Hialeah

Diane Crump, the first female to ride a pari-mutuel race and also the first female to ride in the GI Kentucky Derby, passed away Thursday evening after battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 77. The news was confirmed by Crump's family on social media Friday via her GoFundMe. According to Equibase, Crump rode only 228 winners in a career that spanned 1969 through 1988. But her mark on the sport goes well beyond the number of races she won. Female jockeys were widely rejected in the late...

As relief for all the talk of impending track closures, take a look inside my crystal ball for a glimpse of what racing could look like in New York, Maryland and Florida three years from now... Imagine the year is 2028. A newly reconstructed Belmont Park, thanks to a massive $455 million capital infusion, has secured the future of racing in New York for another half-century. The last time Belmont underwent wholesale reconstruction was in 1968, when Nelson Rockefeller was governor. Belmont's new grandstand, designed by stadium architect Populous in...

Dale Romans may train primarily in Kentucky but he comes to Gulfstream every winter. Few trainers anywhere have their finger on the pulse quite like Romans does when it comes to industry issues, which is why he was the week's Gainesway Guest of the Week and asked to help unravel the situation in Florida. The TDN Writers' Room podcast is sponsored by Keeneland. Romans, who is also the president of the Kentucky HBPA, said he took his eye off the ball because he was so sure that Santa Anita would...

Well, okay, maybe he has retired--but Frank Penn has never quit. "You know the problem with life?" he asks with a chuckle. "By the time you know everything you need to know, you're too damn old to do anything with it." But that won't keep the rest of us from profiting. We're not here to learn about the half-dozen mares Penn still shares with brother John and nephew Alex, over at their place near Paris, nor about the show horses keeping him interested in his own paddocks. Instead we're at...

Eric Halstrom is vice president and general manager of Caesar's Horseshoe Indianapolis, a position he's held since 2020. He previously served in several executive positions in horse racing, including vice president of racing at Canterbury Park, vice president and general manager of racing at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, assistant director of racing at Prairie Meadows, and vice president of operations at Harrah's Louisiana Downs. Halstrom, who graduated from the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program, is a native of Bloomington, MN, and is a die-hard fan of...

Racial segregation is one of the dark chapters in American history. Until the 1950s and 60s, Blacks had limited access to housing, facilities, schools, transportation and other opportunities. While we have plenty of racial problems today, it's almost hard to believe that there was a systematic separation of people in daily life. To right this terrible wrong, millions of Americans began to protest in the 50s and the situation began to change. The Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional, Rosa Parks declined to sit in the back of...

Former Churchill Downs CEO and president Albert Lynn Stone, better known as Lynn Stone, passed away Feb. 22 in Lexington, Ky. He was 95. During Stone's tenure at the helm of Churchill, from 1970-84, the Louisville track witnessed a remarkable three Triple Crown winners in Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. As Churchill's ninth president, he was responsible for instituting the 20-horse limit in the Kentucky Derby and also oversaw $10-million in physical improvements that included new Skye Terraces, a press box, jockey quarters, 12 new barns, fire-resistant tack rooms, sprinkling...

Do you remember Bowie? The Marshfield Fair? Or, how about Liberty Bell? I do. I've been to them all. Someone sent me a link the other day to a list of all the defunct racetracks in the country and it got me thinking how sad it was that I had been to so many that have disappeared into the ether. That and whether or not I hold some sort of unofficial record of having attended more former racetracks than anyone else. I have been to 28 North American tracks that...

A longtime handicapper and TV personality in Southern Florida, Ron Nicoletti has spent the better part of the last 15 years as one of the handicappers and TV talent at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida. And while it may seem there was never a time without a Nicoletti tip sheet or on-air analysis, it can be argued that the 70-year-old has amassed several lifetimes prior to embarking on his latest act in horseracing. A kid from Corona, New York who was instrumental in launching a trendy Manhattan boutique in his...