Martin Panza

For the last several years, Kentucky Downs has been the track that had almost everything. Big fields, huge purses and a betting handle that increases exponentially every year. But one thing has largely been missing--European shippers. Despite an all-turf meet, the purses and the fact that Kentucky Downs is much like a European turf course, the meet hadn't really registered with European horsemen. That has changed. According to Martin Panza, the co-director of racing at Kentucky Downs, which kicks off its annual seven-day meet Thursday, as many as 16 European-based...

Headed by the renamed $2.5 million GIII Nashville Derby Aug. 31, Kentucky Downs will stage six races worth at least $2 million apiece, including supplements for registered Kentucky-breds, at this year's seven-day race meet which runs Aug. 29 and 31 and Sept. 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11, the track said in a Wednesday release. The Kentucky Downs condition book features purses scheduled to total $35 million, including $16 million in Kentucky-bred money. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved Kentucky Downs's purse enhancement request from the Kentucky Thoroughbred...

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC)'s three-year ban of trainer Linda Rice is "entirely unwarranted," according to a decision handed down Thursday by the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division (Third Department). The decision was unanimous. The Gaming Commission fined Rice $50,000 and revoked her license for three years on May 17, 2021 after investigating claims that Rice received favorable treatment from the NYRA racing office and that the racing office was releasing to her the names and past performances of horses that had already been entered in races,...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has named Frank G. Gabriel, Jr. the successor of Martin Panza as Senior Vice President, Racing Operations. Gabriel will assume the position February 3 following the departure of Panza last October. As SVP of Racing Operations, Gabriel will be responsible for leadership and oversight of racing functions at NYRA, including the overall development, planning, and execution of NYRA's premier stakes offerings, marquee events, and daily racing programs. With more than four decades in Thoroughbred racing, Gabriel brings a wealth of experience into the role....

In an age that takes such relish in discovering offense where none is intended, I suppose we will eventually have to stop referring to a "Graveyard of Champions". Never mind that most horsemen would perceive a fairly benign destiny in themselves being laid to rest in Saratoga, with the implicit likelihood of an exit--a Parting Glass, indeed--achieved by some excess of bliss or excitement. For the squeamish tastes of today, the metaphor is doubtless becoming a little too sanguinary. Be that as it may, there's no denying that Saratoga's long...

The Week in Review by Bill Finley Steve Asmussen moved past Dale Baird Saturday to become North America's all-time leading trainer in wins with 9,446. But for such a goal-oriented individual, it's no time to rest. To be number one in the world, Asmussen still has to catch Peruvian trainer Juan Suarez. And it won't be easy. Suarez, as of Saturday, had 9,886 wins--or 440 more than Asmussen. On the same day that Asmussen won one race from 13 starters spread across four racetracks, Suarez had three wins on the...

Martin Panza will leave his position as Senior Vice President of Racing Operations at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) effective at the conclusion of the Belmont Park fall meet Oct. 31. Panza has been in charge of the leadership and oversight of racing functions at NYRA since he joined the organization in 2013. He has also been responsible for the overall development, planning, and execution of NYRA's stakes offerings and daily racing programs, including changing the scheduling of major stakes on individual days to blockbuster events featuring multiple significant...

The New York Racing Association will unveil the new Carmen M. Barrera Horsemen's Lounge Thursday at Saratoga Race Course. Formerly known as the Saratoga Room, the horsemen's lounge has been renovated and renamed to honor the memory of Carmen M. Barrera, NYRA's longtime director of horsemen's relations who died unexpectedly Aug. 8, 2019. "NYRA and New York's racing community at large owe Carmen a debt of gratitude for her decades of service to our sport," said Martin Panza, NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. "That she will now have...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has announced a collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology's Center for Sports Medicine that establishes the CSM as the official concussion management team for NYRA. The CSM will play a leading role in continuing to develop concussion protocols for jockeys at Belmont, Saratoga and Aqueduct. "NYRA clearly prioritizes the health and safety of the world class athletes riding at their racetracks," said Hallie Zwibel, D.O., medical director and director of the Center for Sports Medicine at New York Institute of Technology. "This...

The upcoming 48-day spring/summer meeting at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, will offer the richest overnight purse structure in the history of the New York Racing Association, the organization said Thursday. Open-company maiden allowance races will feature purse money of $90,000, while first-, second- and third-level allowance races will be worth $92,000, $94,000 and $96,000, respectively. New York maiden special weight races will carry prize money of $75,000, while horses bred in the Empire State will benefit from an $85,000 purse for non-winners of two/ $45,000 claiming and an...

Members of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition Steering Committee voted unanimously to adopt four new medical and operational reforms to further reduce the use of medication in racing, enhance consistency across racing jurisdictions and promote transparency, according to a press release from the organization Monday. The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition is an industry-led effort to advance safety measures in Thoroughbred racing. "These new reforms set the stage for another productive year of advancing meaningful changes to strengthen the culture of safety in thoroughbred racing," said the release. The following recommended reforms have...

In accordance with its commitment to eliminate race day medication, the New York Racing Association will prohibit the use of Furosemide--more commonly known as Lasix--within 48 hours of all stakes races conducted at NYRA tracks beginning Jan. 1, 2021. In April of 2019, NYRA led the formation of a coalition of leading racing organizations founded to address race day medication in a uniform and consistent way throughout the sport. The initiative commenced Jan. 1, 2020, with NYRA prohibiting Lasix in all 2-year-old races at the three NYRA tracks. Beginning Jan....