Massachusetts

Gordon P. Ramsey, a breeder and owner in Massachusetts and Georgia who was instrumental in lobbying to secure legislation and funding to create and support the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association (MTBA) program in the early 1980s, died peacefully at his home in Georgia Apr. 21 after having suffered a stroke last month. He was 84. Ramsey, a Boston attorney, had served as the MTBA's first executive director. He and his wife of 40 years, Linda, operated Chabboquasset Farm in Massachusetts and Georgia, racing their homebreds at Suffolk Downs and Rockingham...

A group hoping to revitalize horse racing in Massachusetts is in the process of finalizing an application to the Massachusetts Racing Commission for a license to operate a track in the town of Hardwick. The project, which has been named Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center, is far enough along that there could be a limited amount of racing offered at the new track as soon as next year. Hardwick is located in the central part of the state, about 75 miles west of Boston. The track will be located at...

A compromise agreement on a bill authorizing sports betting in Massachusetts was reached Monday, which could be the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to horse racing returning to the Bay State. Behind the scenes, a group of investors has been working to open a new track in the state ever since Suffolk Downs closed its doors in 2019, but understood that their plans would not be practical without there being a source of revenue beyond what can be made off of selling bets. With sports betting about...

This Saturday, Steve Kornacki, a national political correspondent for NBC News, will compile and study reams of data and make informed decisions. But he won't be trying to figure out if the numbers say that Joe Biden Jr. will beat Donald Trump in Pennsylvania or anything else politically related. His main concern will be who is going to win the feature at Gulfstream Park. Kornacki is well known to NBC and MSNBC viewers and political junkies. For hours before and after each election, stationed in front of an electoral map,...

by Leo Vanderpot The good news about the destruction of Suffolk Downs racetrack (b. July 1935 / d. June 2019) is the recent report that the new construction at the site--a huge business and housing development--will be done entirely with union workers. This brings some comfort to me. It suggests that for an extended period of time before gentrification sets in with its ever-oozing imprint, those acres that in some mischievous way formed a portion of my youth will retain the blue collar spirit that always made the track accessible....