California upholds reciprocity of Baffert suspension

This just in. The Blood Horse reports: California stewards April 2 upheld the reciprocity of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission suspension of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, a standard practice for racing jurisdictions across the country. The reciprocity ruling, issued by Santa Anita Park stewards Luis Jauregui, Will Meyers, and Kim Sawyer and released…

4-yr old filly disappoints Santa Anita by dying

It heinous that racehorse deaths are continuously glossed over, and glossed over they are. It is almost equally heinous that local news outlets are reporting that racehorses are being killed, but occasionally not as many, so we should applaud horse racing for that. The unmitigated gall. CBS Los Angeles writes: QUOTE A 4-year-old filly died…

Santa Anita has 4th horse death in short fall meeting

VIA THE LOS ANGELES TIMES John Cherwa writes: "Santa Anita had its fourth equine death of its five-week fall meeting on Saturday when Major Cabbie broke down on the backstretch of a one-mile claiming race and was euthanized. This fall meeting has been a significant backslide from last year when the Arcadia track had no…

Pact bolsters California racing purses by $15M, horse owners eye sports betting for more

Reported by Casino.org (how appropriate) by Steve Bittenbender California horse racing received a major boost last week after several key stakeholders reached an agreement on a purse enhancement program. The accord between the Thoroughbred Owners of California, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, The Stronach Group’s 1/ST Racing, and TVG means $15 million more for purses over…

Remembering Mongolian Groom

Whenever we think of the bill still pending before Congress that would result in the creation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority our thought turns to Mongolian Groom. Here's a replay of an event from last year. It illustrates that American racehorses have absolutely no friends within the industry. Training videos suggest Mongolian Groom…

Santa Anita’s racehorse dozen of the dead

As of this writing, a dozen horses who raced at Santa Anita are among the U.S. racing dead. JANUARY 1 Golden Birthday 4-year-old Golden Birthday, died after being injured during a January 1 race, becoming the first horse to die at the Santa Anita racetrack in 2020. CNN » JANUARY 7 Buckstopper Kit Buckstopper Kit…

Santa Anita kills its 11th racehorse since December

We changed NPR's published title which was "11th Racehorse Dies At Santa Anita Park Since December," to the title above. Here's why. It's subtle, we know, but when reports say a racehorse dies or has died at a racetrack it sounds like it couldn't be helped, or that the horse was somehow at fault. This…

Governor’s office says Santa Anita can continue racing during coronavirus pandemic

Remember when Governor Newsom was all for closing down Santa Anita? Newsom has backtracked quite a bit, but nothing like he is doing now. Let us not trick ourselves into believing it's all about racetrack personnel. Where was his concern then? In an article dated March 20, 2020, entitled "Governor's office says Santa Anita can…

Doomed Mongolian Groom's vet cited again

It is amazing how horse racing keeps on going. Always, always the same repeat offenders. https://twitter.com/sidgustafson/status/1242055782000144384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw It is time, well past time, for horse racing "American style" to go. They — not people like us who care about these horses — have brought them here. Many more racehorse doping arrests will be made. What we…

Md. lawmakers aim to save Pimlico while Pa. Gov proposes $200M cut

Luke Broadwater, reporting for the The Baltimore Sun on Feb. 3rd writes: Maryland lawmakers introduced legislation Monday that would authorize up to $375 million in debt to rebuild the state’s two largest racetracks and keep the storied Preakness Stakes horse race in Baltimore. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Guy Guzzone, chairman of the Senate’s Budget…