Parx

One month after initially stating at a Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission (PHRC) meeting that May backstretch raids at Parx yielded a "significant amount of contraband" and "items that have no business on the backside," Tom Chuckas, the director of Thoroughbred horse racing for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, gave a Tuesday update that now describes the yield from those searches in markedly less sensationalistic terms. "In the last months, enforcement action was taken both at Penn National and at Parx," Chuckas told commissioners at the June 29 PHRC meeting during...

Sal Sinatra has been named the next president of Equibase Company LLC by the Equibase Management Committee, effective June 21. Sinatra succeeds Jason Wilson, who departed Equibase to join The Stronach Group this past April. Sinatra, who completed a double major in Mathematics and Statistics from Rutgers, was an assistant clerk at the Daily Racing Form and in 1985, he became a racing official at Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands. He was also the assistant racing secretary at Beulah Park in Ohio. Between 1990 and 1999, Sinatra was president and...

According to a ruling posted on the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission's website, trainer Ricardo (Richie) Vega had been "summarily suspended" by the stewards at Parx Racetrack. The story was first reported by the website www.theracingbiz.com. The decision comes after the racing commission staged a backstretch raid at Parx over the weekend of May 22-23. Investigators searched cars, barns and grooms' quarters. Tom Chuckas, who heads the Pennsylvania Racing Commission, reported to his fellow regulators during a Zoom call that "a significant amount of contraband" had been uncovered and that the...

It was an eventful few days for racing in the northeast, and the TDN Writers' Room presented by JPMorgan Private Bank broke down all of the latest developments in the Monmouth jockey standoff and the raids on Parx barns by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission Wednesday morning. Plus, they welcomed Four Corners Racing's managing partner Anthony Trimarchi as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss his experiences as a new owner in the game and the economics of racing from a banking perspective. "I was exposed to racing at...

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's reigning champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist (Nyquist) is aiming toward a late summer/fall campaign, while targeting the GI Cotillion S. at Parx Sept. 25, according to her trainer Butch Reid, Jr. "She's been training lightly down at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland and she'll be coming back to my barn at Parx in the next 10 days," said Reid, Jr. "We're looking forward to a fall campaign with her and have our eye on the Cotillion. I could see us possibly getting her...

Recent backstretch raids staged by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission at Parx have uncovered what Director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing at Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Tom Chuckas described as a "significant amount of contraband" and "items that have no business on the backside." Chuckas made the revelations during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission. The meeting was held over Zoom and a one-minute-and-twenty second segment was captured and posted on Twitter by veterinarian Kathryn Papp. Pennsylvania Racing Commissioner Russell Jones took part in the meeting and confirmed...

Chris Griffin has been named as the new voice of Parx Racing. Following the retirement of announcer Keith Jones in December, Parx launched an extensive search for their next track announcer. "Keith was here for 34 years," said Joe Wilson, Chief Operating Officer for Parx Racing. "This was a new process for all of us. Chris is a rising star in our industry with a tremendous work ethic. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Parx family." Griffin added, "This is my opportunity to enter a booth that saw...

Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong (Wicked Strong), off since winning the GII Remsen S. last December, tuned up for a start in the Apr. 3 GII Wood Memorial with a five-furlong work in 1:01.13 (3/13) at Parx Saturday. "He went by himself from the pole. Hopefully, we can hit one work a week up to the Wood," said trainer Daniel Velazquez, who wasn't on hand for the drill after being hospitalized with a lacerated liver and torn bicep suffered during a training accident earlier Saturday morning. Velazquez had hoped to start...

Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane (Street Sense), a romping 6 1/4-length winner of the one-mile Jerome S. at Aqueduct Jan. 1, will look to add a furlong and a graded race to his resume in the GIII Withers S. at Aqueduct Saturday. Trained by Harold Wyner, the bay colt was runner-up in his seven-furlong debut at Parx Oct. 28. He graduated by a front-running 4 1/2 lengths going one mile and 70 yards at Parx Nov. 25 and had everything his own way when loose on the...

Pennsylvania casinos have been greenlighted to reopen as of Monday, Jan. 4, rekindling revenue streams that fund Thoroughbred purses in the state. Governor Tom Wolf announced Dec. 30 that because COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been working to tamp down the spread of the pandemic, he will allow more stringent safety restrictions that went into effect Dec. 12 to expire as planned. But that doesn't mean a full-blown opening for the 13 casinos in the state: Mitigation efforts will roll back to what they were on Dec. 11, which still caps...

After more than three decades as the voice of Parx Racing, announcer Keith Jones will be stepping away from the microphone at the end of the year. Since 1987, Jones has been the voice of Philadelphia Park/Parx, making him the second longest tenured announcer after Tampa Bay Downs' Richard Grunder. Jones began his career at Garden State Park before moving permanently to Philadelphia Park. "I'll be forever grateful to the management at Greenwood for affording me an opportunity to pursue a career doing something I've thoroughly enjoyed," said Jones. "As...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-PRX, $40K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 5 1/2f, post time: 12:55 p.m. DANCE FOR THE GOLD (Medaglia d'Oro) is the second foal, but the first to race from Dance To Bristol (Speightstown), who won half of her 20 career trips to the post, including the GI Ballerina S. in 2013. Bred on the reverse cross responsible for the likes of Grade I winners Rock Fall and Separationofpowers and other graded winners Barkley and Strike Power, Dance for the Gold is a full-sister to a yearling colt...