Blood-Horse Less than 48 hours after finding out they needed him, Oaklawn Park has hired its fifth announcer. Pete Aiello will be in the booth when Oaklawn opens for live racing Jan. 15, 2016, replacing Frank Mirahmadi, who departed for Santa Anita Park. According to director of racing David Longinotti, Aiello was selected after announcers [...]

Frank Angst / Blood-Horse The four finalists to present their ideas during the first Innovators' Circle—which offers a $15,000 prize—offered ideas in technology to prevent breakdowns, a multi-race wager that can play like an exchange, a game with a huge jackpot, and micro-ownership of Thoroughbreds. The Innovators' Circle for the first time is part of [...]

Blood-Horse The Indiana Horse Racing Commission on Dec. 9 approved the 2016 Thoroughbred Breed Development Program that includes an additional $1.4 million as a result of legislation passed earlier this year. The approved program includes increasing purses for 20 stake races from $85,000 to $100,000. In addition, the state's four Signature Stakes will continue to [...]

Brian M. Rosenthal / Houston Chronicle The Texas Racing Commission has decided to discuss historical racing again next week, the third time the agency has weighed the controversial new form of betting that led to a temporary shut-down of the state's horse racing industry last summer. A repeal of the commission's approval of the game [...]

Kentucky HBPA / Kentucky HBPA The results of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (KHBPA) election are as follows: Owner Directors Michael J. Bruder F. Thomas Conway Frank Jones Jr. Mark C. Bacon Travis Foley Trainer Directors Dale Romans William R. Connelly William (Buff) Bradley Ken McPeek Rick Hiles Alternates: 1st John Hancock- Trainer [...]

American Horse Council / American Horse Council The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association is the latest organization to endorse the American Horse Council's Welfare Code of Practice, the AHC reported Dec. 3. The AHC Welfare Code of Practice is a broad set of principles designed to establish good welfare procedures for organizations to follow [...]

Blood-Horse A ballot question that would allow a slot machine parlor near Suffolk Downs has cleared a hurdle and could appear on the statewide Massachusetts ballot in November. But the measure does not have the backing of racetrack management and the New England affiliate of the Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. The petition to change [...]

Blood-Horse The $1.1 million Claiming Crown, which gives claiming horses their shot in nine stakes restricted to horses who have started for a tag in 2014 or 2015, will return to Gulfstream Park for a fourth straight year when it begins the Championship Meet Dec. 5. The event, founded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders [...]

Paulick Report An administrative law judge has recommended that trainer Kirk Ziadie's license renewal – which was denied in August by the Florida Department of Business Regulation's Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering as a result of several medication violations – be granted because chain of custody procedures in post-race test sample collection were contrary to existing [...]

Daily Racing Form HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Mike Maker and his principal owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey have been the dominant force in the Claiming Crown for many years, combining to win 14 races in the series, and once again they are primed for a major assault on the event Saturday at Gulfstream Park. [...]