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MONMOUTH PARK TO OFFER $1,000,000 AVERAGE PURSES PER DAY IN 50-DAY MEET
New Jersey racing officials, with the encouragement and support of Governor Chris Christie, have agreed to try something different than the same old, same old dates schedule. With the agreement of groups representing owners, breeders and trainers, it was announced this week that Monmouth Park would offer a “boutique meet” comprising 50 days of racing from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and purses would average $1,000,000 per day.
Plans call for Monmouth to offer live racing three days per week in a Friday, Saturday, Sunday format plus three holiday Mondays, Memorial Day, July 4th weekend and Labor Day. The “boutique meet” will be followed by 21 days of Thoroughbred racing when purses will average over $300,000 per day. In effect, New Jersey Thoroughbred racing is being consolidated at Monmouth Park, with only six additional days of turf racing at Atlantic City Race Course, and no Thoroughbred meet at Meadowlands.
Monmouth Park is located close to the New Jersey shore in Oceanport and the dates coincide with the summer vacation season. The purse structure for the “boutique meet” exceeds Saratoga’s average daily purses by around $250,000 per day. The experiment is being tried to find out how patrons respond to a very high quality product on track and at simulcast locations. The experiment will be watched with interest in many states. Thinking out of the box has been suggested when dates discussions have taken place in recent years in Texas, but there have been few changes except to continue to reduce days at certain tracks.
2009 HORSE OF THE YEAR RACHEL ALEXANDRA, UNBEATEN ZENYATTA IN ACTION
This Saturday’s racing is highlighted by the return to competition of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and the unbeaten Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Zenyatta in stakes preps for their projected showdown in the $5,000,000 Apple Blossom Invitational (G1) on April 9 at Oaklawn Park.
Rachel Alexandra will be the first of the pair to show her wares as she tackles four older fillies and mares in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies over 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds as a 1-5 favorite at 5:15pm. Approximately 20 minutes later, Zenyatta will break from the Santa Anita starting gate in the $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap (G1) as she goes for her 15th career win under 127 pounds while conceding from 12 to 19 pounds to the eight older distaffers entered against her in the 1 1/8-mile stakes.
LONE STAR PARK ISSUES STABLE AREA ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR 2010 MEET
Lone Star Park officials, with input from the Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas Racing Commission, Texas Thoroughbred Association and Texas Horsemen’s Partnership, have issued stable area entry requirements that will be in place when horses begin arriving on the grounds on Monday, March 15, for the 2010 race meet. Following are the requirements entitled “Lone Star Park New Entry Policy:”
“Though the threat level to racing Thoroughbreds is very low at this point, Lone Star Park is taking a proactive approach towards Equine Piroplasmosis to ensure the safety of the horse population participating during the upcoming meet.
Therefore the following new entry requirements will be in place beginning on Monday, March 15, 2010. This policy is for all horses shipping into the stable area of Lone Star Park regardless of their origin.
All horses entering Lone Star Park must be accompanied by a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection dated within the past 30 days that includes a statement by the signing veterinarian that states: I have inspected these horses and they do not display clinical signs of Equine Piroplasmosis. I have also prescribed and supervised the treatment for ticks with an approved synthetic pyrethroid spray product.
OR
You will need to provide an original copy of a negative Piroplasmosis cElisa test for Theileria equi that has been performed since November 1, 2009.
And as usual you must also provide a negative Coggins test within the past twelve months.
In addition to these requirements Lone Star Park is also developing procedures to minimize the risk of ticks through spraying and vegetation management. We ask that horsemen and veterinarians remain vigilant in watching for ticks and ensure that best management practices are maintained concerning the use of needles."
Fasig-Tipton Texas officials will decide early next week whether any additional stable area entry requirements will be required for 2-year-olds catalogued for the upcoming March 30 auction at Lone Star.
