Summer Horse Racing Handicapping Contest Begins July 19

Posted on Tuesday, July 18th, 2006

Think you have what it takes to be a winning handicapper?

HorsesWild and All HorseRacing invites all horse race watchers and handicappers to join the Summer Horse Racing Handicapping Contest featuring Del Mar & Saratoga stakes races. Contest starts July 19.

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Churchill Downs Inc. Sells Ellis Park

Posted on Tuesday, July 18th, 2006

Churchill Downs has reached an agreement with a retired Louisville businessman to sell Ellis Park race track in western Kentucky. The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority approved the sale of the 85-year-old track in Henderson to Ron Geary on Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Go Between Steals Virginia Derby

Posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006

The late scratches of Steppenwolfer and Genre had jockey Garrett Gomez and Go Between itching to win the $1 million Virginia Derby in record-setting fashion, in Saturday at second leg of the Grand Slam of Grass at Colonial Downs.

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Shillelagh Slew’s Prince of Wales Win Means No Canadian Triple Crown

Posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006

Shillelagh Slew won the $445,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on Sunday after a stewards inquiry bumped first-place finisher Malakoff to fifth for interference down the final stretch. Four horses broke neck-in-neck toward the finish line in the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown, with Malakoff pulling away for the apparent victory.

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Kieren Fallon, Owen Churchill - UK Horse Racing Fixing Charges

Posted on Sunday, July 16th, 2006

Kieren Fallon, 27 Others Face Race Fixing Charges

A City of London Police investigation into horse race fixing was back in the spotlight last week after 11 individuals, including champion jockey Kieren Fallon, were charged with offenses related to race fixing. The investigation, which focused on over 80 races that took place between December 2002 and September 2004, was first brought to the public’s attention in September 2004 when Fallon and 15 other individuals were arrested on racing corruption allegations. Betting exchange Betfair, through a memorandum of understanding with the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (previously known as the Jockey Club), was instrumental in providing evidence for the investigation.

Twenty-eight people appeared in a London court on July 3, 2006 on charges related to race fixing, but 17 were released and only 11 were charged. Among those charged were Fallon and two lesser-known jockeys, Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams. All three face the charge of "conspiracy to defraud Betfair customers."

Fallon has since appealed his suspension from racing in Britain, but was denied by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority, which decided to uphold the suspension through the duration of the trial, which is not expected to commence before spring 2007. Fallon said he will go to the High Court and beyond if necessary to regain his status.

Churchill under Investigation as Well

Owen Churchill, owner of U.K. bookmaker Churchill’s Bookmakers, has been charged by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority for breaching the rules in 10 races between December 2004 and February 2005. Churchill and jockeys Brian Reilly, 25, and Dean Williams, 24, are accused of providing information for reward, aiding and abetting a breach of the rules and endeavoring to mislead an investigating officer looking into the running and riding of the horses. The trio will appear before the HRA disciplinary panel during the week of Sept. 11.

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Horse Racing Exemption Remains Intact in USA Online Gambling Prohihbition

Posted on Sunday, July 16th, 2006

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act by a vote of 317-93, but defeated an amendment that would extend the ban to horse racing and state lotteries.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., would have eliminated "the exceptions to the bill’s general prohibition against online gambling, thereby establishing a complete ban on all Internet gambling-related activities." Berkley, who was assisted by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in drafting the amendment, stated that the HR 4411 is hypocritical because it does not ban all forms of online gambling.

She said that Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., only exempted the horse racing industry because he knew it would vigorously oppose his bill if he did not. The amendment failed by a vote of 111-297.

 

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Barbaro In Very Critical Condition

Posted on Friday, July 14th, 2006

(AP) — He still looks every bit the champion. Only the fiberglass casts on not one but both of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s hind legs are indicators of something terribly wrong.

“His ears are up, he’s bright, he’s looking around,” Dr. Dean Richardson said Thursday. “If you look at this horse, it’d be hard to put him down.”

That precisely is the heartbreaking task that could be imminent because of a hoof disease so serious Richardson said the champion horse is “a long shot” to survive.

“It could happen within 24 hours,” Richardson said during a news conference at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.

Richardson said Barbaro has a severe case of laminitis in his left hind leg — a painful, often fatal disease caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs.

Barbaro is being treated aggressively with pain medication and remains in the same stall he’s been in since being brought to the intensive care unit at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals.

Until his misstep at the Preakness Stakes, Barbaro’s career was nothing short of brilliant.

He won his first five starts, including the Florida Derby. His 6 1-2-length victory at the Derby was so convincing he was being hailed as the next likely Triple Crown champion — and first since Affirmed since 1978.

Edgar Prado, the jockey credited with saving Barbaro by quickly pulling him up in the Preakness, was devastated by the grim prognosis.

“All we can do now is hope and pray. We’ll need a miracle, but maybe it will happen.”

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