Though Kentucky Downs features some of the richest races on the calendar, the boutique meet also serves as a launching pad for many horses to stage a big fall and winter campaign.
In the latest Longshot Look, J.D. Fox takes a look at how a graduate of this year's Kentucky Downs meet stands to hit at a solid price during Sunday's card at Keeneland Race Course.
Fox has his eye on a horse in Race 5 on Sunday; a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance race.
His pick broke his maiden at Kentucky Downs in his previous start and will aim to continue his success on Sunday at morning line odds of 8-1.
Earlier this week, horse owner Barry Irwin wrote an Op/Ed stressing the importance of having “boots on the ground” investigators to help combat illegal drugs and other forms of cheating in racing. Surveillance and investigations should play an outsized role, Irwin wrote, especially as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program prepares to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
In this week's Friday Show, we spoke to one of those “boots on the ground,” Don Ahrens, director of security of Sam Houston Race Park in Texas and an officer with the Organization of Racing Investigators, a membership association of security personnel from throughout North America.
Ahrens has also worked as part of a Racing Integrity Team that tracks, racing associations or regulatory agencies retain for major events such as the recent Pennsylvania Derby day program at Parx, when surprise searches yielded contraband that included syringes, an electrical device, and firearm.
Ahrens outlines the general duties of racetrack security personnel, which often work in concert with state racing commissions. He also explains the benefits that the Organization of Racing Investigators provides in the area of networking and sharing of information from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and organization to organization.
“The industry has to work together, regardless of the organization or entity,” Ahrens said, “because the goal is common.”
Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:
The Breeders' Cup championships on Nov. 4-5 will be held at Keeneland for the third time since 2015 and the second time in three years.
The 2020 Breeders' Cup was conducted during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic with limited attendance and officials were anxious to give the Lexington, Ky., racetrack an opportunity to come back as quickly as possible to put on the kind of show they did in 2015 when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah brought down the curtain on the successful two-day championships with a rousing victory in the Grade 1 Classic.
Drew Fleming, who succeeded Craig Fravel as president and CEO of the Breeders' Cup in November 2019, joins publisher Ray Paulick on this week's edition of the Friday Show. Earlier this year, Fleming became the first horse racing executive to be named to Sports Business Journal's “40 Under 40” roster that recognizes leading young executives in the sports world. Prior to being named CEO, Fleming was chief operating officer for the Breeders' Cup.
The wide-ranging conversation touches on the return of the championships to Keeneland; the event's impact on the local community; the importance of international participation; the health of the organization through its primary revenue streams of nominations, ticketing and sponsorships, and wagering; potential future host sites; the need for greater diversity among Breeders' Cup leadership and throughout the Thoroughbred industry; and Breeders' Cup's longtime focus on safety and integrity and its support of the newly created Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:
The Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover is a broad-spanning showcase of just how many different vocations an ex-racehorse can have once their days on the track are over, but what exactly those vocations entail might be a foreign concept for those who are used to seeing horses just run fast and turn left.
On this week's episode of The Friday Show, bloodstock editor Joe Nevills and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss are joined by Bally's Arapahoe Park announcer Jonathan Horowitz, who will be announcing events at this year's Thoroughbred Makeover and creating promotional content around some of the Makeover's most interesting people and horses.
Together, they go over all 10 equine disciplines in the Makeover to provide an explanation of what the event entails, and what kind of skill set an off-track Thoroughbred needs to be successful in competition.
If you see a horse you recognize competing in this year's Makeover, but aren't familiar with the event in which they are competing, this episode of The Friday Show will give you the basic details to help you understand what's going on.
Both Voss and Horowitz are familiar with the Thoroughbred Makeover. Voss competed in last year's dressage division with Underscore, known to Paulick Report readers as “Blueberry,” while Horowitz has announced at the Makeover every year since the event moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in 2015 (save for the COVID-canceled 2020). He is also the author of our “Horowitz on OTTBs” series.
The Thoroughbred Makeover will take place Oct. 12-15 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.
