Belterra Park

Jockey Gregory Romero reportedly has been suspended 30 days and fined $1,000 by the Belterra Park stewards two days after he eased up on a 9-1 mount that led in the shadow of the wire but ended up getting beaten by a neck by a more assertively ridden favorite. Romero's penalty was first reported Friday afternoon by the Paulick Report. On Thursday, Belterra steward Ron Herbstreit declined an opportunity to comment to TDN about the matter. A Friday morning email TDN sent to Ohio State Racing Commission executive director Christopher...

The stewards at Belterra Park have asked jockey Gregory Romero to explain why he appeared to not persevere with his mount while on the lead in the final few jumps before the finish of Wednesday's fourth race there, which led to that 9-1 horse getting beaten by a neck by the hard-charging 6-5 favorite. Reached by phone just prior to the start of Thursday's races, the three Belterra stewards--Ron  Herbstreit, Vincent Clark, and Raina Paucar--told TDN in a speaker phone call that they would not discuss what was said at...

Joining an ever-growing list of tracks to cancel their programs to start the weekend, Delaware Park will follow suit and reschedule their Saturday live racing card due to the excessive heat forecasted for the region, the track said in a release Friday. Acting upon the recommendation of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission (DTRC) veterinarians, the entire July 29 live racing card will be transferred to Friday, Aug. 4. The national weather service has predicted temperatures in the 90s with a heat index of value approaching the mid-100s. Live racing is...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. New York Track: Belmont Park Date: 06/27/2023 Licensee: Manuel Franco, jockey Penalty:...

A money disagreement that has simmered for nearly a decade got a step closer to settlement Thursday when a federal judge ruled the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) is entitled to $2,769,652 in gaming revenues that the present and former owners of Belterra Park withheld between 2014 and 2018. The dispute arose from Belterra's failure to pay the OHBPA its share of net-win video lottery terminal (VLT) commission from Belterra Park. The quarrel was exacerbated when the two sides disagreed over the rate that was supposed to be...

The annual Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Mixed Thoroughbred Sale is to be held at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio, Wednesday Oct. 19 and it has drawn enthusiastic participation. The sale will start at 2:30 p.m. The grounds are open for previews/inspections at noon Oct. 18. There are a record-setting 120 entries with a variety of prospects among the 23 weanlings and 74 yearlings as well as 2-year-olds and broodmares. The 2022 edition of the sale includes a 36-entry dispersal from Mapleton Thoroughbred Farm, which has been atop...

Many will recall the peculiar story of Bold and Bossy (Strong Mandate), the unlucky filly who got loose before her juvenile debut at Ellis Park last summer and was caught over 30 minutes later after making it to the interstate and crossing state lines only to be involved in a barn fire the very next morning. Now, her trainer Michael Ann Ewing hopes that soon, people will remember Bold and Bossy for something more. Almost a year after that ill-fated weekend in Henderson, Kentucky, Bold and Bossy is not only...

Since the advent of the simulcasting era 30 years ago, I've never understood why some enterprising track somewhere hasn't seized a late-morning first-post slot and carved out its own niche at a time of day when no other pari-mutuel competition on the continent is running. Be it midweek in the winter, when most of the fair-to-middling Eastern time zone tracks do little to distinguish their products, or as a Saturday special during the summer when some C-level track could have an uncontested advantage for several hours as a lead-in to...

With a forecast for extreme temperatures and heat indexes, post time at Belterra Park for Tuesday and Wednesday, June 21 and 22, will be pushed forward by one hour, with first post scheduled for 11:35 a.m. on both days. Similarly hot conditions forced the cancellation of racing at Belterra June 14 through June 16, while officials at Churchill Downs about 90 minutes southwest of Cincinnati decided to call off live racing June 15 and 16. The live card at Churchill Wednesday, June 22, will begin at 10:30 a.m. in order...

It was back to business as ususal for jockey Sonny Leon on Friday afternoon as he returned to Belterra Park six days after his ride of a lifetime aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in an unforgettable edition of the GI Kentucky Derby. Coming off his first-ever graded stakes win in the Run for the Roses, Leon ran second in race one, third in race two, and won going away in race three. Fittingly, the 3 3/4-length victory aboard Runway Rosie (Tonalist) in the $18,800 allowance contest was for trainer Eric...

A federal judge on Thursday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (OHBPA) against the present and former owners of Belterra Park that involves the OHBPA trying to recoup more than $2.7 in gaming revenues that the horsemen's group alleges the track wrongfully withheld between 2014 and 2018. Back on Dec. 18, 2020, the OHBPA's suit contended that Belterra never made good on a four-year difference between a placeholder rate first established for video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming and the eventually...

It takes a lot for a European trainer to become the biggest story in North American racing, but that's exactly what Charlie Appleby has accomplished, among many other things, this year. Capturing three of the four Grade I races at Woodbine plus the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont last weekend to follow up several other successful raids of top-level events in the U.S. this summer, Appleby has quite simply taken the racing world by storm at just 46 years old. Wednesday, during a short break from shopping the Goffs Orby...