training

As the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act's (HISA) drug and medication control program has rolled out over the past couple of months, various questions have been raised over the mechanics of the new law. As such, the TDN has decided to maintain a Q&A on this new program comprising questions raised by readers, and answers fielded by representatives from either HISA or the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), which implements HISA's anti-doping and medication control (ADMC) program. The first set of responses can be read here. The second set of...

Richard Mandella has been selected by the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Club of America as the 2023 Honor Guest, Club President Charlie Boden announced Monday. "The Thoroughbred Club of America is delighted to name Richard Mandella as its 2023 Honor Guest", said Boden. "Richard is a shining example of what past generations traditionally thought of when they considered what a great trainer is--a real "throwback" who has never had more than 40 horses in his barn. He is steadfast in his care of the animal with a long...

Following the close of the Winter/Spring Meet at Turfway Park Apr. 1, the barn area and racetrack will remain open for year-round training and stabling, it was announced Tuesday.  Trainers wishing to fill out a stall application can visit www.TurfwayPark.com or contact Peggy Pate at [email protected]. Stall applications are due by Mar. 24. This year, Turfway Park finished construction on a new dormitory for backstretch workers and five new barns. The track can stable approximately 1,000 horses.      Local trainers expected to remain stabled at Turfway Park and race on the Kentucky circuit...

Edited Release from Del Mar It has been a meet to remember for several Northern California trainers who like to summer at Del Mar, as well as one trainer who came to Southern California from Northern California and stayed. Jonathan Wong rattled off seven wins in a week last month at Del Mar, winning 'Trainer of the Week' honors and climbing into the Top 10 in the trainer standings. He never left. Going into Sunday's final day of the Del Mar summer meet, Wong had notched 13 victories, good for...

Jamie Ness, a prolific winner in the Mid-Atlantic states and the third-leading trainer in the country in wins, has been handed a six-month suspension by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission after a horse he trained tested positive for Bufotenine. Ness was also fined $5,000. The suspension is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 and runs through March 3, 2023. Ness, who is being represented by attorney Andrew Mollica, has appealed the suspension. "We are in the process of appealing," Mollica said. "We will take this the whole way. He obviously vehemently denies...

When trainer Gedaliah Goodman sent out Catch That Party (More Than Ready) to a sixth-place finish in a Jan. 30 allowance/optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, it was his first starter in nine years. He had hoped that since he last ran a horse, the sport had moved on and was ready to accept an Hasidic Jewish horse trainer, one who has the long, flowing beard, wears a yarmulke and sports the long sideburns that are known as peyos. Tzitzit, the fringed corners of a prayer shawl, dangle over his trousers....

Kevin McKathan has many talents. One of the principals behind McKathan Bros. Training Center in Ocala, he's helped start the career of many a good horse, including 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), and he's also a major force as a consignor at the 2-year-old sales. But he's ready for something different. Thirty-three years after starting his last horse, McKathan will return to the training ranks when he sends out long shot Fenwick (Curlin) in Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. "I am very excited,"...

Some four decades after saddling his first winner, trainer Gary Sciacca celebrated the 1000th victory of his career, sending out Caumsett (The Factor) to win the Aqueduct fall meet opener Thursday afternoon. The 47-10 third favorite, Caumsett broke his maiden in a one-mile turf test beneath Hall of Famer Javier Castellano (video). Sciacca, a two-time leading trainer at Belmont Park (spring 1993 and fall 1997), has conditioned the likes of multiple Grade I winner Saratoga Dew--the first New York-bred to be named an Eclipse champion--and millionaire GISW Subordination. "I'm just...

The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open this fall for spectators to enjoy morning workouts at the Oklahoma Training Track. Beginning Friday, Sept. 10, the public will be invited to view training at Oklahoma from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open during the same hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the conclusion of training for the year in November.

Linda Rice had her training license immediately revoked for a period of "no less than three years" and was fined $50,000 May 17 when New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) members voted 5-0 to agree with a hearing officer that Rice's years-long pattern of seeking and obtaining confidential pre-entry information from New York Racing Association (NYRA) racing office workers was "intentional, serious and extensive, and that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conduct...inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing." Rice had testified during eight days of...

With heightened accountability for the health and welfare of horses, trainers today are being held to the highest of standards--as we should. However, we can see every day that race tracks and track ownership groups are not held to that same standard. A prime example is the unfortunate trend of closing a racetrack one day a week for training. This short-sighted cost-cutting move is not in racehorses' best interest. I feel that I've exhausted the proper channels to discuss this with people in charge of safety. We need all concerned...

After the operators of Turf Paradise announced suddenly over the weekend that racing was suspended and that trainers stabled there had until March 28 to vacate the premises as a result of the coronavirus, a compromise has been reached keeping the track open to training until May 1, with the doors to shut May 9. As part of the negotiations between the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and Turf Paradise management, the HBPA will pay half of the expenses incurred for track maintenance while horses remain training there...