Oaklawn Park

A longtime racetrack employee and the current Clerk of Scales at Churchill Downs Inc.-owned Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennsylvania was suspended by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission's Bureau of Thoroughbred Horse Racing for 30 days beginning Jan. 8. Danny Hamilton was found by the stewards to have neglected to weigh-out jockeys before the eighth race Oct. 11. Director of Enforcement Jason Klouser, who led the investigation, said, "The Racing Commission's investigators observed Danny Hamilton failing to weigh-out the jockeys for race 8, which is a violation of numerous...

1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 12:20 p.m. ET. Charles Matses homebred GATE SONG (Arrogate) makes her first start for trainer Ned Allard. Out of SW Shannanies Song, she counts as half-siblings GII Summertime Oaks runner-up Bellamentary (Bellamy Road), GII Swale S. hero Favorable Outcome (Flatter), Dubai Group 3 stakes winner Mouheeb (Flatter) and GIII Fantasy S. runner-up Beguine (Gun Runner). Also making her first start is Robert Evans homebred Reconcile (War Front) for trainer Linda Rice. The gray filly's dam is a half-sister to GIII Comely S. heroine Raging...

Jockey Keith Asmussen recorded his 64th career victory in Saturday's opener at Oaklawn, eclipsing the total of his father, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, during his riding career. Keith Asmussen, fittingly, reached the milestone on a horse trained by his father, Hern, who won the 1 1/16-mile claiming race. "Couldn't be more excited for today and the rest of the meet," Keith Asmussen said. Steve Asmussen rode 63 winners in 1982-1984, according to Equibase. Asmussen turned to training after he became too heavy to ride. Keith Asmussen, 25, launched...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), a powerful winner of this spring's GI Arkansas Derby and a rallying third as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, has returned to training at WinStar Training Center and is expected to rejoin trainer Brad Cox at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park within the next month. The Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer was given a freshening after concluding his six-race sophomore campaign with a dead-heat fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 10 and a close third-place finish in a roughly run renewal...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and Oaklawn Park have launched a new pilot program under which a designated area will be available for veterinarians to administer any intra-articular corticosteroid injections at the racetrack during the track's 2023-2024 race season beginning Friday, Dec. 8, HISA said in a press release Wednesday. As HISA laid out in its Strategic Response to recent equine fatalities, many stakeholders, including a significant number of individuals calling into HIWU's confidential tip line, have questioned whether Covered Persons are properly and accurately reporting intra-articular corticosteroid injections....

America's Day at the Races, the national telecast produced by New York Racing Association in partnership with FOX Sports, will expand its coverage of racing from Oaklawn Park when the Arkansas track opens for its 2023-24 meet Friday. As part of a multi-year agreement, America's Day at the Races will feature daily analysis and handicapping of Oaklawn Park racing as well on-site coverage from NYRA television personalities throughout opening weekend, Smarty Jones weekend, Rebel weekend, Arkansas Derby weekend, Apple Blossom weekend and Oaklawn H. weekend. Live racing returns to Oaklawn...

Bill Downes has been named track announcer for the upcoming winter/spring meet at Golden Gate Fields. Downes, who has called the races at Emerald Downs for the Washington track's last two seasons, has over two decades of experience in the announcer's booth. "We look forward to having Bill call our races," said Golden Gate Fields Vice President and General Manager David Duggan. "He has called all over the country and provides viewers and listeners with an accurate description of a race." Along with his stint at Emerald, Downes has also...

5th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 3:08 p.m. ET Gold Square's AIR OF DEFIANCE (Quality Road), a $400,000 Keeneland September purchase, is the 3-1 morning-line favorite after running a solid second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) over a muddy strip at Saratoga in his six-furlong debut Aug. 25. The Brad Cox trainee is the second foal out of graded stakes winner Faypien (Ghostzapper). St. Elias and Starlight Racing's It'smyluckytime (Not This Time), a $450,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, makes his first trip to the post for trainer Todd Pletcher....

Jockey Tyler Baze, the Eclipse-winning outstanding apprentice jockey of 2000 who now sports 2,889 wins, returned from a major health scare with his first visit to the winner's circle since Apr. 14 at Oaklawn Park. "I needed it," Baze told the Santa Anita notes team Friday morning at Clocker's Corner. "It took a lot for me to get to this point after being in the hospital and almost dying." Baze was hospitalized for about two weeks in Arkansas after that last win at Oaklawn with severe pain as doctors sought...

Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs named Matt Dinerman as the new track announcer for the upcoming Thoroughbred racing season, which begins December 8, the organization said in a release early Friday morning. Dinerman, 31, comes to Hot Springs following a six-year stint as the track announcer at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, California. He has also served as track announcer at the Sonoma County Fair meet in Santa Rosa, California, for the past two years. "I'm honored to be selected for such a prestigious role, following in the footsteps...

The largest purse increase in Oaklawn Park history was unveiled in a release Wednesday by the track. Purse distribution for the upcoming 2023-2024 season is set for $60 million, which amounts to a $10 million or 20% increase over last season's record-setting $50 million distribution. The average daily purses will top $900,000 when the season starts on Dec. 8. Purses for allowance races will be $140,000--$145,000, maiden special weights will be $115,000 and the minimum purse on any race will be $30,000. "Let me put this in perspective," said Oaklawn...

Oaklawn Park is pumping nearly $1 million more into the purses for its 3-year-old races, the track said in a release Wednesday. Oaklawn increased the purses of the four races pointing toward the GI Kentucky Derby a total of $600,000, with the GI Arkansas Derby bumped to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000; the GII Rebel S. going to $1,250,000 from $1,000,000; and the GIII Southwest S. and Smarty Jones increasing to $800,000 and $300,000, respectively. The purses for the three races for 3-year-old fillies with GI Kentucky Oaks aspirations were also increased,...