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More negative news for the racing industry. 

US Racetrack Denies That Mexican Drug Cartel Fixed Results of a Race – Page 1
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-racetrack-denies-mexican-drug-cartel-fixed-results/t/story?id=16597695

The general manager of a U.S. horseracing track denied allegations Monday that the chief of Mexico’s most violent drug cartel had fixed a $1 million race so his own horse would win.

According to two confidential FBI informants, Zetas leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, also known as “40,” bragged that he had paid the gatekeepers at New Mexico’s Ruidoso Downs $10,000 “to hold back the horses” competing against his own horse, Mr. Piloto, in the 2010 All American Futurity Race, which Mr. Piloto won.

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Horse Racing Arrests Kick Off Bad Week for the Zetas
http://www.insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/2780-horse-racing-arrests-kick-off-bad-week-for-the-zetas

A string of arrests has rattled the Zetas’ financial network as US and Mexican authorities targeted the group’s money laundering operations, which allegedly included a horse racing business in Oklahoma.

The bad news for the Zetas began on June 12, with the arrest of Jose Treviño Morales in Oklahoma. Treviño (pictured, left), the brother of Zetas boss Miguel Angel Treviño, alias “Z-40”, stands accused of using drug profits to raise thoroughbreds and run a horse racing operation. His son, Juan Francisco Treviño, was arrested in a shopping center in Monterrey on June 15, accompanied by a cousin, two unrelated women, and at least two assault rifles.

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Indiana Downs cancels two cards due to track investigation – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2012/06/15/indiana-downs-cancels-two-cards-due-to-track-investigation.aspx

Indiana Downs has cancelled live racing and training on Friday and Saturday due to an investigation by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) into the safety of the track following complaints by the Indiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA

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FBI: Ruthless cartel ran horse racing business in Balch Springs …
http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Ruthless-Cartel-Member-Ran-horse-racing-business-in-Balch-Springs–158644315.html

The FBI says Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie — along with several other tracks across the country — were unwitting pawns in a billion dollar drug cartel money-laundering scheme.

Agents claim the cartel tried to hide its money through legitimate horse races in Dallas-Fort Worth and elsewhere. The FBI said the brother of the cartel’s leader ran the ring here in North Texas.

The Justice Department served warrants at a residence in Balch Springs early Tuesday morning. That’s where the government says Jose Trevino ran a horse racing empire.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Hopefully, this will be more understandable to the fans and will answer the question “which hores get into the derby?” in a much simpler fashion

Points-based system will determine Kentucky Derby field – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2012/06/14/points-based-system-will-determine-kentucky-derby-field.aspx

Churchill Downs has announced that a new, points-based system has been implemented to determine the field for the 2013 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). Who makes the Kentucky Derby field had been limited to 20 starters, with graded stakes earnings determining the field in the event that more than the maximum are entered. Under the new system, the top 20 points-earners are guaranteed a spot in the Derby starting gate, with earnings in non-restricted stakes serving as a tie-breaker. Churchill Downs said the new system is being implemented to establish a clear and understandable path to the Derby, and to present a compelling storyline for fans to follow.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

If other jurisdictions follow suit, this could bring big changes to horseracing. 

KY Approves Race-Day Salix Ban; Battle Looms | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/70530/ky-approves-race-day-salix-ban-battle-looms

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, by a 7-5 vote with one abstention June 13, approved an administrative regulation that would ban the use of furosemide on race-day in graded and listed stakes over a three-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

Whether it is enacted remains to be seen. Horsemen after the vote said they intend to lobby lawmakers to oppose the regulation, and there were indications from the KHRC that if other major racing states don’t follow suit by next year, the regulation could be re-examined.

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Horse Racing Commission to debate ban on Lasix – WDRB
http://www.wdrb.com/story/18777004/horse-racing-commission-to-debate-ban-on-lasix

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) — The debate will continue on Wednesday on whether to ban the anti-bleeding drug for horses most commonly known as Lasix. 

The proposal is expected to come before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission during its meeting on Wednesday.  It would eventually ban the drug furosemide, which is marketed as Lasix and Salix in graded or listed stakes, including the Kentucky Derby. 

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Drug cartel accused of laundering money through horse racing – latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-cartel-horses-20120612,0,4469210.story

WASHINGTON — The unlikeliest of marriages — the most violent Mexican drug cartel and the world of U.S. quarter horse racing — ended with the arrest Tuesday of one of the top men in the Los Zetas drug trafficking ring after U.S. officials began suspecting an uncanny run of good fortune at the track and the laundering of millions of dollars in drug proceeds.

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Finally!

 Secretariat stirs controversy – WDRB 41 Louisville – News, Weather, Sports Community
http://www.wdrb.com/story/18761250/bozich-secretariat-stirs-up-controversy-40-years-after-triple-crown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Secretariat ran the fastest Kentucky Derby in 1973. He backed it up by blazing to another record in the Belmont Stakes five weeks later.

America loved the horse as well as the “Secretariat” movie. But the Secretariat script is still being written.         The only Triple Crown record that Secretariat doesn’t have is the Preakness — at least not yet.
    
That could change, beginning June 19. That is when the nearly four-decade debate about how swiftly Secretariat ran the Preakness will officially resume.

“I don’t want to appear greedy,” said Penny Chenery, who owned the horse at Meadow Farm Stable. “Secretariat’s legacy is strong as it is. But this would truly complete the story.”
  
The Maryland Racing Commission has agreed to review the controversy over the timing of the 1973 Preakness again. The official Pimlico Race Course electric timer credited Secretariat with a 1:55 over the Preakness distance of 1 3/16th miles.

Two timers for The Daily Racing Form immediately checked their stopwatches and questioned that number. They had Secretariat in 1:53 2/5. That would have been a Preakness record, the kind of remarkable number you’d expect the colt known as “Big Red” to deliver.

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Belmont Overnight Ratings Up 13% | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/70483/belmont-overnight-ratings-up-13

Overnight ratings for the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on NBC soared in spite of the scratch of Triple Crown-hopeful I’ll Have Another, topping last year’s overnight by 13% and the 2010 overnight by 74%. The  overnight rating for the June 9 event was the highest for a non-Triple Crown Belmont since 2005 on NBC.

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