The Stronach Group

The simulcasting stand-off between an arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) tasked with distributing the company's signal and the Arizona Department of Gaming has nearly reached the two-week mark, and the affected stakeholders are sending out mixed signals of their own as to its impact. The issue surrounds a state law passed last year requiring all simulcast providers that send their races into Arizona to offer the products uniformly among all tracks and all their Off-Track Betting parlors (OTB). On Jan. 24 of this year, the Arizona Racing Commission passed a...

Maryland lawmakers have introduced a bill, the Racing and Community Development Act of 2020, that would fund renovations at Laurel and Pimlico, ensuring that the GI Preakness S. will remain at Pimlico. The bill calls for the Maryland Stadium Authority to oversee the project and to raise $350 million to do so through the sale of bonds. The future of the Preakness had been in doubt when officials with The Stronach Group, which owns Laurel and Pimlico, made it known that they were interested in moving the race to Laurel....

At the Orange County Superior Court this Monday, judge Gregory Lewis ruled that the Pacific Racing Association (PRA)--the arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) licensed to operate the meet at Golden Gate Fields--must continue to send its audiovisual signal to the network of satellite wagering facilities in Northern California, thereby throwing a lifeline to the county fairgrounds where these satellites are primarily found, along with the broader status quo of the industry in the northern half of the state. The crux of the issue surrounded PRA's legal obligation to contract...

Golden Gate Fields has cancelled its Thursday race card after an issue with a main gas line led to a loss of hot water at the facility. "There had been an issue with the gas lines that do not belong to us, and when it was fixed, it caused some issues in other areas, when they re-pressurized the lines," explained Aidan Butler, chief strategy officer at The Stronach Group. "It doesn't appear to be serious, but as a precaution, we decided to cancel Thursday's racing." Live racing is scheduled to...

Three days into a state-mandated simulcast standoff that has resulted in Arizona horseplayers being unable to wager on signals distributed by a subsidiary of The Stronach Group (TSG), management at Turf Paradise issued a press release to try and quell rumors that the track would be closing because of its inability to accept wagers on popular winter tracks. "Turf Paradise is not going out of business. The Phoenix-based track...is not closing its doors," stated the first line of an update posted on the track's website signed by Turf Paradise general...

Edited Press Release The Stronach Group introduced a new consumer facing brand: 1/ST (pronounced "First"). 1/ST represents the company's continued movement toward redefining Thoroughbred racing and the ecosystem that drives it. It is the engine that advocates for and drives the 1/ST Horse Care mission while powering the company's forward-thinking 1/ST Racing, 1/ST Technology, 1/ST Live and 1/ST Properties businesses. This weekend, the company's Pegasus World Cup Series will introduce the 1/ST brand with medication-free racing at the highest level. 1/ST Horse Care is donating 2% of the total $4-million...

The Stronach Group issued a statement Wednesday in response to comments from a spokesman for California Governor Gavin Newsom published in a Monday New York Times story entitled 3 Horses Die in 3 Days at Santa Anita, Prompting Fresh Criticism of Racetrack. In an email to the Times, Newsom's press secretary Jesse Melgar said: "While the California Horse Racing Board and Santa Anita have made progress in reducing equine fatalities over the past year and C.H.R.B. has made recommendations to further improve horse safety, Governor Newsom remains concerned and believes...

A small group of protestors and the news media were back in force at Santa Anita Sunday after Tikkun Olam (Temple City) collided with another horse on the training track and was euthanized. It was the third equine fatality in as many days at the track. Tikkun Olam's fatal injury followed breakdowns by Harliss (Midshipman) Friday and Uncontainable (Acclamation) Saturday, respectively--both of which were on the turf--and prompted the strongest denunciation yet from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Three dead horses in three days requires immediate action," PETA...

2019 GI Pegasus World Cup Turf bridesmaid Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})'s connections are leaning toward a start in the $1-million 1 3/16-mile GI Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park Jan. 25, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Tuesday. The Coolmore partners' bay 5-year-old also carries an entry in the $3-million 1 1/8-mile GI Pegasus World Cup over the Hallandale main track, but her connections recently purchased a half-share in MGI1SW Maximum Security (New Year's Day) who was invited for the dirt race. It was later revealed that Maximum Security...

New to running racetracks, Aidan Butler, The Stronach Group (TSG)'s chief strategy officer and acting executive director of California Racing Operations, has worn all sorts of suits belonging to all sorts of worlds--horse racing, legal affairs, business management, and technology--that he says have prepared him for the task. He founded a sports equipment company called GuardLab, which specializes in mouthguards, for example. He was managing director of a large litigation law firm called Gilbert's, its area of expertise in intellectual property--though he isn't, it should be noted, an attorney. Butler,...

When Aidan Butler, The Stronach Group (TSG)'s chief strategy officer, arrived at Santa Anita earlier this Spring, he did so in the midst of a welfare crisis unfolding on a national stage. Since then, TSG has solidified Butler's position within the company, where he will additionally serve as acting executive director of California Racing Operations. In terms of the crisis, Del Mar's summer meet--at which there were no race day fatalities and only four training-related deaths, two of which were the result of a freak accident--has had the effect of...