Turf Paradise

The upcoming fall race meet at Turf Paradise, scheduled to run Nov. 5 through May 7, hangs in the balance over equine safety concerns after another contentious Arizona Racing Commission Meeting, Thursday. The Arizona horsemen, headed by the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA), currently refuse to sign the race-meet contract until a set of track maintenance upgrades, along with various other welfare and management-related requests, have been met. These concerns spring from a 2020-2021 Turf Paradise race-meet marred by a high number of equine fatalities. "We would like...

The system, whatever that has come to mean, failed badly last week when Marcus Vitali, one of the sport's most controversial trainers, was allowed to start a horse at Saratoga. Then again, should anyone have been surprised? This was just the latest example of this being a sport that is so dysfunctional, its regulatory systems so weak, that it is completely unable to police itself. Help is on its way. Some day, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) will be implemented and a central body led by the U.S....

Arizona's Turf Paradise Racetrack has reached an agreement with 1/ST TECHNOLOGY's AmTote International for multi-year totalisator services, featuring year-round simulcast wagering on track and an OTB network of 38 locations, a number anticipated to grow in excess of 50 in 2021. 1/ST TECHNOLOGY already services Turf Paradise fixed-odds wagering through its XB NET business. 1/ST TECHNOLOGY will upgrade Turf Paradise's in-venue terminals and totalisator platform. "We very much look forward to ushering in a new era at Turf Paradise from the wagering technology evolution perspective, in addition to our broader...

Veteran jockey Scott Stevens, one of only 35 riders in history to win in excess of 5,000 races, has announced his retirement after beining involved in a Feb. 24 spill at Turf Paradise. Stevens, 60, is the older brother of Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens. "He had an unbelievable career and he is my hero," Gary Stevens wrote on Twitter. Stevens went down in a turf race after another horse came over on him shortly after the start. He broke two vertebrae and his ribs as a result of...

George Sharp had been repeatedly shut out in his attempts to add to his 14-horse racing stable in the claiming ranks, so he was bidding not to lose when he purchased recent stakes winner Hello Hot Rod (Mosler) (hip 672) for $335,000 during Tuesday's session of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale. "My agent Charlie Allen, who was at Fasig-Tipton, picked him out," Sharp said Tuesday evening from his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. "He picked out a few horses and I watched Hot Rod's races and the horse has a lot of...

The grass course at Turf Paradise, which management closed after conducting only three races over it the first two days of the meet Jan. 4 and 5, is now scheduled for a Jan. 25 reopening after having restoration work performed on its root system. Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia detailed the maintenance work and plans for the reopening of the seven-furlong infield course during the Jan. 14 Arizona Racing Commission meeting. "What happened with the turf course was nobody's fault," Francia claimed. "When we closed on March 14 [in...

Trainer Marcus Vitali started a horse Monday at Turf Paradise, finishing third in the Hank Mills Sr. S.s with Be Gone Daddy (Scat Daddy) in what was his first start since July 21, 2019. Vitali's career has been marked by numerous drug violations, suspensions and bans. His career stalled in 2019 when, in mid-July, he was suspended for 365 days by the Delaware Racing Commission for "interfering with and impeding an investigation being performed by the DTRC investigator along with Delaware Park Security staff." Delaware racing officials alleged that Vitali...

Turf Paradise has hired veteran and international race caller Craig Braddick for the 2021 Winter meeting, starting Jan. 4, 2021, the track announced Wednesday. "It's an exciting challenge to call five days per week, but I've always enjoyed that," Braddick said. "I want to do all I can to positively promote Turf Paradise and grow a fanbase for horse racing in my adopted home state of Arizona. We have some great horsemen and I expect the racing to be extremely competitive. I also want to be able to interact with...

At the December Arizona Racing Commission meeting, Arizona Department of Racing steward Magdaleno Perez announced the launch of the Healthy Humans, Healthy Horses track wellness program, created to address the growing substance abuse problem at the state's racetracks by supporting racing participants who may be suffering from addiction. "I commend Magdaleno and the entire racing team in their diligent efforts to move this project forward," said ADGaming Director, Ted Vogt. "The Healthy Humans, Healthy Horses program will directly support Arizona horsemen and create a safer and healthier backside, driving us...

By the time Turf Paradise opens Jan. 4 for Arizona's first live Thoroughbred racing since March 14, track management projects the horse population could top 1,200 for the five-day weekly, 84-date meet that runs through May 1. Turf Paradise general manager Vincent Francia said during the Dec. 10 Arizona Racing Commission meeting that 664 horses are currently stabled on the grounds, adding that "I expect by the end of the month that that figure is probably going to double." Francia explained that Turf Paradise is the recipient of a mixed...

Turf Paradise got unanimous 3-0 approval from the Arizona Racing Commission on Thursday to open its backstretch by the end of the month in anticipation of an 84-date, Jan. 4-May 1 racing season. The meet will mark the first Thoroughbred racing in Arizona since Mar. 14, when Turf Paradise ended its spring season prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, Turf Paradise withdrew its dates request for a traditional 2020-21 autumn-to-spring meet, citing liability concerns related to COVID-19. In between, the Arizona Downs summer meet never ran because local...

Representatives of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (AZHBPA) and the management of Turf Paradise in north Phoenix have signed an agreement that will allow for 84 days of live racing at the track beginning Jan. 1, 2020 and running through May 4, 2021. The Arizona Racing Commission was to meet in special session Oct. 30 to approve the dates after a disagreement in the wording of the agreement between the two parties led to a 24-hour delay in submitting the plan to the ARC. The Commission will also...