Mahoning Valley

Every week, the TDN posts a round-up of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Odin Londono has been suspended for 18 months and fined $12,500 as a result of his trainee Private Drive testing positive for Diisopropylamine, a banned substance, when winning at Mahoning Valley Feb. 14 this year. The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) classifies Diisopropylamine as a vasodilator, which is a substance that dilates the blood vessels to allow blood to flow more freely...

Hugh Drexler has been appointed to the position of Director of Racing while Candy Wetzel will serve as Assistant Director of Racing at Mahoning Valley, the track announced Tuesday. Drexler will begin his duties Sept. 2, pending normal regulatory approvals. Drexler formerly served as the Racing Secretary at Thistledown in 2020/2021. The University of Arizona Racetrack Industry graduate has most recently been general manager of the North Dakota Horse Park where he has overseen racing, gaming and facilities for that organization. Drexler is a Level III accredited ROAP graduate and...

Live racing at Parx was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday in the wake of a winter storm which moved through the Philadelphia area Monday night. Frigid temperatures and wintry conditions also forced the cancellation of live racing both days at Mahoning Valley in Austintown, Ohio. Additional cancellations include Tuesday's card at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, Louisiana.

After 365 days and a pool of 45,308 starters, two horses with 10 victories each will share the honor of North America's winningest Thoroughbred in 2023 after the filly Divine Fashion (Divining Rod) uncorked a 9 1/4-length romp at Mahoning Valley Dec. 30 to tie the Midwest-based gelding Fayette Warrior (Exchange Rate), who has been resting at a farm since October after securing his continent-topping spot. One other gelding who was on the cusp of winning 10 times, Uncaptured Storm (Uncaptured), had been the morning-line favorite for the first race...

Outlandishly high amounts of money that were bet into exotic pools at Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks across the country during a several-hour time window Wednesday might have been the result of a feeding frenzy of opportunistic gamblers trying to take advantage of an alleged "glitch" in the FanDuel Racing account wagering system that debited only the base cost of a wager from a customer's account instead of correctly pricing multiple-combination bets at much higher amounts. Although both FanDuel executives and state regulators were largely mum on the subject of the...

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 also posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These include decisions from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and...

Ron Walker has been named The Jockey Club steward for Finger Lakes Racetrack and will take the place of Samantha Randazzo, who was appointed as The Jockey Club steward for The New York Racing Association tracks. Walker has been involved with horse racing since 1981 and has been an owner, breeder, trainer, and racing official. Prior to becoming steward at Finger Lakes, he was the state steward for the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, spent nine years as the presiding steward for the New Mexico Racing Commission and also worked as...

Trainer Jay Bernardini captured the leading trainer title at the recently concluded spring meet at Mahoning Valley, saddling 25 winners from 126 starters over the season, which kicked off on Jan 2 and concluded Sunday. The veteran conditioner, who defeated Nestor Rivera and Bob Gorham by one win on the final day of racing, picked up his seventh overall career training title having previously earned top honors at the shuttered Suffolk Downs and Mountaineer Park. Luis Batista was the leading jockey at the meet after booting home 60 winners, and...

 Since breaking his maiden at second asking in a 9 3/4 length gate-to-wire romp at Thistledown July 12, Grand Isle stayed in state-bred company and jumped up to the stakes ranks with a pair of back-to-back second-place efforts in the Hoover S. and the Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten S. Aug. 13. Making his first start since then, and his first start at Mahoning Valley, Saturday's 6-1 shot rated kindly off the early pace from fifth before gradually making up ground up the backstretch run. As room opened along the...

Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course will host its third annual fundraising event for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund Saturday, Oct. 29. This year's event will hold a new name, Jockey Jam, and see the addition of a karaoke dinner fundraising event, Jockey Jamboree, to be held Friday, Oct. 28. "The mission statement behind the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund is one of importance to us and the racing community here at Mahoning Valley Race Course," said Rob Swedinovich, Vice President and General Manager. In the events two previous additions,...

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...

At first glance, it looks like a movie you've probably seen already. A horse-crazy girl leads her family into racing and, against all odds, they end up in the winner's circle after a big race. Only, for Gaylene Smith and her family, it's no movie. It's real life after Smith's 8-year-old granddaughter London asked for a racehorse early last year. Less than a year into operation, Smith's Willow's Green Stable won its first stakes race with Timeless Bounty (Elusive Hour), a $15,000 claim who took the family to Santa Anita...