CDI

White Abarrio (Race Day) has been taken away from trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after his suspension by Churchill Downs during a week when two of his horses died from unexplained causes at the Louisville track, according to a Tweet posted by White Abarrio's owners, C2 Racing Stable. He was scheduled to arrive at his new trainer Rick Dutrow's barn at Belmont on Tuesday. Parents Pride (Maclean's Music) and Chasing Artie (We Miss Artie), both owned by Ken Ramsey and trained by Joseph, collapsed and died April 29 and May 2, respectively. Parents...

A federal judge on Friday denied Bob Baffert a preliminary injunction that the Hall of Fame trainer had sought to be eligible to race in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the defendant in Baffert's year-old lawsuit, also scored a legal victory when Judge Rebecca Jennings of United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) granted the gaming corporation's motion to dismiss the case on five of the six counts that CDI had argued. Baffert was attempting to reverse the second year of a two-year ban by...

Trainer Bob Baffert now wants the federal judge handling his year-old lawsuit against Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), to recuse herself. The stated reason is that legislative lobbying efforts conducted by the judge's husband for two racing industry clients allegedly create a conflict of interest for Judge Rebecca Jennings in adjudicating Baffert's case. Baffert is attempting to reverse the second year of a two-year ban by CDI that prohibits his trainees from accruing qualifying points and competing in the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby. CDI first imposed that punishment in June 2021...

Responding to a legal filing in which Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), alleged that a court-mandated lifting of Bob Baffert's ban from competing in the GI Kentucky Derby would harm the connections of other qualifying points earners who would "lose their fairly-earned berths in the Derby to make room for Baffert," the Hall-of-Fame trainer's legal team fired back with a written response on Friday claiming that CDI "appears to misunderstand its own rules," regarding the qualifying system. "CDI argues that an injunction would force it to 'reallocate' points and 'deprive' owners...

The gaming corporation that controls the GI Kentucky Derby fired the latest legal salvo in trainer Bob Baffert's ongoing attempt to reverse the second year of a two-year ban the company imposed in 2021 because of a spate of drug positives in Grade I races, urging a federal judge not to grant an injunction that would lift the ban in time for the May 6 Derby. "Baffert refuses to accept responsibility for his wrongful actions..." Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) wrote in a brief opposing Baffert's motion for a preliminary injunction...

The developer advising Chicago's mayor is proposing a $2.2-billion renovation proposal that includes a glass stadium dome to keep the city's National Football League team, the Bears, at its longtime downtown location, Soldier Field. The website Front Office Sports published details Jan. 8. The news is of peripheral interest to horse racing enthusiasts, because the Bears have otherwise entered into a purchase agreement to instead build a $5-billion stadium on the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse. Although the specifics of the proposal are new, city officials have been...

Three weeks after renewing his federal court fight to reverse a corporation's ban on being able to train horses in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks, Bob Baffert on Wednesday let the judge in the case know that time is of the essence in scheduling his hearing on a preliminary injunction, because the races that award significant qualifying points for Derby and Oaks eligibility are quickly approaching. Baffert's legal team filed a Jan. 4 notice in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) explaining that the May...

Churchill Downs Inc. has requested permission from the American Graded Stakes Committee to move the GI Arlington Million S., the GI Beverly D. S. and the GI Secretariat S. to Colonial Downs. The three races were fixtures at Arlington Park before that track closed in 2021. Last year, the Million and the Beverly D. were run at Churchill Downs. The 2023 races are slated to be run on Aug. 12. In November, it was announced that Churchill had acquired the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC, the owners of Colonial...

With the approval of the Louisiana State Racing Commission, Fair Grounds is lowering the takeout on its Pick 5 from 25% to 15% and adding a new Pick 6 at the same 15% rate with a $1 minimum. "We are very excited about both of these new wagering opportunities for horseplayers," said Gary Palmisano Jr., the newly-appointed Executive Director of Racing for Churchill Downs Incorporated, which owns Fair Grounds. "Fair Grounds has not had a Pick 6 in many years. After monitoring the success of this same wager at the...

Five months after New Hampshire gambling regulators and the state's attorney general disclosed that they were investigating the TwinSpires advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform over concerns that the Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI)-owned entity has operated for years without being explicitly licensed there, TwinSpires is ceasing operations in the Granite State. Back in April, Charlie McIntyre, the executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, which regulates all forms of gambling in the state, told WMUR-TV that "They're not regulated by us, nor do they operate on any confines of state law.......

The pending sale of Ellis Park to the gaming company Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), cleared a necessary regulatory hurdle Tuesday when the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) swiftly approved the transaction by a unanimous voice vote. The KHRC members in attendance at the "special" meeting greenlighted the $79-million transaction in just 6 ½ minutes after a perfunctory read-through of the basic terms of the deal and a statement that the commission expects CDI to follow through with development projects that had been agreed to by the outgoing owner, which is...

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ellis Park Racing & Gaming in Henderson, Kentucky, from Enchantment Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Laguna Development Corporation, for total consideration of $79 million in cash, subject to certain working capital and other purchase price adjustments. CDI will also assume Ellis Park's opportunity to construct a track extension facility in Owensboro, Kentucky. "This is an exciting announcement for the horse racing industry, the cities of Henderson and Owensboro, and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky," said Kentucky Governor...