Craig Fravel

The Stronach Group's Belinda Stronach introduced 1/ST RACING & GAMING, an enhanced division of the company designed to position the core Thoroughbred horse racing business to fully capitalize on the future of sports wagering and gaming. According to a Wednesday evening press release from the company, the 1/ST RACING & GAMING division will continue to oversee racing operations at 1/ST tracks and training centers while working to expand the company's gaming footprint in collaboration with 1/ST TECHNOLOGY led by the divisions' Chief Executive Officer, Paul Williams. "The shifting landscape of...

Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, will host the 2023 Breeders' Cup World Championships for a record 11th time. The 40th renewal of the Breeders' Cup will take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3 and 4, 2023. "Santa Anita Park is an integral part of Breeders' Cup history and is the perfect venue for our landmark 40th running," said Drew Fleming, Breeders' Cup President and CEO. "Since our founders conceived this season-ending championship four decades ago, the Breeders' Cup has consistently been one of the leading global events in Thoroughbred...

Gregg Colvin has been appointed chief executive officer of 1/ST Content, the operating group of 1/ST's media and content companies. Colvin will work with chief operating officer Jason Wilson to further develop 1/ST CONTENT brands to attract and retain a new group of consumers. He will also coordinate with Craig Fravel, Aidan Butler and the 1/ST RACING team along with Paul Williams and the 1/ST TECHNOLOGY team to produce and deliver new content offerings, enhanced quality of production and new simulcast distribution platforms for the company's Thoroughbred horse racing and...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has released its annual report, covering both the fiscal year 2019-2020 and the calendar year 2020. As expected, given the onslaught of a global pandemic, it paints a rather grim economic picture, but there are major positives to be gleaned, chiefly in the equine safety arena. When it comes to the business side of the equation, all-breed total handle generation during 2020 declined by 7% over the prior year. Because of a wholesale shift away from bricks and mortar wagering towards ADW platforms last...

1/ST has announced its continued support of the Jockeys' Guild. Under the terms of the agreement between the two organizations, each of 1/ST RACING's venue racetracks (Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, and The Maryland Jockey Club operating Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park) will continue to make payments to the Jockeys' Guild to subsidize health, life and accident insurances, as well as short-term and long-term disability benefits for jockeys who are members of the Guild and ride at 1/ST RACING racetracks. "1/ST RACING is pleased to continue...

With many wheels of California's daily industry operations greased through wagering made at bricks and mortar venues, a pandemic-driven wholesale betting shift towards ADW platforms has thrown a sizeable wrench into the works, prompting something of a fiscal scramble to readjust. Just last week, the Southern California Stabling & Vanning Racing Committee announced a set of stop-gap funding measures to grapple with a $2-million deficit and maintain the stabling status-quo in the southern portion of the state during 2021. On Wednesday, the Thoroughbred Owners of California ("TOC") announced a new...

After viewing PETA's video expose of the slaughter of racehorses in South Korea, including the stallion Private Vow, The Stronach Group is endorsing PETA's efforts to ban the sale of North American Thoroughbreds to South Korean racing interests. PETA can now show that Private Vow was sold to South Korea for stud duty in 2014 and ended up being slaughtered for meat in July. He sired 196 foals in the U.S. and South Korea. Belinda Stronach, chair and president of The Stronach Group, said, "The Stronach Group is urging all...

Officials at Santa Anita have announced that Nate Newby has been promoted to the position of general manager, while Chris Merz will add racing secretary to his current role of director of racing. Newby has most recently served Santa Anita as its senior vice president and general manager and comes as Aidan Butler transitions to his new position as chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Content in Florida. Butler previously headed California operations for Santa Anita's parent company The Stronach Group. Newby, who has been at...

Santa Anita Park announced Saturday that overnight purses for its 2020-21 season, which begins in its traditional Dec. 26 card, will be raised by 10% to a daily average of $533,000. The meet will run through June 20, 2021. Six stakes on opening day include the GI Malibu S., GI La Brea S. and GI American Oaks. Other meet highlights include the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 6 and GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 3. Click for a complete stakes schedule, pending approval by the Thoroughbred Owners of California. "Building...

The Stronach Group's Aidan Butler has been appointed to Chief Operating Officer, 1/ST RACING and to President, 1/ST CONTENT, 1/ST announced Thursday. Butler joined The Stronach Group in 2018 and has been front and center in California leading the racing operations teams at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields as the Acting Executive Director of California Racing Operations. In addition, he also served as Chief Strategy Officer for The Stronach Group. Butler will work directly with Craig Fravel, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST RACING, to further develop the company's racing...

Officials at Breeders' Cup Limited and The Stronach Group have announced that the Oct. 3 GI Preakness S., the final leg of this year's reconstituted Triple Crown, has been added to the Breeders' Cup Challenge series and will offer the winner an all-expenses-paid berth in the starting gate for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. It will mark the first time that a Triple Crown races is part of the series. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional first leg of the Triple Crown was postponed...

The Breeders' Cup announced Tuesday that 19 individuals were elected to serve as Breeders' Cup Members. Voting for the 2020 Member election by Breeders' Cup 2019 foal and stallion nominators was concluded at 5:00 p.m. ET June 8. The following individuals, listed alphabetically, received the most votes of the Breeders' Cup nominators to fill 19 Member seats. Each Member will serve a four-year term: Conrad Bandoroff Barbara Banke Jimmy Bell Boyd Browning Doug Cauthen Craig Fravel Eric Gustavson Dr. Andreas Jacobs W. Gray Lyster IV Clem Murphy Maria Niarchos-Gouazé David...