The Jockey Club

For what appears to have been nothing more than a minor clerical error, the New York Gaming Commission and its head steward Braulio Baeza, Jr. has fined NYRA Racing Secretary Keith Doleshel $2,000 for "failing to conduct business in a professional manner." Doleshel has appealed the decision and has the backing of NYRA management. Under Baeza, the Gaming Commission has been quick to fine NYRA employees for what can be argued are nothing more than honest and inadvertent mistakes. Among those who have been sanctioned with fines are clocker Richard...

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will succeed Queen Elizabeth II as joint Patrons of the Jockey Club, it was announced. The late Queen had held the position for 68 years, from 1954 until her death in 2022. The owner-breeders are already both Honorary Members of The Jockey Club, with the King having been appointed in 1980. A keen equestrian, he has ridden in races as an amateur as well as being a success polo player. The Queen joined her husband as an Honorary Member of The Jockey Club in...

Detailed during the 2023 Round Table Conference, The Jockey Club's traceability initiative is scheduled to launch this summer, the organization said in a release early Wednesday. In preparation, the Registry encourages anyone with a digital certificate of foal registration in their account who no longer has possession of the horse to transfer the certificate to the current owner or appropriate certificate manager. "We strongly encourage everyone to log on to Interactive Registration and check that the horses in their accounts are still in their possession," said Rick Bailey, registrar of...

Samantha Randazzo will no longer serve as The Jockey Club steward at New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) racetracks, the Jockey Club announced Thursday. The move was made with immediate effect. Current NYRA safety steward Juliet Kagno will fill the vacancy for the remainder of NYRA's Aqueduct spring meet and for the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet from May 2 to July 7. Former Jockey Club steward at NYRA Dr. Ted Hill will assume the steward position during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga from June 6-9...

The much-anticipated documentary "The New York Times Presents: "Broken Horses" will debut on the FX Network Friday at 10 p.m ET and will begin streaming on Hulu next day. What follows is a review of the documentary. You probably haven't seen the FX documentary "The New York Times Presents: "Broken Horses" yet, but, then again, you have. Be it from 60 Minutes, HBO's Real Sports, the Washington Post or in the pages of the New York Times, the story of horse racing's problems has been told numerous times. It's not...

The second panel in the 2024 OwnerView webinar series held Apr. 9 covered information resources for owners, including OwnerView, Equineline, Equibase, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and BloodHorse. The conference is hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Stoll Keenon Ogden, and The Green Group. The panel was sponsored by Equilume and Pleasant Acres Stallions. Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView, moderated the panel with guests Scott Carling, general manager, BloodHorse; Tim Leith, senior vice president, The Jockey Club...

Tickets for the ninth annual ABR Pre-Preakness Party, to be held Wednesday, May 15, at the Mt. Washington Tavern in Baltimore, are now available. Tickets for the event are $35 online or $40 at the door and includes one complimentary drink ticket, complimentary snack platters and access to racing personalities and handicapping experts Registration is also open for the silent auction held in conjunction with the event which benefits the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Proceeds from the Pre-Preakness Party will benefit Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation....

The Jockey Club and 1/ST Racing have partnered to increase international participation in several of their respective turf races, the two companies announced on Thursday. The aim of the partnership is to create links between historic races in the UK and high-profile U.S. turf races over two different distances. The winner of the May 4 $200,000 GII Charles Whittingham S. at Santa Anita will gain an automatic berth and travel incentive to run in the £750,000 G1 Coral-Eclipse over the same 10-furlong distance at Sandown Park on July 6. Whichever...

The 2024 edition of The Jockey Club's Fact Book is now available in the resources section of the organization's website, jockeyclub.com. The online Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and auction sales in North America and is updated quarterly. This edition of the Fact Book includes a new page with an estimate of the total number of registered Thoroughbreds in North America based on 25-year periods. Other updates to the fact book will be published throughout the year, including exports by age and average...

T.D. Thornton's report on racetrack closures in California (TDN, 12/6/23) and Dan Ross's piece on Pat Cummings's research into Computer Assisted Wagering in California (TDN 2/13/24) are frightening for all tracks not supported by casinos/slots. Santa Anita and Del Mar are high-profile tracks in trouble, but they are not alone. The problem? Host tracks are now receiving very little for their racing content. Remember Napster, when a lot of people were stealing songs and nobody knew what to do about it? I'm not Steve Jobs, who saved the music industry...

According to numbers compiled by The Jockey Club for its Equine Injury Database (EID), there were 1.32 fatalities per 1,000 starts at North American racetracks in 2023. That was slightly worse than in 2022 when the number was 1.25, the lowest rate of fatalities since The Jockey Club started compiling numbers in 2009. It was the first time the number had increased year-over-year since 2018 when there were 1.68 fatalities per 1,000 starters. Nonetheless, the figures showed that the sport has made obvious strides since 2009 when it comes to...

Jamie Haydon, president of Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, has been named deputy executive director of The Jockey Club, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Jockey Club James L. Gagliano announced Wednesday. In this added role, Haydon, who will be responsible for industry engagement, will report to The Jockey Club Executive Vice President and Executive Director Matt Iuliano. Haydon will engage with the industry on initiatives of the company and foster collaboration among industry organizations on health, safety, and promotion of the Thoroughbred. Among his field duties, he will...