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NYRA Fires Hayward, Kehoe Amid Probe | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69511/nyra-fires-hayward-kehoe-amid-probe

With talk swirling of state officials considering the future of its racetrack franchise, the New York Racing Association has fired president Charles Hayward following revelations he may have known the racing group was violating state law by not lowering pari-mutuel takeout rates on exotic wagers.
 
Also let go was Patrick Kehoe, NYRA’s senior vice president and counsel.
 
The termination of Hayward and Kehoe came May 4, the same day the NYRA board was to provide its response to state regulators looking into the matter. The state Inspector General’s office launched an investigation into the matter that could result in civil or criminal sanctions.

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So my dream of being a jockey may still be alive…

Kentucky Derby: Do Horse Races Really Need Jockeys? – WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304746604577382202116022244.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Under the rules of racing, a horse that loses its rider during a race is either listed as a non-starter or a non-finisher or is automatically listed as coming in last. To the establishment, the idea of a horse crossing the wire alone is just about as preposterous as a jockey trotting to the finish without a mount.

But anyone who happened to see Elle’s Vision on that Sunday at Aqueduct couldn’t have helped being impressed by the effortlessness of the horse’s stride and shared some of the thrill of what was clearly a wild romp. They might have been tempted to ask themselves a radical question—one that would cause a lot of ears to perk up at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby: Are jockeys in thoroughbred racing really necessary?

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The problem, then and now, is bigger than any one race…

The Kentucky Derby and the Slow Death of Horse Racing – Andrew Cohen – Entertainment – The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/the-kentucky-derby-and-the-slow-death-of-horse-racing/256621/

This dark and stormy Derby week, there is no other way to put it. These are dismal days for horse racing in North America. We once said, in the grandstands and along the backstretches, that all horse racing needed to reassert itself onto the American sporting scene was a Triple Crown winner. But the last 3-year-old colt to accomplish that task was Affirmed in 1978. And that means that a third of a century, an entire generation, has come and gone without such a champion. In the meantime, chaos. The great gaming monopoly that once was horse racing has devolved into a rudderless mess.

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

Well written, sobering, article about the state of the horse racing industry today. 

Horse racing: An industry in crisis | MNN – Mother Nature Network
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/horse-racing-an-industry-in-crisis

This weekend, an expected 250,000 spectators will descend on Churchill Downs to watch the 138th annual Kentucky Derby. This most famous of horse races will also attract millions of television viewers and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for horse owners, betting institutions, the racetrack and the other industries that serve the event.
 
But in most ways, the Kentucky Derby does not represent the horse racing industry as a whole. Throughout the country, attendance at racetracks is down. Revenues and profits have fallen. Trainers, sometimes desperate to win, increasingly drug their animals to make them run faster or run through pain, threatening the safety of horses and riders alike.

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

Very good news from Gulfstream Park!

Gulfstream Posts Major Gains
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69416/gulfstream-posts-major-gains

Gulfstream Park produced sizable increases in handle, both on track and all sources, for its 2011-12 race meet. The 87-day meet started Dec. 3, 2011, and ended April 8.

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

Strong handle gains at Hawthorne spring meet
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2012/05/01/hawthorne-spring-meet.aspx

Hawthorne Race Course concluded its 2012 spring meet with across the board increases in handle, purses, and field size. Total handle on Hawthorne’s live races increased nearly $20 million to $92,109,865, an increase of 27.5% against the $72,239,975 wagered during the 2011 spring meet over the same 41-day period. Average daily handle from all sources increased from $1,761,950 in 2011 to $2,246,582 in 2012; and average daily on-site handle increased 20.2% to $101,864. 

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

A sobering article and video from the New York Times…

Big Purses, Sore Horses and Death – NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/us/casino-cash-fuels-use-of-injured-horses-at-racetracks.html?_r=1

Since a casino opened at Aqueduct late last year, offering vastly richer prizes, 30 horses have died racing there, a 100 percent increase in the fatality rate over the same period the previous year. Like Wes Vegas and Coronado Heights, many had been injected repeatedly with pain medication in the weeks before their breakdowns, according to a review of veterinary records by The New York Times.

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

Follow. The. Money. The integrity of the thoroughbred game is at stake. 

Probe of NYRA Execs May be Launched
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69359/probe-of-nyra-execs-may-be-launched

When it was revealed last year that takeout rates on exotic wagers were not lowered as required by law, executives with the New York Racing Association said they were caught unaware of the problem and quickly moved to make some bettors whole.

Now, according to state racing regulators, some top NYRA officials were not only aware the rates should have been lowered, but acted to cover up their actions and moved to comply with the law only after government auditors uncovered the multi-million dollar error.

In a potentially crippling blow, regulators now want a state investigative office with broad subpoena and other powers to launch a probe of NYRA executives.

(via Instapaper)

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Court Rules, Hialeah to Move Ahead With Slots
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69293/court-rules-hialeah-to-move-ahead-with-slots

The Florida Supreme Court April 27 upheld a decision by a lower state court that authorizes Hialeah Park to have a casino with Las Vegas-style slot machines.
 
In a short notice on its website, Florida’s highest court said it declined to consider an appeal by Calder Casino & Race Course and two other Miami-area pari-mutuel facilities that were attempting to prevent Hialeah from having a casino. After hearing of the decision, Hialeah Park owner John Brunetti told The Blood-Horse the racetrack will soon begin renovating the north side of its building, with a goal of opening a casino with 900 slot machines in the spring of 2013.

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

Good news for racing from the Big Apple.

NYRA Reports Handle Gains for Aqueduct Meet
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69264/nyra-reports-handle-gains-for-aqueduct-meet

Pari-mutuel handle at this year’s 78-day Aqueduct winter/spring meet was up across the board, the New York Racing Association reported April 26.

With five more racing days than the comparable meet in 2011, total handle increased 22.6% to $513.79 million from $419.11 million. Average daily handle on Aqueduct races were up by 14.7% to $6.58 million from $5.74 million last year, according to NYRA figures.

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