many.

“It is also clear the ATA, an industry body representing licensed trainers, has a vital role to play helping educate our members on their responsibilities as employers. Employees, as a basic right, must feel safe, secure and supported in their workplace – anything less is simply unacceptable.”

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Irish trainer Luke Comer has been issued a three-year suspension over a 2021 scandal which saw a dozen of his charges test positive for anabolic steroids, reports the Racing Post. Comer has also been ordered to pay €755,754 in costs plus fines of €85,000, a total just shy of US$900,000.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board released a lengthy report Thursday morning, detailing the trace findings of methandienone (MD) and methylestosterone (MT) via hair testing. Comer denied that he or any of his staff were involved in doping the dozen horses; the report also detailed that Comer repeatedly challenged the use of hair samples as a suitable matrix for sampling, thus adding significantly to the expense and length of the inquiry.

Among those horses to positive for the anabolic steroids was He Knows No Fear, which racingpost.com reported is the longest-priced winner in the history of the sport in Ireland or Britain at 300-1 when winning a maiden race at Leopardstown in 2020. The horse tested positive after a stakes race at Leopardstown in October of 2021; this was the test that led to the out-of-competition testing at Comer's yard a month later.

The breakdown of the fines is as follows: Comer was fined €5,000 for each of the 12 positive tests, a further €20,000 for acting “in a manner which is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good regulation of horseracing,” and an additional €5,000 for supplying “misleading evidence” during his hearing.

The IHRB also directed that Comer be required to pay 80 percent of the costs incurred in prosecuting this matter.

According to the report, “Mr. Comer is a wealthy man and the effect of a fine on him must be considered and the Committee must take into account his personal circumstances.” Comer is a billionaire businessman and owns Comer Group International alongside his brother; Comer Group is one of the United Kingdom's largest and most successful property companies, per the company website.

Read more at the Racing Post. The full IHRB report is available here.

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