Puerto Rico

PETA Urges Eclipse Awards To Ban Ortiz Brothers In Wake of Cockfighting Video

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent a letter to stakeholders at the Eclipse Awards asking them to bar jockeys Irad Ortiz Jr. and his brother, Jose, from future consideration for the awards after the discovery of a social media video that appears to show the brothers collecting cash in a ring at a cockfight in Puerto Rico. It is unclear when the event took place. The 18-second video was posted on X in November, 2025 on the account of @Josmaestre131, with a caption in Spanish...

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Jockey Club And Weatherbys Partner On Racehorse Naming Site

The United States's Jockey Club and Europe's Weatherbys have partnered to launch 'Racehorse Naming,' the organizations announced in a joint statement Tuesday. The website enables users to check the potential availability of a Thoroughbred name in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. According to the statement, 'Racehorse Naming' "streamlines the naming process for owners and breeders and will be especially useful for unnamed Thoroughbreds bred or purchased in one country and imported to another, which requires name approval by the exporting and importing authorities." "We're proud...

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Puerto Rico Horse Owners Sue Camarero And Rival Group, Alleging 'Scheme' Over Simulcasting

Seven months after a joint agreement to drop a year-old lawsuit against Camarero Race Track over complaints about a purportedly unsafe dirt surface, the Puerto Rico Horse Owners Association, Inc. (PRHOA) is back in federal court against the island's only Thoroughbred track, alleging that Camarero and a different horsemen's group, the Confederacion Hipica de Puerto Rico (CHPR), have undertaken a "concerted scheme" to exclude PRHOA from simulcasting revenues while at the same time trying to "coerce" PRHOA members to join the rival faction. According to the lawsuit, filed Oct. 31...

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Black-Type Analysis: Aidan O'Brien Continues Group 1 Search at Saint-Cloud

Sunday, Kyoto, Japan, post time: 15:40, KIKUKA SHO (JAPANESE ST. LEGER)-G1, ¥419,370,000, 3yo, 3000mT Field: Coachella Valley (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), Amakihi (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}), Right Track (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Yamanin Bouclier (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Giovanni (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}), Mirage Knight (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}), Shohei (Jpn) (Saturnalia {Jpn}), Rex Novus (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Energico (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), G T Adamant (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}), My Universe (Jpn) (Rey de Oro {Jpn}), Goltzschtal (Jpn) (Bricks and Mortar), Arrondi (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), Excite Bio (Jpn) (Rey de Oro {Jpn}), Eri...

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A Saratoga Summer To Remember For 16-Year-Old Yomar Ortiz Jr.

One of the more meaningful aspects of Saratoga's summer meet is how it brings people together. Whether they're new faces on the scene or returning regulars of the historic venue, they all seem to share the same passion for the Thoroughbred racehorse. It's a place that brings prestige to all who ride, work and walk upon its grounds, felt during the mornings spent on the Oklahoma training track, to the steps taken across Union Avenue, and the palpable excitement that flows throughout the paddock and winner's circle on race day....

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Letter to the Industry: Light Up Racing – When 'There's Nothing We Can Do' Isn't Good Enough

Last week, Kentucky news outlet LEX18 reported the death of Kayseri, a University of Kentucky-bred mare who was shipped to Puerto Rico and ultimately euthanised after prolonged suffering. Her story is devastating - but sadly, not unusual. Kayseri stood in a shipping container for three days at sea, then raced far beyond the point of soundness. No one stepped in to retire her. In January, she was put down due to degenerative joint disease. The treatment of horses in Puerto Rico, throughout and after their racing careers, has been raised...

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Citing Horse Welfare and Safety Concerns, 1/ST Racing to Cut Simulcast Signal to Puerto Rico

Effective this weekend, 1/ST RACING will discontinue selling the simulcast signal from Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park to Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico to address increasing concerns regarding horse welfare and safety at that racetrack, it was announced Thursday evening. This announcement comes in agreement with the horsemen's groups in Florida and California after other measures in recent years have failed to substantially bolster the care for racehorses in Puerto Rico, particularly when horses are no longer racing. "Exporting our signal to Hipódromo Camarero represents millions of dollars of...

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Black-Type Analysis: Whirl and See The Fire Primed for Nassau Face-Off

Thursday, Goodwood, post time: 15:05, QATAR NASSAU STAKES-G1, £600,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 9f 197yT Field: Running Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion), See The Fire (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Bedtime Story (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), Cercene (Ire) (Australia {GB}), Whirl (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). TDN Verdict: Three-year-olds have generally dominated of late and after the performance of Kalpana at Ascot on Saturday it is hard to make a solid case against Whirl continuing that trend. The way she put away the Juddmonte filly in the Pretty Polly suggests she has improved since the...

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Letter to the Editor: Suffering in Puerto Rico is Happening on Our Watch

On Jan. 9, 2025, a Thoroughbred mare named Kayseri was euthanized in Puerto Rico. She had no joint space left in her fetlocks. Her body was broken down from overuse, her mind likely exhausted from pain and confinement. Her death is not only a tragedy--it is the subject of three formal complaints now filed against the Puerto Rico Racing Commission, the track veterinarians, and her final owner. Kayseri was not a forgotten horse. She was bred by the University of Kentucky. She raced under Hall of Famer Mark Casse. She...

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Monmouth Park Jockey And Paddock Analyst Conning To Pull Double Duty

The two racetrack jobs that Crystal Conning currently has can be broken down simply. In one, her goal is to pick winners. In the other, it's to ride them. On Monday, her professional worlds will collide when the Monmouth Park paddock analyst rides Like a Saltshaker (Peace and Justice) in the second race at the Jersey Shore track in between TV appearances. "I think it's going to be cool to ride a race at Monmouth Park," said Conning, who hails from Melbourne, Australia. "I've been here three summers working and...

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An Epic Journey To New Frontiers

They had grown up together, the boy and his horse. Their bond was innate. In fact, he has been told that his mother was on horseback when her waters broke. That was how it was, up in the mountains. Most people couldn't afford cars, certainly not the type that might cope with those roads. "We lived in one of the most desolate villages in Puerto Rico," Alberto Rullan recalls. "My dad had a small farm: coffee, bananas, plantains. And every night, I would round up the cattle into pens. If...

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The Jockey Club 2025 Fact Book Available

The 2025 edition of The Jockey Club's Fact Book is now available in the resources section of the organization's website, according to a press release from that entity on Friday. The online Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and auction sales in North America, which is updated quarterly. Later this year, many of the statistics will begin to be updated on a weekly basis, and new statistics will be added. The Jockey Club is continually seeking ways to provide information in novel formats concerning...

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