Paulick Report Ellis Park concluded its 93rd race meet Monday, Sept. 7 with healthy signs that bode well for its future. Live on-track handle increased 17.4 percent from $4.3 million last year to $5.0 million this season and the average starter per race grew 13.7 percent 7.3 in 2014 to 8.2 in 2015. Contributing to [...]

Blood-Horse It was a homecoming party at Suffolk Downs Sept. 5, as local horsemen who had dispersed to tracks along the East Coast and racing fans from across New England returned to support the first of three racing festival days this year and celebrate the restoration of live racing at the 80-year-old racetrack. The sunny [...]

Blood-Horse Horsemen will have the opportunity to pledge a percentage of their total earnings to Thoroughbred Charities of America during the upcoming race meet at Kentucky Downs. The pledge drive, called "Horsemen Giving Back," will begin opening day, Sept. 5, at the Franklin, Ky., track. "As a Thoroughbred owner myself, I was looking for an [...]

Paulick Report Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Tuesday that House Appropriations Chairman John Otto has agreed to a proposal by Senate Legislative Budget Board members to fund the Texas Racing Commission for three months. However, the horsemen’s organization representing Thoroughbred and Quarter horse racing say the extension gives owners and trainers “no confidence in [...]

Blood-Horse Texas lawmakers have apparently agreed to temporarily fund the Texas Racing Commission, allowing horse racing in the state to resume after a one-day shut down. According to the Houston Chronicle, the agreement, which will likely have to be approved by Gov. Greg Abbott, was struck between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senate budget writer Jane [...]

Blood-Horse Evangeline Downs concluded its 84-day Thoroughbred racing season Aug. 29 with Karl Broberg and Colby Hernandez dominating from the start of the meet to take the respective trainer and jockey titles. Broberg won more than twice as many races as his next closest training competition, winning 98 races from 228 starters for a remarkable [...]

Blood-Horse Racetracks in Texas were scrambling the evening of Aug. 31 in the wake of a legislative battle over whether to fund the Texas Racing Commission. The tracks received a memo indicating the TRC had not received the required authorization from the Texas Legislative Budget Board to spend money beyond Aug. 31, and that the [...]

Blood-Horse There were no regrets from American Pharoah's trainer Bob Baffert the morning after the Triple Crown winner finished second to Keen Ice in the Aug. 29 Travers Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course. Nor was there any further light shed on whether Zayat Stables' homebred runner will compete again. "If I had to [...]

Blood-Horse Oaklawn Park is projecting average daily purse distribution of $475,000, a 12% increase over 2015, for the meet that begins Jan. 15, 2016. The Hot Springs, Ark., racetrack, which released the meet's first condition book Aug. 27, said purses are projected to total a record $27 million, which represents a 76% increase from 2008; [...]

Blood-Horse Most racing fans coming to Lexington this fall for the Breeders' Cup World Championships will likely need to take advantage of three park-and-ride locations around the city. Parking at Keeneland will be extremely limited Oct. 30-31, when the racetrack will host the championship races for the first time. Parking at Keeneland will be limited [...]