Jockey Club

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A panel on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) and its pros and cons, and another on trainers' reactions to the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) regulations, took center stage at the 2023 Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing held in Saratoga Springs, New York on Thursday. Patrick Cummings, the moderator of the panel on CAWs, is the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a racing-industry think tank. Cummings took the panel through a brief history of parimutuel wagering and the changes...

Thoroughbred owner and breeder John C. Harris will be honored at a charity fundraising dinner hosted by the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation. The event will take place Thursday, August 17, 2023, at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, located just a few miles east of Del Mar Racetrack. "We're delighted to honor John, not only for the accomplishments of his Harris Farms Horse Division, one of the country's leading racing stables and utmost influential owner/breeder operations, for which he has been inducted into the California...

A proposed Berkeley City Council ordinance has been introduced that, if passed into law, would put Golden Gate Fields' future in serious jeopardy. The proposed ordinance makes it illegal to keep a horse stabled for more than 10 hours a day and requires that every horse has access to a minimum of one-half acre pasture turnout. While reaffirming state and federal laws surrounding animal abuse and cruelty, the proposed ordinance also makes it a crime to conduct training and racing under a "reasonable expectation" that it could substantially injure or...

Effective June 5, Amber Florence was named vice president of finance and administration for The Jockey Club, the organization said in a release Thursday. "I am excited to be back in the Thoroughbred industry and look forward to working with The Jockey Club and its diverse group of companies, charities, and initiatives," Florence said. Prior to joining The Jockey Club, Florence served as the vice president of Corporate Accounting for MiddleGround Capital, where she led the finance operations of the private equity firm's management company. Florence's experience before MiddleGround was...

After the TDN published two opinion pieces which recommended a return to synthetic surfaces, one by Earle Mack in the May 31 TDN and one by Bill Finley in this Monday's TDN, we have been inundated by comments, questions, and opinions about the relative safety of one surface versus another. Some of the questions asked for a year-by-year comparison, while other comments cited statistics that were not correct. Courtesy of The Jockey Club's Equine Injury database, here are the figures of racing fatalities per thousand starters, year by year for...

Two pieces of federal legislation to incentivize investments in Thoroughbreds were reintroduced Apr. 27 by United States Reps. Andy Barr and Morgan McGarvey, both of Kentucky. The Race Horse Cost Recovery Act of 2023 would make the three-year depreciation schedule permanent for racehorses, regardless of their age when put into service. Currently, Congress must reauthorize this provision in the tax law on an annual basis. The Racehorse Tax Parity Act would reduce the holding period for equine assets to be considered long term capital gains, putting them on a level...

The rate of fatal injuries in 2022 was 1.25 horses per 1,000 starts, a 10.1% decrease from 2021 when there were 1.39 fatalities per 1,000 starts according to figures compiled by the Equine Injury Database (EID) and released Monday by The Jockey Club (TJC). It was the lowest number since the EID began covering the fatality rate in 2009, when the figure was 2.00 horses per 1,000 starts. "The data shows that since 2009, the risk of fatal injury during racing has declined by 37.5%, which is statistically significant," said...

According to figures released Thursday by Equibase, a robust $1,309,837,841 in purse money was paid out during the year in the U.S., an increase of 10.92% and an all-time record for the sport. Total handle on U.S. racing in 2022 was $12,108,807,335, a decrease of 0.87% when compared to 2021 numbers. The total bet in 2021 was $12,215,598,838. "Thoroughbred racing purses and pari-mutuel handle continued to exhibit strength in 2022," NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney said in a statement. "Purses were up double-digits year-over year and reached an all-time...

Samantha Randazzo has been named The Jockey Club steward for the New York Racing Association. She takes the place of Dr. Jennifer Durenberger who was appointed as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Equine Safety & Welfare Director. The appointment was announced by Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club. "We are pleased for Dr. Durenberger in her new role with HISA," Janney said. "Samantha's experience as a steward at Finger Lakes and her many years working in the racing industry make her the ideal person to...

Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson, two of the most successful trainers in Cheltenham Festival history, have backed the decision to keep the meeting to four days.  The success of the Festival has led to growing speculation in recent years that the showpiece meeting of the National Hunt season would be extended to five days and Henderson was one of the main supporters of that idea initially. However, the man who has lit up Cheltenham with three-time Champion Hurdle winner See You Then, Gold Cup winners Long Run and Bobs Worth,...

The Jockey Club has elected six new members: Len Coleman, who served alongside Dr. Nancy Cox as co-chair of the blue-ribbon nominating committee that was formed to select members of the board of directors and standing committees of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA); Dr. Nancy Cox, in addition to her aforementioned role, Cox is the vice president for Land Grant Engagement and the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky (UK). Also elected were Marc Holliday, who was elected chairman of...

Rio Ferdinand has linked up with the Jockey Club through his youth charity, the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, and described racing as having a lot to offer "as a career path and a sport". The former Manchester United and England defender will aim to help young people from some of the UK's most disadvantaged communities learn more about the sport as a pastime and an industry that they can work in. Initially educating groups of 16 to 24 year olds about the sport through visits, open days and a number of...