Todd Mostoller

Parx Racing and the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PAHBPA) have launched a new joint venture to provide a free equine shuttle service from Penn National Racecourse to Parx Racing. The shuttle service, which will be available on live racing days at Parx, is capable of transporting up to 10 horses. The program will begin on Labor Day, Sept. 2. "This is a win-win situation for both the horsemen and Parx," said David Osojnak, Parx Director of Racing. "The partnership provides Penn National horsemen with the opportunity to race...

Time for Trouble (English Channel) has been named as the 2023 Claiming Crown Horse of the Year, according to a joint announcement from the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (NHBPA) and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), co-founders of the Claiming Crown. A two-time winner of the Kent Stirling Memorial Iron Horse, the 7-year-old was selected as the Claiming Crown Horse of the Year from the eight winners during last year's event at the Fair Grounds. Time for Trouble was also victorious in the 2022 running at Churchill....

Todd Mostoller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PHBPA), painted a dire economic picture of the state's Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing industries on Tuesday when he told commissioners at the monthly meeting of the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission (PHRC) that the 20-year-old legislative funding mechanism for purses has become "cannibalized" by increased competition among casinos that is harming the state's Race Horse Development Fund (RHDF). "The business model that was created by Act 71 [the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act of 2004] that...

In his fight to get out of as one-year suspension after a horse of his tested positive for methamphetamine, controversial trainer Marcus Vitali will have at least one person in his corner. Todd Mostoller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents horsemen at Penn National and Presque Isle Downs, said that the methamphetamine positive was a result of environmental contamination and that Vital should not have been suspended "This is somebody who did absolutely nothing wrong," Mostoller said. On Friday, the Pennsylvania Racing Commission...

Purse account revenues from gaming have improved "dramatically" at both the Penn National and Presque Isle Downs racinos in the past six weeks, enabling Penn National to add an extra weekday of racing starting June 8 and Presque Isle to potentially tack on race dates at the end of the meet that begins July 5. The news came in the form of a one-page memo to members issued Friday by Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association executive director Todd Mostoller. "For the first time since the pandemic started, we have...

The Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PHBPA) met with the management of Penn National Dec. 28 to come up with a contingency plan to keep racing going through January using purse money already "on deposit" in the event that Governor Tom Wolf's COVID-19-related closure of Penn's Hollywood Casino extends past the currently mandated Jan. 4. date. "Penn National has agreed to continue live racing through [January], provided the handle generates a break-even scenario for the company," Todd Mostoller, the PHBPA's executive director, wrote in a one-page memo to members...

Following a Thursday meeting with the governor's office and the state department of health, the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PHBPA) has notified members that a tentative date for live racing at Presque Isle Downs is now July 6. The Presque Isle stable area would tentatively open June 15, according to a one-page memo signed by Todd Mostoller, the PHBPA's executive director. No resumption date was listed for Penn National, where the PHBPA also represents horsemen. Penn National currently has horses stabled on the grounds after stopping racing back...

The Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PHBPA) has agreed in principle with the management of Penn National to resume spectator-free racing at the track prior to the opening of Hollywood Casino if Governor Tom Wolf gives approval. "When racing resumes, our board is committed to maintaining the same daily purse structure," Todd Mostoller, the PHBPA's executive director, wrote in a one-page memo to members issued Wednesday afternoon. "The number of days raced will be adjusted as needed." Mostoller added that he has received assurance from the governor's office that...