Confederate wins again - this time breaking the world record for a 3yo. Went 1.46.1!!!
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Confederate wins again - this time breaking the world record for a 3yo. Went 1.46.1!!!
USA is certainly increasing their exposure thanks to Fox Sports 2
For only the second time, harness racing will be featured on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) on back-to-back nights. What makes this weekend’s shows unique is for the first time they are originating from two different tracks.
The Meadowlands will kick off the broadcast doubleheader tonight (Sept. 8). On Saturday (Sept. 9), Scioto Downs will make their FS2 debut.
According to the New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) senior director of TV broadcast operations Eric Donovan, a weekend like this would not have been possible without their existing rapport with The Meadowlands president/chief executive officer Jeff Gural.
“If we didn’t have that first year [2021] with The Meadowlands, I don’t think there’s Breeders Crown coverage last year [at Woodbine Mohawk Park],” said Donovan. “I don’t think there’s the general appeal to the industry and then reaching across to the Caesar’s properties and then the Little Brown Jug, and possibly something at Red Mile, too.
“So, yeah, I mean, it all started with that relationship with The Meadowlands and we’re very, very appreciative of all the support we’ve gotten from Jeff and his team, and, I hope we’ve been able to deliver for him.”
Gural had felt for a long time that harness racing belonged on national TV more than just once a year and in 2021 his relationship with NYRA produced a two-hour Meadowlands Pace show on FS2 (detailed here in HRU).
Following the success of that inaugural broadcast, the next month there was a Hambletonian “look in” on FS2 and then three-and-a-half hours of Breeders Crown coverage on Saturday (Oct. 30).
It wasn’t until last year with the Crown from Woodbine Mohawk Park, that the broadcast expanded outside the border of The Meadowlands, opening up a slew of possibilities to NYRA and the rest of industry.
This year, the broadcast offerings broadened even further adding the Dan Patch from Hoosier Park in August to the eight shows — plus a cut-in on Hambletonian Day — already on the schedule with The Meadowlands.
https://harnessracingupdate.com/2023...s-tv-exposure/
It's all how harness is sold. If it's sold as a glamorous, shiny exciting prospect with data and facts to build interest and conversation, then yeh it will fit in perfect on Fox Sports. If it's shown with grainy, dull filmed from 2000m away footage with moths buzzing about then no, it wont gain traction. We will never grow as a sport with the poor quality of footage and poorly lit tracks that we currently have regionally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Messenger
Too much football on the weekend and finally catching up with The Little Brown Jug
In the final Stay Hungry had 3 runners while Sweet Lou and Huntsville had 2 each, with a Captain Treacherous and an All Bets Off (Bettors) the other 2
Seven Colors (Stay Hungry) and Cannibal (Sweet Lou) were pretty much equal favourites but it was another Sweet Lou runner - It's My Show that took the prize
In the Eliminations, Captain Treacherous's Ken Hanover paced the fastest mile ever in Jug history in 1.48.4 (1.48.8)
https://harnesslink.com/usa/its-my-s...tle-brown-jug/
The USTA are now supporting the introduction of a new bill: The Racehorse Health and Safety Act
They have never supported HISA
They claim -
"After HISA was fully implemented this May, 12 horses died in six weeks at Churchill Downs Racetrack, home of the Kentucky Derby. Even though HISA admitted the racetrack was in “full compliance” with its racetrack safety rules, Churchill Downs was shut down, and races were moved to another track. Under HISA’s watch other racing fatalities occurred at Triple Crown racetracks and at prominent tracks in Maryland and New York. Despite spending $66.5 million this year, the HISA Authority recently failed to identify the cause of the problem."
https://ustrottingnews.com/racehorse...hisas-failure/
$800kUS for a yearling trotting filly by a first season sire
https://ustrottingnews.com/kadena-se...selected-sale/
It equaled the filly record set in 2021 by Exile - not found on ClassicFamilies so I don't know that Exile has raced
$700kUS for a Captaintreacherous yearling filly set a new pacing filly record
The previous record of $625k was for Laugh A Day in 1983 - she only ever won $38,555
It would appear that USA harness continues to do a good job of putting itself out there
Breeders Crown on Fox Sports 2 this Friday and Satureday
https://ustrottingnews.com/breeders-...-and-saturday/
Confederate (Sweet Lou) again in the 3yo C&G Breeders Crown - making it 12 wins from 13 starts this season and nearly $2m in earnings
https://harnesslink.com/usa/confeder...rs-crown-romp/
https://harnesslink.com/usa/for-imme...nds-racetrack/
The following is just a couple of extracts
Meadowlands Releases Names On Exclusion List (There are 33 trainers on the list!)
East Rutherford, NJ – November 3, 2023 – The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Hon. Mary Kay Vyskocil, has entered Orders of Conviction for Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli each having been charged as Defendants in the matter of United States v. Navarro, Docket No. 1:20-cr-00160-MKV– SDNY.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who prosecuted these cases, announced at the time that Seth Fishman DVM received a sentence of 11 years in prison for his role at the helm of an approximately twenty-year scheme to manufacture, market, and sell to racehorse trainers and others in the racehorse industry “untestable” performance enhancing drugs for use in professional horseracing.
