Blood-Horse The Association of Racing Commissioners International kicked off its 2015 convention April 21 with an emphasis on identifying at-risk racehorses and equine welfare issues—two things the organization believes are critical to the future of horse racing. The conference, being held in Tampa, Fla., through April 23, also will have a strong bent toward medication [...]

Blood-Horse A West Virginia Racing Commission purse analysis based on revenue projections from all sources indicates the state and its racetracks have serious issues to address regarding live racing dates in the future. The analysis, discussed during the April 21 WVRC meeting, projects purses for the state's two Thoroughbred racetracks based on various scenarios on [...]

Blood-Horse The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association announced Monday, April 20 that it had appointed Eric Hamelback as new chief executive officer, beginning immediately. Hamelback, who had worked as general manager at Adena Springs Kentucky until September, takes over the National HBPA CEO role from Phil Hanrahan, who stepped down earlier this year. Until [...]

Paulick Report Following an all-day mediation session Monday, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Arlington International Racecourse reached a contract agreement for the 2015 season. The new contract will run through April 22, 2016, and details will be forthcoming. The ITHA would like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts put forth by its Executive Committee of [...]

Blood-Horse Veteran Midwest trainer Kenny P. Smith reached his 1,000th winner April 19, according to Equibase records, when he sent out Retro Citizen to victory in the seventh race at Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casion. A third generation trainer, Smith won his first race in 1972 at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, Neb., with a horse named [...]

Daily Racing Form ALTOONA, Iowa – Prairie Meadows kicks off its 26th Thoroughbred racing meet, offering more than $15 million in total purses, with a nine-race card that gets under way Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Central. Consisting of 67 dates, the scheduling is similar to recent years aside from a two-day first week followed by [...]

Daily Racing Form AUBURN, Wash. – Emerald Downs kicks off its 20th season Saturday with a 10-race card and high hopes for its first meeting under the ownership of the Muckleshoot Indian tribe. The tribe, proprietor of the largest casino in Washington, added Emerald to its portfolio over the winter, quickly raised overnight purses by [...]

Blood-Horse The New England Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has requested that the management of Suffolk Downs, which was granted a two-year extension of its racing and simulcast license by the Massachusetts legislature in late March, apply for three days of live racing in 2015. The horsemen and Suffolk Downs had discussed a longer race [...]

Daily Racing Form Despite canceling its entire opening weekend this year due to wintry weather, Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., posted slight gains in average and total handle for the 2015 meet that closed Saturday, according to figures distributed by the track. Average daily all-sources handle for the 52 days of the meet was [...]

Blood-Horse A Virginia group aiming to conduct race dates in the state in 2015 said negotiations with the owner of Colonial Downs, to lease that property for racing this year, have ceased. The Virginia Equine Alliance said April 10 that efforts to lease Jeff Jacobs' Colonial Downs property to conduct racing ended after the track [...]