Kentucky

Amid the speed-filled tempo of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale this week, it's all about equine and human partnerships for Gandharvi Racing as they add Case Clay as a Business Consultant to their team. Mind you, this isn't about making a splash or just putting together some haphazard deal. No, the intent behind this organization's latest move tunnels much deeper into the recesses of history. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was a racing stable. Like city-planning in the ancient world or otherwise, success just...

More than seven years after Maria Borell, trainer of 2015 champion sprinter Runhappy, was accused of animal cruelty to animals in the second degree, charges against her were officially dismissed Thursday in district court in Mercer County, Kentucky. Daily Racing Form reported Wednesday that Borell's attorney Russell Baldani had indicated that a proposed dismissal order had been filed earlier in the week that would lift the ban that forbade Borell from caring for horses. The Blood-Horse confirmed Thursday that the case had come to a conclusion. Borell, who was fired...

Starting in 2024, the Kentucky November breeding stock sales dates will be fixed on the Monday and Tuesday after the Breeders' Cup, despite the location of the event, according to a joint press release from Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland, who said that the goal was providing "stability and the strongest market possible." This year, the Fasig-Tipton November auction will be held Tuesday, Nov. 7, and Keeneland November will open Wednesday, Nov. 8. Beginning in November 2024, the Fasig-Tipton November Sale will take place on the Monday following the Breeders' Cup, while...

Back in early 2022 when John and Diane Fradkin announced that their homebred GI Preakness winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) was being retired after suffering a soft tissue injury they went to work to find him his new home. The horse has a good pedigree and is a Grade I winner, so the expectations were that he'd stand at stud in Kentucky. Regional markets were also considered. Another option was Japan. But no matter where their horse might land, the Fradkins decided that Rombauer's racing career was over. That was the...

Although Kentucky's horse racing purses will not directly benefit from recently legalized sports betting, the state's nine tracks on Monday were authorized to apply for retail sports book permits starting Tuesday, July 11. They could start taking bets on games as early as Sept. 7, the first day of the National Football League season. Online sports wagering, which is expected to eventually account for 90% of an estimated $23 million in sports betting tax and licensing revenues for the state, will be rolled out Sept. 28. Those dates were confirmed...

Prominent owner/breeder Susan Moulton has made a $2-million donation to Town Branch Park in Lexington which will be used to fund the construction of a water play area named in honor of Moulton's son Will Naylor Smith, who passed away 16 years ago at the age of eight. Moulton, who for the last five years has been splitting her time between San Antonio, Texas, and her Versailles farm, has expressed an interest in becoming more involved in the community--especially with children. Town Branch Park is helping to transform acres of...

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. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, 2022, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. New York Track: Belmont Park Date: 05/21/2023 Licensee: Caitlin Owen,...

In an effort to encourage students to enter equine practice upon graduation, the Opportunities in Equine Practice Seminar (OEPS) will hold a professional forum Sept. 1-3 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. After a ten-year hiatus, the event was re-established to address the emerging crisis of the diminishing number of graduating veterinary students entering equine practice. The seminar will host third-year veterinary students (Class of 2025) with presentations by practitioners in various disciplines. The estimated 200 attendees will be able to engage in interactive discussions with industry partners,...

Just before the Kentucky State Legislature was to adjourn Thursday evening, House Bill 551--legislation to legalize, regulate and tax sports betting in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that seemed a longshot as late as Thursday morning--passed the Kentucky State Senate by a vote of 25-12. Governor Andy Beshear was to sign the legislation, which required 23 votes in favor, into law Friday morning. "After years of urging lawmakers to legalize sports betting, we finally did it!" Beshear tweeted Thursday evening. "Today's result shows that hard work pays off. Kentuckians will soon...

Last year, we conducted a popular Q and A series called 'Smaller But Still Super,' where we featured veteran trainers who have built a competitive racing stable with relatively small numbers (click here to view the archive). This year, we will highlight trainers who have already cut their teeth as novice trainers, but now have a few years of experience under their belt and are looking to make a name for themselves as they grow their stable. We'll talk about the challenges that come with hanging out your single, advice...

House Bill 594, better known as the bill to ban unregulated and untaxed gaming machines known as "gray machines" in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, was signed into law Thursday, Mar. 16 by Governor Andy Beshear. Kentucky is the first state to pass stand-alone legislation banning unregulated gambling machines. For more information, see our story from last month outlining the threat of gray machines, which made them the main focus of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC)'s monthly meeting. Visit here for information stemming from when the Bill passed the...

by Sara Gordon and Katie Petrunyak Many of the nearly 250 people attending the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club's (KTFMC) monthly meeting, held Tuesday evening at the Keeneland sales pavilion, were unfamiliar with the unregulated and untaxed gaming machines known as "gray machines." The risk these gray machines pose to historical horse racing (HHR) gaming and the state's horse racing industry as a whole were the main topic of the meeting that included a discussion and Q and A session of Central Kentucky legislators. In a panel moderated by the...