Tag: The Biz

Dubai World Cup Carnival Program Announced For 2021; Applications Close Nov. 23

Dubai Racing Club has announced the program for the 2021 Dubai World Cup Carnival, as racing returns to the iconic Meydan Racecourse. While the Carnival opens in January, the first race meeting of the 2020-21 racing season is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2020. Racing will be conducted under guidelines from the UAE government; further details will follow closer to the date.

Slated to run over six consecutive Thursdays from Jan. 21 to Feb. 25, 2021, the Dubai World Cup Carnival program will culminate on March the 6 with the Super Saturday race meeting. Better known as a dress rehearsal for the Dubai World Cup race meet, racing on Super Saturday alone is worth $1.7 million.

Total purses are slightly reduced from the previous year, but given the challenging events over the past few months on account of Covid-19, Dubai Racing Club has made every effort to ensure the return of racing in safe and secure conditions.

The opening Carnival race meeting on Jan. 21 promises to be an action-packed evening with six out of seven races falling in the Group and Listed categories. Topping the racecard on the night is the Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1 (G2), run over a mile, which serves as a prep, for both the Godolphin Mile (G2) and Dubai World Cup (G1). The remaining six nights of racing during the Dubai World Cup Carnival also offer similarly high quality races, sure to attract the finest international trainers, horses and jockeys.

Horses from Denmark, USA, Ireland, UK, Sweden and Norway as well as the UAE were represented at the 2020 running of Super Saturday. Among the impressive international winners on the night was USA's Doug O'Neill-trained Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint-winner Wildman Jack, exemplifying the top quality of runners on the night. Post-Meydan the 4-year-old went on to win the G3 Daytona Stakes at Santa Anita, while being placed in the Group 2 Eddie D Stakes, and is a strong contender in the prestigious 2020 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. A similar international participation is anticipated in 2021.

The Closing date for Horse Connections to file in their Dubai World Cup Carnival applications is Nov. 23, 2020.

All races will be contested and regulated in standard fashion and results will be recorded in an official capacity. In line with the UAE Government regulations, Dubai Racing Club will follow the strict health and safety measures, including comprehensive sanitation, thermal screening of attendees and social distancing.

Dubai Racing Club is also pleased to welcome back our sponsors, Emirates Airline, Longines, DP World, Gulf News, Emirates NBD, Azizi Developments, Al Tayer Motors, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum City – District One and Mubadala.

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Thoroughbred Owner Conference Rescheduled For 2021

OwnerView announced today that the seventh Thoroughbred Owner Conference has been rescheduled for 2021. The original conference was planned to be held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in July, but as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, the event was rescheduled to be held at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., and was then planned as a virtual conference during Breeders' Cup week.

“Because of the uncertainties of travel and in-person gatherings, we still plan to provide a virtual event for the seventh Thoroughbred Owner Conference,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. “However, we are rethinking the format to provide engaging and educational content over a period of weeks or even months in 2021 instead of the originally planned two days.”

Details for the 2021 conference will be provided as soon as they are available.

“The impressive group of topics, speakers and panelists who were looking forward to participating during the 2020 conference will be our go-to group when we plan the next conference,” Falter said.

OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on aspects of ownership such as trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing.

The need for a central resource to encourage Thoroughbred ownership was identified in the comprehensive economic study of the sport that was commissioned by The Jockey Club and conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2011. The OwnerView site was launched in May 2012.

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Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Approves Race Dates For 2021

At its virtual board meeting on Tuesday, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved 2021 race dates for the state's five Thoroughbred tracks.

Chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz made a statement acknowledging the uncertainty caused by the Kentucky Supreme Court's Sept. 24 decision on historical horse racing, though he did not discuss any specifics: “While I cannot say too much, I do want everyone to know that if the current Supreme Court opinion is rendered final, that this commission is committed to finding a solution,” Rabinowitz said.

In addition, the KHRC tabled a discussion on whip rule penalties that had been listed on the meeting's official agenda.

The race dates approved for 2021 are as follows:

Turfway Park

  • Jan. 1 – March 28, Thursday to Sunday (Thursdays all marked as “optional”)
  • Dec. 1 – Dec. 21, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays all marked as “optional,” no racing Dec. 24 or 25)

Keeneland

  • April 1 – April 23, Wednesday to Sunday
  • Oct. 8 – Oct. 30, Wednesday to Sunday

Churchill Downs

  • April 24 – June 26, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays all listed as “Optional,” except April 24)
  • Additional spring meet cards to be held on April 27 (Tuesday) and May 31 (Monday)
  • No racing May 2 (Sunday)
  • Sept. 15 – Oct. 3, Wednesday to Sunday (Wednesdays listed as “optional”)
  • Nov. 3 – Nov. 28, Wednesday to Sunday

Ellis Park

  • June 27 – Sept. 1 (all Mondays through Thursdays listed as “optional”)

Kentucky Downs

  • Sept. 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12

The post Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Approves Race Dates For 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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KTA: Downward Trend Awaits Kentucky Racing If HHR Is Halted

If the Kentucky Supreme Court doesn't reconsider its recently-published surprise opinion on the legality of historical horse racing (HHR) machines in the state, Kentucky's racing industry will be in big trouble.

That's the gist of a document filed in the case this week by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA). The KTA is seeking permission to file a brief of amicus curiae in the civil case between The Family Trust Foundation of Kentucky and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Last month, the state supreme court reversed a 2018 lower court decision that determined HHR machines made by Exacta Systems were a form of legal pari-mutuel wagering.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce also submitted an amicus brief last week, expressing concern over the potential economic impact of the court's decision.

The KTA provided figures showing an upward improvement in all sectors of the state's racing and breeding industry since the introduction of HHR machines in 2012. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund is generated from half of the 1.5 percent excise tax imposed on wagering at tracks with HHR. The fund paid out purse supplements of just over $4.9 million in the year before the inception of HHR in Kentucky, and over $19.5 million last year.

The KTA's brief explains that this increase in purses has led to an increase in field size (which is above the national average) and handle (which increased 18.5 percent with the addition of HHR).

“Eliminating historical horse racing will have a significant negative effect on the Thoroughbred horse industry, which, again, is Kentucky's signature industry,” the brief read. “It will result in horses, trainers, jockeys, grooms, owners, racing executives, and other industry participants going to other states to compete. Kentucky will lose tourism dollars. Kentucky will lose revenue from on-track sources and also from off-track (and in many cases out of state) sources.

“In addition, reducing the KTDF purse supplements will reduce the purses, which will reduce the amount owners will be willing to pay for Kentucky-bred horses that are eligible to race for these supplements. This will lead to decreased spending on yearlings sold in Kentucky each year. It will lead to decreased spending on mares and stallions sold in Kentucky each year. It will lead to fewer mares being maintained in Kentucky. All of this would lead to decreased tax revenue, decreased employment, decreased tourism spending, and decreased economic impact. In short, Kentucky's signature industry would suffer and Kentucky racing would trend the way racing in other states is trending: downward.”

The KTA also raises questions about the legal elements of the Family Foundation's case and whether the court correctly interpreted definitions of pari-mutuel wagering, initial seed pools, and the commission's regulatory authority, among other things.

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