Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Horse Bettors & Slots Gamblers Co-Exist at Gulfstream Park
Posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007
Caught this bit from the Miami Herald.
Horse-racing fans are trying to co-exist with the new crowds at Gulfstream Park, where slots have attracted a whole new breed of gamblers.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD
ebolstad@MiamiHerald.com
Adam Piacenza believes in luck. And good trainers and jockeys and stables with a long track record of winning horses.
But don’t ask Piacenza, 80, if he believes in the new slot machines at Gulfstream Park, his home-away-from-home every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday during the winter horse-racing season.
”It used to be the sport of kings,” Piacenza lamented last week as he handicapped the day’s first race from a sunny seat with a view of the new paddock at the center of the massive gambling complex. “Now it’s the sport of average people, I guess.”
Since the casinos opened in recent weeks, slot machines have brought big crowds to Gulfstream and the old Hollywood Greyhound Track, which has been refashioned into a Mardi Gras-themed slots casino with little reference to the greyhounds on the outdoor track.
The new visitors have created something of a culture clash at Gulfstream, where the regulars who put a lot of research into their bets see the slot machine players as mindless gamblers, intent on a solitary activity.
”I wouldn’t put a red cent in a slot machine,” said Piacenza, shaking his head.
Even as he and other regulars waited — racing forms in hand — for the first horses to parade around the paddock last week, a bus dropped off 114 seniors from Margate. With walkers, canes and comfortable shoes, they stood in line to process their memberships in the casino’s rewards club, the Good Luck Player’s Club. click here for full story
Gulfstream Park is the host of the Florida Derby - major prep race for the Kentucky Derby 2007. Barbaro, the winner of the Florida Derby in 2006 won the 2006 Kentucky Derby. Click here for free Gulfstream, Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby picks - not stock market tips.
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2007 Breeders’ Cup Expands To 11 Races
Posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007
(AFP) - The Breeders’ Cup, billed as the richest day in racing, is expanding its program to 11 races over two days, beginning with this year’s edition in October, organizers said. The board of directors of Breeders’ Cup Limited approved the move at its meeting on Friday, and it must still get approval from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to go into effect in 2007 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey.
Read full story: "2007 Breeders’ Cup Expands To 11 Races"...
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Mobile Phone Betting for Aqueduct, Belmont & Saratoga
Posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007
Forget hanging out in off-track betting parlors. New Yorkers will soon be allowed to make their horse racing bets online or via cell phone.
Starting January 22, New York plans to allow people to place bets on horse racing via the Internet or other electronic platforms, including cell phones, thanks to a new regulation adopted by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. A company called Sona Mobile plans to sell racetrack software that will make it easier for people to make bets from their mobile handsets.
Shawn Krelloff, chief executive of Sona, believes the regulations, coupled with his company’s software, could breathe new life into the New York horse racing industry.
“Generally, horse racing appeals to an older, male demographic,” he said. “They’re the guys who go to the track or hang out in OTB (off-track betting) parlors. Placing wagers from a cell phone appeals to a younger generation. And that could incrementally grow revenue for the industry.”
Sona has already struck a deal with the New York Racing Association, the owner and operator of the three largest racetracks in New York. Initially, the deal calls for Sona to help build NYRA’s Web site for online betting. The company also hopes to sell NYRA its mobile software to enable wagers from cell phones.
Gambling is highly regulated in the United States, with most forms of off-site wagering banned in every state, except Nevada. The only off-site betting that is allowed in roughly 35 states is on horse or dog racing. In some states like New York, off-track betting parlors have been set up to take bets. And people are able to call in bets from a telephone. [via cNet tech news]
HorsesWild has Triple Crown 2007 trail (Kentucky Derby, Preakness & Belmont Stakes)
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Youbet.com launches Internet game site KingContest.com
Posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007
???No one is better at presenting the excitement of horse racing online than we are,??? said Youbet.com Chief Executive Officer Chuck Champion. ???By adapting our race presentation technology to appeal to game and contest enthusiasts, we accomplish two objectives: we promote the sport with a young new audience that isn???t currently attracted to live or simulcast racing, and we create a channel for a new, highly diversified revenue stream.???
With fantasy horse racing contests featured at the launch, KingContest expects to lure game lovers, not necessarily racing fans. Rounds begin when participating tracks open, and close when the last race of a round is run. Players who accumulate the most points, counted in winnings from fantasy bets, win the contests. The points reflect the actual tote prices for win, place, show, and exotic wagering.
???Our horse racing games replicate the rapid-fire pace of our online pari-mutuel product with the expectation that we can convert contestants into active racing fans,??? Champion said. ???This game style, delivered over our technology, appeals to 21-to-40 year olds who are disposed to e-delivery channels and who comprise our fastest growing market.?? So we are optimistic that we can convert many of the game players to pari-mutuel customers.???
Champion added that eventually the games could be offered at racetracks through kiosks or mobile devices.
???KingContest is an important step in our evolution as a gaming company,??? said Champion. ???When we bought United Tote, we said that the most appealing asset of the company was its game development capability and the product and revenue diversification potential it afforded. With this launch, we are moving to establish a new business unit that is charged with monetizing this asset in the market.???
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Leading horse trainers Todd Pletcher and Scott Lake suspended for illegal drug use
Posted on Friday, January 5th, 2007
After decades of rumors about “juiced” thoroughbreds and ineffective attempts at regulation, the horse racing industry has acknowledged that it has a drug problem. Never has the drug issue been more front and center and never before has the sport’s integrity been so widely questioned.
Imagine award-winning and top horse trainers receiving suspensions and fines left and right for violation of horse racing’s drug policy.Hoever, laughable penalties were only handed out to trainers whose horses are caught with positive drug tests.
New York’s dominant trainer, Rick Dutrow, was caught with two drug violations and received a 120-day suspension last 2005; it was reduced to 60 days.
A horse trained by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel tested positive for morphine in a stakes race in June 2000, and the case was in limbo until the California Horse Racing Board dismissed it — six years later.
Steve Asmussen, the nation’s top race-winning trainer in 2004 and 2005, was recently suspended for six months by Louisiana authorities after one of his horses tested positive for mepivacaine, a local anesthetic that could be used to block pain in an animal’s leg. Asmussen faces another six-month suspension for a violation in New Mexico.
A 45-day suspension and $3,000 fine were meted against leading trainer Todd Pletcher after one of his horses was found with a banned substance following a 2004 race at Saratoga.
Meanwhile, 2006 leading trainer Scot Lake was suspended for 30 days, to be served Dec. 24 through Jan. 22 of 2007, by order of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
Lake is already 19 days into the fulfillment of a previous 30-day suspension handed down from the Delaware Park Thoroughbred Racing Commission when one of his horses, Secret Run, tested positive for the drug after winning Delaware’s fifth race on June 7.
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Barbaro, Invasor, Bernardini Eclipse Awards Finalists
Posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007
(AP) Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Invasor and Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini were among the Eclipse Award finalists announced Wednesday. Three finalists in each of 15 categories were chosen, with Barbaro in contention for champion 3-year-old male after an accident in the Preakness ended his racing career.
Read full story: "Barbaro, Invasor, Bernardini Eclipse Awards Finalists"...
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NBC Sports Wins Eclipse Honors
Posted on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007
NBC Sports TV network has won the media Eclipse Award for national television–live racing for its production of the 2006 Preakness Stakes (gr. I). The Preakness telecast, produced by Sam Flood, aired May 20 from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. NBC???s telecast focused on the dramatic events surrounding the race and the injury to Barbaro.
Read full story: "NBC Sports Wins Eclipse Honors"...
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