Tag: The Biz

Golden Gate Fields' closing may have been postponed until June 30, 2024, but the purse structure at the upcoming 2023-2024 Winter/Spring meet will look significantly different than previous renditions. According to the Daily Racing Form, overnight purses have been decreased by 25 percent, and only two stakes remain on the schedule (there were 16 at the same meet in 2022-2023).

Maiden special weight races will drop from $30,000 at the most recent meet to $22,500, while first-condition allowances have been cut from $31,000 to $23,500.

The two stakes remaining on the schedule are the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby for 3-year-olds on Feb. 10, and the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile, a $175,000 turf race on April 27.

DRF reports that the purse decline is caused by a purse overpayment of approximately $3 million.

While track owner The Stronach Group originally planned to shutter Golden Gate Fields at the end of the 2023 meet, industry negotiations and pending legislation prompted TSG to delay until late-June 2024. The California Horse Racing Board recently awarded the track dates for its upcoming meet, and the first condition book was released Tuesday.

The 2023-2024 Winter/Spring meet begins Tuesday, Dec. 26, and runs through mid-June on a Friday through Sunday basis.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

The post Report: Golden Gate Purses Down 25 Percent For Winter/Spring Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Howard Taylor, a large-scale Standardbred owner and equine attorney, has filed a federal civil lawsuit against racetrack owner Jeff Gural after Gural excluded him from The Meadowlands in November.

The lawsuit accuses Gural of defamation, trade libel, placing Taylor in a false light, tortious interference, and unfair competition. The complaint demands compensatory, special and punitive damages be awarded in excess of $150,000, attorneys' fees, and injunctive relief prohibiting the publication of defamatory statements. The complaint requests a jury trial.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The complaint in a civil lawsuit only tells the plaintiff's side of the story. The Paulick Report requested comment from Jeff Gural but did not hear back at publication time.

Last month, Gural released a statement naming Taylor and 32 others, indicating he had received information related to the federal doping case against Lisa Giannelli showing the named individuals had purchased BB3 (which Gural equated to EPO), had purchased Thymosyn, or had horses test positive for banned substances in out-of-competition testing.

Taylor was one of the people named in the release as having been associated with purchase of BB3.

In his lawsuit, filed earlier this week, Taylor said that no evidence exists that he ever purchased EPO. The closest thing he argues Gural could have is a document from the Giannelli trial that includes documentation that one of Taylor's trainers purchased a product called BB3 in July 2018.

“Taylor never ordered or used BB3, nor did he instruct his trainers to order or use BB3,” the complaint reads. “In any event, BB3 is not EPO. It is a mimetic peptide that is structurally distinguishable from EPO.”

Taylor's suit points out that he has previously sued Gural after Gural cancelled a stakes race at the Meadowlands, and speculates that Gural has been seeking revenge against him since. Gural also owns horses that run at the Meadowlands and elsewhere, leading Taylor to portray Gural as a competitor.

Taylor says that his ban from the Meadowlands, as well as subsequent bans from Buffalo Raceway and Batavia Downs, have harmed his reputation, denied him potential purse winnings, and are placing his many and various ownership partnerships at risk.

Taylor also accuses Gural of making statements on a phone call with leadership of the Standardbred Owners Association of New Jersey that reiterated Gural's belief Taylor purchased EPO for trainers to use on his horses.

“Upon information and belief, Gural has also told others in the industry that 'nobody can own as many horses as Howard does,'” the complaint read. “Through this statement, Gural implied that Taylor does not actually own his horses, but rather is improperly 'fronting' for other people who could not receive a license.”

The post Harness Owner/Trainer Sues Meadowlands’ Jeff Gural For Defamation Over EPO Statements appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has announced the launch of the MedEnt (medical entry) app, designed to give veterinarians a streamlined process for entering treatments into the HISA portal on mobile devices. The app reinforces HISA's commitment to working with veterinarians and other stakeholders to improve HISA's processes as well as its focus on leveraging technology to advance equine wellbeing.