Also, as part of its investigation, the Federal government conducted its own collection of blood and urine samples from racehorses, both post-race and from out of competition testing. Below is a list under the category, Drug Positives Federal Investigation, identifying trainers whose horses tested positive in those tests.
This remains a serious matter. Consequently, the Meadowlands is conducting its own internal investigation given these revelations. And until that investigation is completed, the Meadowlands has determined that all individuals listed below will be placed on the Meadowlands exclusion list.
https://harnesslink.com/usa/gural-to...-fire-victims/
IMO The best thing for this grub , if convicted is to put him in a barn & set it alight. Obviously making sure he can not get out!!!!
Terrible , those poor horses . Very sad .
The Meadowlands, Jeff Gural on doping (from HarnessRacingUpdate)
I read what I assume was an editorial in last Sunday’s HRU and you hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, the reality is that nobody cares as the vast majority of tracks are owned by casino owners and almost all of the purse money is generated by slot machines. As a result, doing anything to increase handle at a track with slot machines makes little or no sense.
I do agree that my dispute with Faraldo hurts the sport and a few years ago I was on a panel with Joe in Saratoga and I went up to him afterwards and asked him if he wanted to bury the hatchet for the good of the sport and he made it clear that he had no interest. At least you should know I tried.
As far as performance enhancing drugs, all one has to do is read the transcripts of the trial of Lisa Gianelli formerly Lisa Ranger and Seth Fishman and you would see exactly how bad it is. Lisa was a [salesperson] for Fishman selling both therapeutic and performance enhancing drugs and receiving a commission of 17 per cent of sales. It is illegal for anyone to be buying any drugs from a veterinarian who has not examined your horse before they prescribe the medication. She would visit the training centers every two weeks and drop off the medications that were ordered by her customers. Since she was getting a commission, it was in her best interest to encourage the sale of these medications and to the best of my knowledge no one called the USTA hotline to report this illegal activity.
So far, we have only been able to view the customers that Gianelli was selling to and have not been able to obtain the records of who was buying drugs directly from Fishman. I was told there are an additional 200 names on that list, but so far we have not been able to obtain the information.
https://harnessracingupdate.com/2023...ping-and-more/
The Burke Stable is training 79 2-year-olds in 2024
https://ustrottingnews.com/burke-tra...aining-roster/
https://paulickreport.com/features/k...ocial-contract
Another big reason I’ll now be writing regularly about the federal racing integrity law is because someone in the world of harness racing has to do it. Right now, no one does. The United States Trotting Association, of which I am a dues-paying member, should be devoting its website to fair coverage of the law. Instead, the USTA has effectively become a propaganda organ for anti-HISA views. The USTA’s website and social media products, which thousands of people check daily, churn out a relentless stream of one-sided coverage against the federal law. My fellow horsemen and horsewomen deserve to see for themselves the other sides to the story.
By turning their otherwise excellent website into an anti-HISA propaganda organ, and by suing to stop the enforcement of the new racing integrity law, USTA leaders have alienated hundreds of industry stakeholders who are opposed to such short-sighted tactics. For example, the USTA’s involvement in the doomed legal effort to stop the law has cost the USTA hundreds of thousands of dollars and precluded anyone in the harness community from working officially with HISA officials to prepare for the likely day that harness racing is covered by the law. USTA members who think the USTA’s strategy is nuts deserve an outlet for their views.
https://harnesslink.com/usa/burke-br...yable-anymore/
“It’s not an enjoyable thing anymore to train horses, it’s going to be what gets me out of the harness racing business.”
That was the sentiment from Harness Racing’s first $300 million dollar man in a Harnesslink exclusive interview detailing the latest twist in the saga with industry regulators and their somewhat unhinged crusade to clean up the sport.
North America’s quest for clean racing on the back of the recent federal indictments has reached a tipping point, with some of the sports biggest names caught in the crosshairs, including the biggest of them all, Ron Burke.
We no doubt need common sense but clearly more campaigning against HISA
https://harnesslink.com/usa/fwd-mane-freehold-tragedy/
This opinion piece by John Berry is about more than just the closure of Freehold a home of harness racing for 170 years
Read all the article and you will no doubt see some relevance to Australia too
Dreadful.
IMO , People are simply sick of all the wrong that is associated with the industry.
U.S. harness racing economic indicators see decreases in 2024
Total wagering of $1,470,658,827 during the past year was $114,699,372 less than 2023, a 7.23% decrease. However, the 2024 total was only $16.4 million less than two years ago in 2022.
Purses in 2024 decreased by 1.93%. Last year, $491,734,380 in purses were distributed over 3,149 race days compared to 2023 when $501,391,585 in purses were earned in 3,218 race days.
According to Equibase, handle on Thoroughbred racing in North America was also down, by 3.35%, in 2024, marking the third consecutive year that wagering has declined.
https://ustrottingnews.com/u-s-harne...eases-in-2024/
The Grade 2 MGM Yonkers Trot for sophomore colts and geldings did not require eliminations, with the five horses entered moving straight to next Friday’s (June 27) $300,000 final
This is not a good indicator. 5 noms for a a $300,000us race
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ic...d=BingNewsVerp
"Our company complies fully with federal labor laws, and to our knowledge, no Delta Downs team members were involved in this matter. We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested,” Boyd Gaming said in a statement Wednesday.
Donald means what he says!!!