From the Good News Department: The Washington Racing Commission met Monday to discuss Emerald’s request to drop the four Friday race cards in August. Why the request? Here is Emerald President Phil Ziegler in the TDN: “I was told at…
Notwithstanding the (at least) two horses killed on its final weekend, Aqueduct Racetrack was given a happy sendoff Sunday. The final race was dubbed, “It Was a Good Run,” and NYRA CEO David O’Rourke told the TDN: “It’s been a…
After 132 years of abusing and killing horses – the latest of what surely is thousands happened just Friday – Aqueduct Racetrack is closing for good after today’s card. (At least initially, Aqueduct’s dates will be picked up by the…
In recent years, Montana has only held two six-day meets a year. This week, the second of those, Great Falls, announced that this year’s edition, scheduled for July, has been canceled. The reason: “Unexpected budget shortfalls left the club unable…
From the Good News Department… Coming on the heels of Hastings’ permanent shuttering this past December (and Fraser Downs’ a few months prior to that), news comes that Rideau Carleton Raceway, a harness track in Ottawa, has followed suit. In…
One of the more risible arguments put forth by this increasingly desperate industry is that horseracing merits saving (read: bailing out) because horseracing helps “preserve open spaces.” What makes this all the worse is the severe affordable-housing crisis our nation…
A bit of good news from steeplechase world… For the first time in almost 50 years, the Winterthur Steeplechase in Delaware will not be run this spring. Using the 75th anniversary of the onsite museum as a reason (pretext?), the…
Bullville Terror, says the NYS Gaming Commission, “broke down” in the 1st race at Monticello yesterday and is dead. He was eight years old. A few other notes… According to Equibase, in 2025 wagering on U.S. races was down 2.1%…
From the Illinois Racing Board yesterday: “Today the Illinois Racing Board made a very difficult decision to suspend the operating license of Suburban Downs [which takes place at Hawthorne; see our recent post]. On Jan. 15, IRB requested bank statements…
Friday, the province of British Columbia posted a public letter announcing an end to the subsidies for Hastings Racecourse as of Jan 31, 2026. Apparently, the decision was precipitated by the industry’s request for even more public money than it…
To paraphrase an old legal adage, if you have the facts, pound the facts; if you have the truth, pound the truth; if you have neither, pound the table and yell like hell. We (see this website) have the facts,…
A few years back, Nebraska green-lit racinos partly to save the light, moribund horseracing industry there. Although there are six racing licenses, save for Fonner Park the tracks have been running a bare minimum of races – just enough to…
