A single quarter horse race, planned today to meet legislative requirements, has been canceled at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, according to a report by Jim Freer of Bloodhorse.com and confirmed by the Sun-Sentinel.

For the casual racing fan, this doesn't mean much: The regular thoroughbred racing card goes off at 12:35 p.m. today, the sun is shining and the nearby shops and casino still await. (Not sure if my pal Tom Jicha is there or not today.)

But earlier this week, I wrote how Gulfstream officials confirmed plans to run a single quarter-horse race today and a thoroughbred race on Sunday to activate a second racing permit the company holds. But around 10 p.m. Friday night, according to Freer and confirmed by an email from the horsemen's group that was protesting the race, Gulfstream changed its plans, as part of contract negotiations with the horsemen (I know, it's complicated).

The statement from the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association:

"After intense negotiations the FHBPA and Gulfstream Park were pleased to announce that an undertanding in principle has been reached on a tentative new purse agreement. Both sides are pleased with the upside potential for thoroughbred racing in Florida. Further as result of terms of agreement, the quarter horse racing that was so vehemently opposed has been canceled."

The race had been set for 11:30 a.m. today.

Read Freer's full report here, which notes that if you're a quarter horse fan, you can still head down to Hialeah Park in Miami-Dade.

By Tom Jicha

A late post-time for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby means betting will be available at all the horse and greyhound tracks and jai alai frontons in Broward and Miami-Dade.

Calder and Gulfstream will have their full menu of simulcasting, as always. The same goes for Palm Beach Kennel Club.

The greyhound tracks and jai alai frontons in Broward and Miami-Dade normally can’t take horse racing wagers until 6 p.m. However, because the Derby post-time is 6:24 p.m., they are allowed to take bets throughout the day. Advance betting also will be available on Friday.

Who do I like? Here are picks by Richie DiPacio and me.

Meanwhile, Michael Mayo wrote of the Davie heart transplant patient whose horse is in the Derby.

So there was no $5 million winner from Saturday's Rainbow Pick 6 at Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino.

Not even a $1 million winner.

Instead, there were a lot of winners -- 1,311 of them.

As horse racing writer Tom Jicha wrote, "A series of formful results, in which only the 10-1 winner of the final race, Rachel's Girl, went off at double digit odds, produced a payoff of $3,279.26 to each of 1,311 winning 10-cent tickets."

Fans at the track and across America bet a staggering $3,597,006 Saturday, and that money was pooled with a $1.4 million carryover.

The Rainbow 6, which normally is paid when there is only one winning ticket, had been building since it was last hit on Feb. 16. Gulfstream dispersed on Saturday because it was closing on Easter.

One other note, re: Jicha. He had a live ticket going into the final of the six races, and had the two favorites. But they didn't come in, leaving him with a $21.60 ticket that was worthless. (He also points out that the $3,279.26 that each person won via the 10-cent bets would have been $65,000 -- a nice payout -- had they bought a $2 ticket.)

By Tom Jicha

The dispersal of Gulfstream’s Rainbow Pick 6 on Saturday has the potential to become the Super Bowl of pari-mutuel bets.

More than $1.3 million is in the carryover pool going into Thursday’s races for the 10-cent wager, which normally requires a bettor not only to pick the winners of the last six races on the card but to have the only winning combination.

This will change Saturday when the entire pool will be distributed in equal shares to all tickets with six winners. The original plan was to disperse the jackpot on closing day, Sunday. However, tracks in New York and Kentucky are not allowed to open on Easter, so Gulfstream moved it up a day to bring in those constituencies.

Estimates are the total jackpot could approach $5 million.

It will not be easy to hit. Five of the six races have drawn at least 12 runners with also eligible lists. The other, a maiden race, has 10 entrants but four are first-time starters.

If these field sizes hold, there will be 2,488,320 combinations, requiring an investment of $248,832 to cover every possibility.

A player who wants to narrow selections to two per race would have to invest $6.40. With three horses per race, it jumps to $72.90. Four in each field would cost $409.60.

All of this will be rendered moot if someone gets lucky Thursday or Friday and takes down the pool.

Calder Casino & Race Course says it will become the only racetrack in Florida to offer its simulcast in high definition (“HD”) when it opens its 2010 season of live horse racing on April 25.

The HD signal will be shown on more than 200 HD-enabled flat screen monitors at Calder and at participating simulcast outlets throughout the state and across the nation, as well as www.twinspires.tv, the only online wagering site to show HD signals.

Continue reading "Calder goes HD for racing season" »

A couple of stakes races scheduled for Saturday at Calder have become victims of efforts to prevent an epidemic of Equine Herpesvirus (EVH-1), a highly contagious flu-like disease that afflicts the respiratory system.

A single unidentified horse based at Calder has been confirmed to have contracted EVH-1. The horse has been removed from the grounds. However, three barns have been quarantined. No horse from these barns will be allowed to ship into or out of Calder for three weeks.

Also, as of Nov. 30, no horses are being permitted to ship into any Calder barn for two weeks.

The Tropical Turf Handicap and My Charmer Handicap, which were scheduled to be the centerpieces of a Grand Slam Saturday, were expected to have strong representations of horses who have shipped south for the winter. As a result, both races have been postponed.

A Calder spokesperson said an effort would be made to reschedule these stakes before the end of the season on Jan. 2.

So far, it has been one horse. How big of a story do you think this is?

--Tom Jicha

When the harness racing season resumes Saturday, Isle Casino & Racing will unveil a new simulcast area on the second level of the casino. It will encompass the Trackside Grill as well as two adjacent viewing/betting areas..

The Trackside Grill, the largest part of the simulcast section, has 30 televisions, 46 seats and 10 individual viewing areas. In the bar area, there are two 32-inch flat screens and also booth seating, according to a press release from the Isle.

One of the recently constructed viewing sections features 16 42-inch flat screen televisions. Carrel seating is also available for 40 patrons with individual televisions at each station.

A second new section was created with four privacy suites that each have two 26-inch televisions and a personal betting machine. Reservations are accepted for the suites and cocktail service is available.

Self-service bill accepting machines are located throughtout the simulcast area.

“We’ve taken a wonderful space and devoted it to our racing fans so they may enjoy this spectacular sport according to their preferences. We have made a great effort to create, and become, South Florida’s ultimate racing establishment,” said Michael Bloom, Isle vice president and general manager, in the Isle's release.

By Tom Jicha

Calder’s Summit of Speed has lost one of its Eclipse champions and a Hall of Fame jockey.

Trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form that he is not sending champion female sprinter Indian Blessing to the Grade 1 Princess Rooney on Saturday because he fears a positive post-race drug test.

Indian Blessing had a hind leg infection after her last race. Baffert told the DRF he treated the ailment with penicillin, which contains procaine, a prohibited drug for racing. Baffert said Indian Blessing is doing fine but his vet warned it is possible the medication has not fully cleared her system and might cause a positive drug test. This could result in loss of purse and a suspension for Baffert.

Baffert, who will be inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame next month, will still have starters in two under card stakes, Wall Street Wonder in the Grade 2 Carry Back and Underground in the Grade 3 Azalea.

However, with Indian Blessing not making the trip, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who was scheduled to ride Baffert’s runners, decided to stay home in California, too. Baffert did not immediately name replacement riders.

The Summit of Speed offers seven stakes, four graded, all at sprint distances.
Champion male sprinter Benny the Bull is scheduled to race in the Grade 2 Smile Stakes, which he won last year.

The full story is at the Daily Racing Form (www.drf.com), which requires registration.