Puerto Rico racing

Racing last year for the first time since a pair of 2017 hurricanes decimated St. Thomas's Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack in the U.S. Virgin Islands, at least six Thoroughbreds were euthanized over the course of three carded days at the track. Another horse suffered a breakdown during a workout, bringing the total to seven. Those are just some of several major issues plaguing the St. Thomas/St. John Horse Racing Commission (STT/STJ HRC), who is charged with the responsibility of regulating racing on the island. Compounding horses dying on the track,...

The non-profit Puerto Rico Horse Owners Association, Inc. (PRHOA) has sued the Gaming Commission of the Government of Puerto Rico and the corporate owners of Camarero Race Track in United States federal court, seeking $500,000 in horse-injury damages because of allegedly unsafe track conditions that the PRHOA is claiming have persisted at Puerto Rico's only Thoroughbred venue for nearly a decade. The PRHOA also claimed in its Apr. 26 lawsuit in United States District Court (District of Puerto Rico) that despite several years of official complaints lodged to address the...

The Organization of Racing Investigators opened the final day of its Parx conference with another set of timely presentations. Topics included the impact of bush track racing, and a variety of legal and scientific case studies, which were all geared for the investigator's toolkit. With varied backgrounds in law enforcement and security, many attendees have experience growing up around horses. Investigators work for tracks and racing commissions, but they can never turn their backs on the chance to improve their techniques and plug into the ORI network fiber. Kassie Creed,...