Joe Offolter

The 2025 Thoroughbred racing season draw to a close May 14 with the last of a 28-day racing season that saw an increased average field size and strong competition across the board. Mister Omaha, a 3-year-old son of Omaha Beach, was named the 2025 horse of the meet at the Claremont, Oklahoma, oval with a four-length victory in the six-furlong Welder Stakes (NBT) in March and an 18 1/4-length romp in the Will Rogers Downs Handicap (NBT) over a mile on Kentucky Derby day May 3. His trainer Joe Offolter...

Ahead of a Wednesday federal court hearing to determine if a temporary injunction is warranted in Oklahoma to keep the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) from being enforced in that state, the HISA Authority filed a legal response Monday that stated "there is no emergency" that would merit such action. The Authority further told the court that the eight licensed Remington Park horsepeople who are plaintiffs in the case are engaging in "foot-dragging and gamesmanship" in their repeated efforts to derail HISA on the grounds of alleged unconstitutionality. In...

A federal judge cancelled a July 31 hearing in a lawsuit filed last week by eight Oklahoma horsemen who are trying to get the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) declared unconstitutional after learning that seven of the same plaintiffs last year filed a substantially similar complaint but voluntarily withdrew it three months later. The judge in the newer case, Charles Goodwin of United States District Court of Oklahoma (Western District), also signed a July 30 court order reassigning the lawsuit to Chief Judge Timothy DeGiusti, the same federal judge...