horsemen

The horse racing industry will gain access to advanced machine vision technology through a new partnership between Equius AI and global surveillance provider IREX AI, the former said via a Thursday press release. The collaboration will deliver video intelligence platforms designed for racetracks, training facilities, and equine operations, utilizing IREX's existing security infrastructure currently deployed across 30+ countries at airports, government facilities, transportation networks, and major sporting venues. The technology suite includes real-time security analytics, fire and smoke detection, crowd monitoring, and biometric access control. Racing-specific applications will encompass individual...

After lengthy negotiations, the Jockeys' Guild of America and the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma have agreed to the terms in the form of a 3-year agreement, which includes a minimum losing mount fee of $100, a fourth-place incentive and all riders will pay the per mount HISA fee, the guild said in a Thursday press release. Set to expire on Dec. 31, 2028, the parties plan to immediately seek approval from the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission. The release went on to say that "extensive conversations with the Remington Park...

The folks who fought to preserve racing at the Northern California's remote half-miler in Ferndale deserve tremendous respect and credit for soldiering on to the bitter end. Make no mistake, the cessation of racing at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds in the coastal region of NorCal definitely rates as "bitter." There is no sugarcoating this one like a sticky tuft of cotton candy from the midway of Humboldt County's charmingly rural fairgrounds, whose ties to the sport date to 1896. Advocates for racing at Ferndale (pop. 1,398), a Victorian village with...

Just as two of our greatest race days unfolded at Churchill Downs, our sport received great news as the Florida Senate held firm and did not take up the decoupling bill that had passed the House a few days earlier. For the first time I can remember, the effort to defeat decoupling brought so many people in the industry together. I personally wanted to congratulate the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative and their team, organized by members including David O'Farrell, Damon Thayer, Barry Eisaman, Mark Casse, Tom Ventura and many others. They...

The Puerto Rico Horse Owners Association, Inc. (PRHOA) has agreed to drop a year-old federal lawsuit over allegedly unsafe surface conditions at Camarero Race Track after the owners of the island's only racing venue finally agreed to a long-sought demand by the plaintiffs to allow John Passero, the noted track-safety consultant who once served as the track superintendent at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, to inspect the track. After a Feb. 10-12 inspection by Passero deemed that Camarero's dirt surface "was generally in good condition [and] not suffering at...

With the recent winter weather-related cancellations, Parx Racing, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA), will offer live racing on Thursday, Jan. 30 in an effort to reschedule days which have been lost due to adverse conditions, the groups announced jointly Friday afternoon. The long-term goal is to add race days in the coming weeks to assist horsemen who have been impacted by the card cancellations. Days will be added in the future using 10-day weather outlooks to determine the best dates, but in the interim, Parx will...

The Horseracing Integrity & Safety Authority (HISA)'s 150-Day Layoff Report rule is scheduled to go into effect Thursday, Dec. 5, the group announced Saturday afternoon. Announced back in July but beginning on the aforementioned date, any horse who has not raced in 150 days (approx. five months) or more must have a report submitted prior to race entry. It is recommended that said report be uploaded 10-14 days prior. Trainers will be notified when a horse has been off for 140 days. A live demonstration and Q&A will be hosted...

It almost feels like he's on the other end of some celestial phoneline, listening in and smiling. Because somehow Marty Wygod seems to have arranged things so that family and friends, since mourning his loss in April, could be consoled by an afterglow of the same vitality that had sustained his 84 years. First a colt gifted to his daughter Emily Bushnell and longtime racing adviser Ric Waldman took them to the GI Kentucky Derby; and now another graduate of his program has assisted its transition with a $2.4 million...

Needless to say, all four tried to reject their billing. Between them, after all, they have spent the better part of three centuries dealing with that vehicle of humility, the Thoroughbred. To everyone else present, however, the opportunity to tap into the experience of four such sages as Bill Landes, Frank Penn, Tom Thornbury and John Williams fully justified the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club in promoting their latest meeting in Lexington as "An Evening with Legends." Each, moreover, could be consoled that one of the first tasks addressed--an acknowledgement...

The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that it won't treat a request made by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority to vacate a recent panel opinion and reinstate a stay pending appeal as an "emergency" that requires an expedited decision. The decision involves a lawsuit under appeal brought by the states of Louisiana and West Virginia, plus other "covered persons" under HISA, alleging unconstitutionality and federal rulemaking procedure violations. (Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified the plaintiff in the case. The National...

As the deadline looms for congress to insert language into the full year-end omnibus spending bill to fix constitutional question marks surrounding the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), proponents and critics of the law have taken to an epistolary standoff. Last week, trainers Wesley Ward and Larry Rivelli issued a letter through the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) critiquing various aspects of the national program for "too many flaws, missteps and costs that could have been averted with true inclusion and transparency in its development." Earlier this...

The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation will hold its inaugural golf tournament and auction Oct. 10 at Houston Oaks Golf Course in Paris, Kentucky. In a short period of time the foundation has awarded scholarships to eight young people from North America and Europe. This was made possible by the support and collaboration of KEMI, Irish National Stud, Springhouse Farm, Lane's End, University of Limerick, University College Dublin and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. This inaugural golf tournament has sponsorship and donation opportunities...