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Waqas Ahmed Named KHRC Deputy Executive Director

Waqas Ahmed has been named deputy executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC). Ahmed takes over from Jamie Eads, who was promoted to executive director.

“I am looking forward to continuing to be a part of the team to maintain the highest standards of safety, health, and welfare for both the horses and the public, while fostering a culture of honesty and integrity in all aspects of horse racing,” he said.

Added Eads, “I'm excited that Waqas will continue in the role of deputy director. The commission benefits greatly from his data driven approach to his work and management.”

Ahmed joined the Commission in 2019 as an analyst and obtained database management and application development training to realize more than $100,000 in implementation cost-savings for the agency.

In 2020, Ahmed was appointed director of Pari-mutuel Wagering and Compliance. He oversaw the licensing of racing associations, advance deposit account wagering, and totalizator providers. While in this position, wagering increased from $1.6 billion to more than $8 billion, resulting in the monitoring of tax receipts of over $100 million per year.

Ahmed earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Austin Peay State University. He currently serves as a committee member on various industry boards, including the Wagering Integrity Committee and Association of Racing Commissioners International.

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Equiring, Checkmate Thoroughbreds to Host Spring California Sale

Edited Press Release

EquiRing, in conjunction with Adrian Gonzalez of Checkmate Thoroughbreds, will join forces to create a sales venue for the California market. The first sale, which will be held in April, will have a focus on 2-year-olds, horses in training, and proven horses with notable updates. The sale will also be open to breeding stock.

“California is a vibrant market with great owners and breeders,” said Adrian Gonzalez. “We are hungry for a consistent and efficient way to trade horses. We have worked with EquiRing and enjoyed success with our stallion season auctions, and we look forward to building on that success with this venture.”

President of EquiRing Jamie LaMonica added, “Adrian is a rising star in the business and is knowledgeable in all aspects of the game. We could not be more delighted and enthusiastic to be working together on this project. California has some of the best racing and breeding in the world and we look forward to servicing them with our platform.”

A calendar of upcoming sales will be released soon.

To nominate a horse for the upcoming California Sale, please click here.

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Japanese Superstar Fukunaga To Hang Up The Saddle At Saudi Cup

Yuichi Fukunaga, one of the most decorated jockeys in Japanese racing history, paid an emotional tribute to his fans ahead of his retirement rides at the Saudi Cup.

The 46-year-old had his final rides on the Japan Racing Association (JRA) circuit at Tokyo Racecourse earlier this month but will close the chapter on his storied career when he partners Remake (Jpn) (Lani) in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint presented by Sports Boulevard and Ecoro Ares (Unified) in the G3 Saudi Derby presented by Boutique Group on Saturday.

The veteran rider will concentrate fully on his training career upon his retirement from the saddle and told fans of how that new ambition outweighed his desire to continue riding.

“I have found other things I really want to do as my job,” he said. “I never felt I did not like being a jockey. The attraction of becoming a trainer outweighed the motivation to continue my riding career because I have had enough as a jockey. As a trainer, I can be more deeply involved with horses.”

Fukunaga will retire with a spectacular list of achievements. As an established rider, he has collected 45 Grade/Group 1 wins which include 34 on the JRA circuit, six at the National Association of Racing (NAR) level and five overseas.

Those were the American Oaks on Cesario (Jpn) (Special Week {Jpn}) in 2005, three times in Hong Kong on Eishin Preston (Green Dancer) and the Dubai Duty Free on Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in 2014. In 2022, he won the G1 February S. on Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup entrants Cafe Pharoah (Jpn) (American Pharoah) and Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) on Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong), having helped Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) land the Japanese Triple Crown in 2020.

He continued, “I'd like to thank all the racing fans for supporting and cheering the horse racing in Japan, I never thought I wanted to quit as a jockey in these 27 years. I am very grateful to all the people involved in my jockey life. I will go to the next stage as a trainer, and I do hope I can train horses that many people want to cheer.”

Fukunaga added, “I want to express my gratitude to the connections for the chances to ride in Saudi Arabia for my final rides. Hopefully I can show their best runs and bring the best results to all the fans in Japan.”

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Forte, Angel of Empire Among 141 Blue Grass Noms; Wonder Wheel Heads Ashland

Keeneland's $1-million GI Toyota Blue Grass Apr. 8 has attracted 141 nominees led by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's champion Forte (Violence) and recent GII Risen Star S. winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire).

Click here for the list of the Toyota Blue Grass nominees; click here for their past performances.

“As Keeneland's signature race, the Toyota Blue Grass is the crown jewel in our Spring Meet stakes program,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “It's exciting to see so many of the nation's top sophomores and stables represented among the nominees, and we look forward to the outstanding competition on opening weekend. As always, we want to thank our horsemen for their strong support of Keeneland and the Toyota Blue Grass.”

The 1 1/8-mile Toyota Blue Grass is one of five graded stakes worth a combined $2.65 million to be run Apr. 8 on Keeneland's 11-race card, which has a first post time of 12:30 p.m. ET. Other stakes that day are the GI Madison S.; the GII Appalachian S.; the GII Shakertown S.; and the GIII Commonwealth S.

The Toyota Blue Grass is the ninth race with a 5:15 p.m. post. NBC will televise the race along with the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby and another Keeneland stakes from 4:30-6 p.m. The post position draw will be held Wednesday, Apr. 5.

The winner of the Toyota Blue Grass will earn 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, while the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers receive 40 points, 30 points, 20 points and 10 points, respectively.

A total of 88 nominees to the Apr. 7 GI Central Bank Ashland S. is led by reigning juvenile champion filly D.J. Stable's Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and last weekend's GII Rachel Alexandra winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief).

Click here for a list of Central Bank Ashland nominees; click here for their past performances.

The Central Bank Ashland awards 100 points to the winner on the Road to the May 5 GI Kentucky Oaks. The next four finishers receive 40 points, 30 points, 20 points and 10 points, respectively.

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