The Jockey Club | Horse Racing Free Tips

Little Named VP of Racing Services at Equibase

Scott Little has been appointed vice president of racing services at Equibase. Little, who has served as the company's director of track services since 2021, will directly oversee setup, operation, and maintenance of the E-GPS technology systems being utilized at 28 racetracks and coordinate chart-calling staff at more than 125 tracks across the country.

A graduate of the Racetrack Industry Program at the University of Arizona, Little served as a product manager for AmTote prior to joining Equibase. Before transitioning to horse racing, Little spent his career in the hospitality and customer service industry, managing four-star resorts and serving as a vice president of a leading hospitality software company.

“In a short amount of time, Scott has proven to be an invaluable asset in leading our data collection efforts, both in working with racetracks and our team,” said Kelley Kraeszig, Equibase's senior vice president for business operations and administration. “His strong background with technology and skills in project management will serve him well in this expanded role.”

Equibase Company is a partnership between The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and serves as the Thoroughbred industry's official database.

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After Great White Way Stakes Fiasco, Repole Calls for Jockey Club Leaders to Resign

In the aftermath of the controversial running of Saturday's Great White Way S. at Aqueduct, in which Brick Ambush (Laoban) crossed the wire second but was disqualified and placed last, outspoken owner Mike Repole has called for the resignation of The Jockey Club's president and CEO Jim Gagliano and its chairman Stuart Janney III. He did so Wednesday in a post to his account on the social media website X.

Repole, who did not have a horse in the race, recently announced the formation of The National Thoroughbred Alliance (NTA), an organization he hopes can bring needed change to a sport he has said is rudderless and in steep decline.

“I'm asking for the immediate resignation of both the Chairman/CEO and President of The Jockey Club and I appeal to the board members of The Jockey Club to terminate the operating leadership,” Repole wrote. “The industry needs help, we are in an extreme crisis. Let's take action!!!!!”

Neither Gagliano nor Janney responded to a request for comment at deadline for this story.

The Jockey Club employs Samantha Randazzo, one of the three stewards working at the NYRA tracks. Other than that, it was unclear why Repole placed the blame for controversy on The Jockey Club. He did, however, make it clear that he is frustrated with the organization and labeled it the “old guard.”

In a roughly run race, there was an incident near the quarter pole in which three horses came together, bumped and were steadied. At the time, Brick Ambush was racing well outside of that trio, kept a straight path and did not make contact with another horse. The consensus since the race is that the stewards mistakenly took down the wrong horse.

Race winner Antonio of Venice (Laoban) may have started the pile-up when he came off the rail under Manny Franco after being blocked. It's also possible that the stewards mistook Brick Ambush for Solo's Furry (Solomini), who may have come over a path or two. Brick Ambush was racing outside of Solo's Fury, who was eased after the incident, and the jockeys of both horses wore green silks.

Brick Ambush's owners Dean and Patti Reeves attempted to appeal the decision, but were informed by the New York Gaming Commission that disqualifications are final once the race is made official and cannot be reversed.

The disqualification cost the owners second-place money of $100,000.

Not only did the stewards disqualify Brick Ambush, they handed his jockey, Junior Alvarado, a three-day suspension for careless riding.

“Dean and Patti Reeves are great owners and wonderful people,” Repole wrote. “This sport is very fortunate to have them. The events at Aqueduct last Saturday were brutally unfair to them. Their horse should have been placed first, instead he was disqualified. The bettors, the fans, the trainers, jockeys and owners were blatantly hurt in this situation. With no governing body in place or people policing the sport, they can't even appeal an atrocious ruling.

“The more I dig deeper into this situation, the more I place the blame on the operating leaders, Chairman/CEO and President of The Jockey Club,” Repole wrote. “I have an incredible respect for the great leaders on the board of The Jockey Club. They have great passion for this sport. Let's unite and work together and rebuild The Jockey Club into a trusting organization that can represent and govern this wonderful sport while working with all people associated in the industry to make racing better. We all need to have an immense sense of urgency and we must move quickly.”