FULL FIELD OF 10 ATB HORSES ENTERED FOR $50,000 MANOR DOWNS DISTANCE CUP
The first of three $50,000 stakes for Thoroughbreds at Manor Downs is on tap this Saturday with a full field of 10 Accredited Texas-Breds entered for the 1 1/16-mile Distance Cup. Trainer Danny Pish will saddle a 3-ply entry of 2009 Texas Champion Claimer Uncle Rose, Filet Gumbo and Huntersrunaway, each of which he is sole or part owner, and they will have a tactical advantage starting from posts 1, 2 and 4 respectively. The Pish trio may have a difficult time outrunning the fleet Beckys Express from post 3. The 4-year-old son of Congaree has been shipped from Fair Grounds by trainer Michelle Lovell.
Crook’s Bodgit, upset winner of the Star of Texas Stakes on Sam Houston Race Park’s Texas Champions Day card, is being returned to Texas for the Distance Cup by trainer Ingrid Mason after having made his last three starts at Oaklawn Park. He is the 2-1 morning line favorite.
Fast furlongs...New England had one of the most vibrant racing circuits in North America 40 years ago, but one by one, Narragansett, Lincoln Downs, Scarborough Downs, Green Mountain, the Massachusetts fairs, and now Rockingham Park, where Seabiscuit, Tom Rolfe and War Admiral raced, have closed with only Suffolk Downs still operating...On the heels of the stakes cutbacks for the Belmont Park spring meet and Saratoga’s summer meet, here comes news from Hollywood Park that there will be four less stakes in the upcoming meet and the 45 scheduled added-money events will have purses totaling $5.8 million, which is $2.2 million less than the 2009 meet...Churchill Downs’ chief operating officer, Bill Carstenjen, will be the featured individual on CBS’ hit reality series “Undercover Boss” as he is shown working in the jockey quarters, with a trainer on the backstretch, at the starting gate and in other areas of behind-the-scenes track operations when the show airs this Sunday night at 8pm...$100,000 cuts have been made to three closing weekend Grade 2 Fair Grounds stakes, the Fair Grounds Oaks, Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap and the New Orleans Handicap, due to handle declines...Centaur Gaming LLC, the parent company of Hoosier Park, is the latest track owner to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...Ernie Paragallo, a one-time leading New York owner and breeder, was convicted on 33 of 34 misdemeanor animal cruelty counts on March 10 in a non-jury trial resulting from the finding of numerous malnourished Thoroughbreds on his farm...The State of New York passed legislation to permit video slots at Aqueduct Racetrack nine years ago and the selection process to choose a viable operator has just been reopened after state lottery officials concluded they could not issue a gaming license to Aqueduct Entertainment Group, a choice that appeared rife with scandal and closed-door deal making, according to press reports...Oh happy day for horseplayers as a New York harness track, Tioga Downs, is moving to reduce pari-mutuel takeout rates on all wagers in an effort to boost handle...Penn National Gaming Inc. has reached an agreement to buy Beulah Park near Columbus, OH...Heartlines Ranch in Normangee, TX, is undergoing a restructuring and approximately 60 broodmares and 30 yearlings, many by the stallion Maverick, are being offered privately...Pennsylvania’s Horse Racing Commission has given racinos in the state an ultimatum “to demonstrate in concrete ways their commitment to live racing and breeding” in the state to improve attendance and handle rather than appearing to focus only on casino operations...Sam Houston’s second March Monday afternoon live racing experiment continues on March 15 after a moderate beginning the previous Monday with attendance and handle on track compromised by inclement weather and the past performances appearing in the PM edition of Daily Racing Form rather than the AM...A bill that would legalize Instant Racing machines in Kentucky has begun to move through the legislature with bipartisan support now that legislation calling for slots at tracks is dead...Congratulations to TTA member Stan Whisenant, who is part owner with IEAH Stables of Amen Hallelujah, recent winner of the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park, and considered one of the leading candidates for this year’s Kentucky Oaks...Kudos as well to Karl Broberg, a former owner in his first year of training, who ranks third in the national standings in total wins with 49 behind only Steve Asmussen and Jerry Hollendorfer after buying several horses owned or formerly trained by John Locke to race at Delta Downs and Sam Houston Race Park this winter.