Blood-Horse Horsemen's representatives told the Ohio Horse Racing Commission March 30 that equine medication rules, which the commission is reviewing, should be breed-specific in nature. The OSRC in February heard testimony from representatives of the Association of Racing Commissioners International and Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and in April will hear from veterinarians and scientists [...]

Paulick Report Herb Elkins, who owned and raced horses in Florida for 30 years, passed away last week at the age of 91. Elkins and his wife, Ione, owned or co-owned a number of stakes winners, most trained by Bill Kaplan. Those stakes winners included Seacliff, who swept the 1995 Florida Sire Stakes (formerly Stallion [...]

Blood-Horse Six-time leading Oaklawn Park trainer Steve Asmussen earned his 7,000th North American victory April 1, when Drama Coach won the second race at Oaklawn to also give the trainer the sweep of the early Daily Double (VIDEO). Asmussen is just the second trainer ever to reach 7,000 career wins in North America, following the [...]

Daily Racing Form Representatives of Massachusetts horsemen plan to meet with officials from Suffolk Downs over the next several weeks to hammer out a plan for live racing this year after the state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday protecting the track’s racing license and simulcasting operations through 2016. The legislature approved the protections as [...]

Blood-Horse The Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs will join in a unique partnership designed to generate funds for the work of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the non-profit organization that serves as both an accrediting body for facilities that care for Thoroughbreds at the conclusion of their racing careers and a [...]

Blood-Horse As more jurisdictions continue to implement the multiple medication violation penalty system as part of the National Uniform Medication Program, officials March 31 said it's beginning to show it can be a useful tool. The MMV penalty system, which officially began Jan. 1, 2014, in jurisdictions that had adopted it at that time, assigns [...]

Blood-Horse The Racing Officials Accreditation Program, on its 2015 list of points of emphasis, is encouraging the horse racing industry to develop regulations to deal with the issue of "program trainers"—generally those who serve as cover for suspended or barred individuals. "On a scale of one to 10, in terms of importance to racing it [...]

Blood-Horse In a move that sounded a lot like the other shoe dropping, federal criminal charges have been filed against four racetrack veterinarians involved in treating horses at Penn National Race Course near Grantville, Pa. Late March 26, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced criminal charges had been filed against [...]

Blood-Horse With time running out for Suffolk Downs to continue offering full-card simulcasts, the Massachusetts House of Representatives March 26 passed a bill that extends the current rights for one more month. The action was the second extension for the racetrack since the end of last year, and allows for simulcasts to continue through April [...]

Paulick Report Horses are back on the track, taking one stride closer to the upcoming 13th season of racing at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. Only a handful of horses took advantage of the first few days of training, which began Thursday, March 19. Horses continue to arrive at the facility that holds just under [...]