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The Jockey Club, Ascot Partner with Churchill Downs for Trans-Atlantic Initiative

A pair of runners competing during Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, will be offered wild card entries for Epsom's 3-year-old Classics contested four weeks later.

The winner of Churchill's $500,000 GII Edgewood S., contested on the Kentucky Oaks undercard May 3, will receive an entry and travel incentive to run in the G1 Betfred Oaks at Epsom May 31.

In the colt's division, a runner from the $500,000 GII American Turf S., scheduled for Kentucky Derby Day May 4, will receive an entry and travel incentive to the June 1 Betfred Derby.

The Jockey Club and Ascot Racecourse have also coordinated with Churchill to offer wild card entries to a pair of Royal Ascot fixtures. A runner from the $500,000 GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint S., also run on Kentucky Derby Day, will receive an entry and a travel incentive to run in the G1 King Charles III S. (formerly the King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot June 18. Additionally, a runner from the $1-million GI Old Forester Turf Classic S., contested on Kentucky Derby Day, will receive an entry and a travel incentive to run in either the G1 Queen Anne S. June 18 or the G1 Prince of Wales's S., held June 19, both staged during the Royal meeting.

In return for the above incentives for U.S.-based runners, a runner from both the Queen Anne and the Prince of Wales's will receive an entry and a travel incentive to run in Colonial Downs' $1-million GI Arlington Million S. over 10 furlongs in mid-August.

Also, a runner from the G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. at Newmarket's July Festival July 12 will also receive an entry and travel incentive to run in the $500,000 GI Beverly D S. on the same day as the Colonial Downs Arlington Million.

Winners of the aforementioned races will receive the invite to run in the corresponding races across the Atlantic. However, in the event that the winners aren't able to accept, racecourses may then also invite placed horses. The elimination procedures in these races will remain as they are now.

“A trip to Churchill Downs is one that should be on the bucket list for every racing fan, the world over,” said Matt Woolston, Assistant Racing and International Racing Director at The Jockey Club. “The Kentucky Derby itself can trace its origin back to Epsom Downs in 1780 when Diomed won the very first Derby and we are proud to reinforce this historic link.

“These historic races already have an international reputation and we want to welcome more and more international runners in the years to come.”

For more information, click here.

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Baroness Harding Appointed Senior Steward of The Jockey Club

Baroness Dido Harding is to succeed Sandy Dudgeon as Senior Steward of The Jockey Club in July 2024.

It has also been announced that Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen, who is now retired from the saddle, will join The Jockey Club's board of stewards from January 1, 2024.

Baroness Harding, 56, a former amateur rider herself and a Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning owner, has been on the board of stewards since the end of 2017, having been appointed a member of The Jockey Club in 2004. She was previously a racecourse committee member at The Jockey Club's Cheltenham Racecourse and a director of Racecourse Holdings Trust, which was later renamed Jockey Club Racecourses.

Her business roles have included being chief executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group plc, as well as senior positions at Sainsbury's and Tesco, and until October 2021 she was chair of NHS Improvement and executive chair of NHS Test and Trace.

Having been a member of the House of Lords since 2014, Baroness Harding sits on the Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee.

She said, “As a lifelong racing enthusiast, it is a huge privilege to be appointed Senior Steward. The Jockey Club holds a unique position to both protect the sport's heritage and tradition and also to innovate to attract and delight racegoers of the future to ensure horseracing can thrive for generations to come.”

Nine new members of the Jockey Club were elected at a members' meeting on Monday, December 11. The three new honorary members are HH Sheikha Hissa bint Hamdan Al Maktoum, HH Princess Zahra Aga Khan and Gaynor Rupert.

They are joined by six ordinary members: Guy Henriques, Sue Lucas, Rishi Persad, Zara Tindall, Michael Wainwright and David Wiggin.

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