Attending veterinarians can use the app on their smartphones or tablets to seamlessly access the list of horses under their care, add treatment reports and update protocols. In cases where they are giving the same set of treatments to several horses, they can create a shortcut for those treatments rather than creating a new entry for each individual horse, thus reducing the amount of time they spend on data entry. Veterinarians may use the app even when offline, as it automatically will upload the new entries to the HISA portal the next time users have cellular or internet connectivity.

“Serving as an equine veterinarian is an incredibly demanding job,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “We aim to make their difficult jobs easier through the launch of this application, which is the latest in a series of steps undertaken by HISA to use technological solutions to promote the health and wellbeing of our equine athletes. This streamlined process, which allows veterinarians to submit multiple treatment reports with ease even while on the go, means that veterinarians have more time for the hands-on care of horses.”

While the use of the new app is not mandatory, HISA's goal is to provide user-friendly technology for veterinarians across the country. Key features of the app include:

• The ability to create treatment reports and add information such as time, date and supporting photos, videos or documents, for any horse, including those not on the user's horses list.
• The ability to configure treatment protocols to speed up record entry.
• A convenient widget containing information about the user's horses and recent treatment reports.
• The option to use the app online or offline; data captured while offline automatically syncs when reconnected to the internet.

The mobile app is available on the App Store and Google Play. Users can access the tutorial video or PDF guide to learn more about the app and how to use it.

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.

The post HISA Launches App To Streamline Equine Treatment Report Entry appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Keeneland Library's popular Lecture Series returns in winter/spring 2024 with four ticketed events that celebrate recently published works about Thoroughbred racing whose authors conducted research at Keeneland Library. For event details and to purchase tickets, please visit Keeneland.com/library.

During programs planned from January through May, the following authors will discuss their books, with each presentation followed by a reception and book signing:

• Jan. 24 – Kim Wickens, Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America's Legendary Racehorse.
• Feb. 21 – Fred M. Kray, Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing's Golden Age.
• March 7 – John Paul Miller, False Riches.
• May 9 – Avalyn Hunter, The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies.

“The authors in this lineup cover varied and engrossing territory,” Keeneland Library Director Roda Ferraro said. “From a chronicle of legendary racehorse and sire Lexington to a gripping account of superstar Alydar, and from a novel of race track intrigue to a comprehensive history of the Kentucky Oaks, this series is sure to please our fans of racing and newcomers alike.”

Released in July, Wickens' Lexington has become a national bestseller and earned a nomination by the publisher for a Pulitzer Prize in the historical nonfiction category.

“I love Keeneland Library not only for the wealth of information housed there, but because this award-winning library opens its doors and knowledge to everyone, whether a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, unpublished author, sportswriter, historian or fan who just wants to find out a little more about that horse, jockey or trainer,” Wickens said. “Keeneland Library is a special place and one that is dear to me. I spent many weeks there in this home away from home leafing page by page through some of the oldest sports periodicals in existence. Only because of Keeneland Library was I able to piece together Lexington's history.”

Hunter's The Kentucky Oaks, set to release next spring, traces the evolution of the classic through the stories of the men, women and fillies who made the race a symbol for women's growing participation in the sport.

“I'm delighted to be part of the Keeneland Library Lecture Series,” Hunter said. “The Library is a treasure to any researcher interested in the history of the Thoroughbred and has been generous with its help on research issues. I'm glad to have the opportunity to share some of what I have learned about the history of the Kentucky Oaks and to contribute to the Library's unique place in the Thoroughbred community.”

All programs will be held at Keeneland Library from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET.

Partial proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation, which supports the Library's preservation, education and outreach mission and funds projects to expand access to its collections.

Founded in 1939, Keeneland Library is one of the world's largest repositories of information related to Thoroughbred racing, housing nearly 30,000 books, more than 1 million photographic negatives and prints, and thousands of newspaper and magazine articles about all aspects of the equine industry. At the globally renowned public research institution, Library staff has assisted thousands of journalists, writers, academics, historians, racing fans and others with research.

The Library is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To reach the Library, enter Keeneland at Gate 1 (Man o' War Blvd.) on Keeneland Blvd. and take the first right on Entertainment Ct. The Library is to the left of the Keene Barn and Entertainment Center.

For more information, visit Keeneland.com/library.

The post Keeneland Library Lecture Series To Include Four Events During Winter/Spring 2024 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post