The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering Oct. 27 approved Hialeah Park's application to hold a 40-day Quarter Horse meet beginning Nov. 28.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Hialeah Park has set Nov. 14 as the date for the start of arrival of Quarter Horses for a 40-day meet it plans to run beginning Nov. 28. But as of Oct. 22, the Hialeah, Fla., track was still waiting for the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering to approve its application for racing dates.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Calder Race Course is preparing marketing plans for poker and a casino president and general manager Tom O'Donnell expects will attract a significant number of customers from some nearby pari-mutuel facilities and tribal casinos in southeast Florida.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association said on Oct. 5 that it is "extremely disappointed" by Calder Race Course's Oct. 3 announcement that it will cut overnight purses 15% beginning on Oct. 8.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Unlike a year ago at this time, you can stand at the rail at Hialeah Park and see the lake in the infield and the familiar flamingos. You also are next to the dirt track that Hialeah Park president and owner John J. Brunetti says could be ready for Quarter Horses before mid-October.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Hialeah Park has filed applications for Quarter Horse racing dates, telling the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering it plans to run a 20-day meet late this year and another 20-day meet early in 2010.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A state court in Tallahassee, Fla., on Sept. 11 honored trainer Kirk Ziadie's request and dismissed his appeal of a 60-day suspension and $1,000 fine by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering for a violation of medication rules.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tampa Bay Downs vice president and general manager Peter Berube says the track "might not be in a position to continue" racing if the Florida legislature accepts the latest gaming compact between Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hialeah Park chairman John Brunetti Sr. is not optimistic the track's first Quarter Horse meet will be a financial success.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association and Hialeah Park announced Sept. 4 that the Hialeah, Fla., track will hold its first Quarter Horse meet from Nov. 28, 2009 through Feb. 2, 2010. However, Hialeah Park had not applied for those dates or any other Quarter Horse race dates as of Sept. 4, said Alexis Lambert, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida signed a gaming compact Aug. 31 that has some significant changes from a gaming law Crist and the Florida legislature approved earlier this year.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are nearing their Aug. 31 deadline to approve a Gaming Compact, which would trigger a new law that would provide economic benefits for the state's Thoroughbred industry and for that tribe's casinos.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Calder Race Course has barred trainer Kirk Ziadie from training and all other activity at its property. Ziadie said Calder officials handed him an indefinite expulsion late in the afternoon Aug. 20 "and told me I have 72 hours to leave the grounds."
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering expects that a state court in Tallahassee could wait until next April before it issues a ruling on trainer Kirk Ziadie's appeal of a 60-day suspension for a medication violation.
Monday, August 17, 2009
A judge in a state circuit court in Miami on Aug. 8 dismissed Internet entrepreneur Halsey Minor's civil suit that requested a transfer in control of Hialeah Park from its chairman and principal owner John Brunetti to the city of Hialeah, Fla.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
All-sources handle at Calder Race Course rose 48%, from $131.4 million to $195 million, during this year's second quarter, according to parent company Churchill Downs in a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But Calder's handle for the quarter ended June 30 was 22% below its handle of $249 million for the second quarter of 2007.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
David J. Roberts left his post at the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering after eight years.
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has issued a 60-day suspension to trainer Kirk Ziadie, citing a case in which one of his horses tested positive for a race-day banned tranquilizer after a 2007 race at Gulfstream Park.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed a gaming bill June 15 that contains several changes sought by the state's Thoroughbred industry and some changes in the operations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's casinos.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The number 35 was on almost everyone's lips on June 3 when Calder Race Course broke ground for a casino it plans to open next January on its property in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
The Florida Legislature passed a gaming bill May 8 that includes several changes sought by the state's Thoroughbred industry, and a compromise on the contentious issue of table games at the Seminole Tribe of Florida's casinos.
Friday, May 08, 2009
The Florida Legislature May 1 extended its annual regular session for seven days, with pending bills on Thoroughbred and other pari-mutuel issues and on Indian gaming among unfinished business.
Monday, May 04, 2009
The Florida Legislature will end its annual regular session May 1, and as of April 28 the House and Senate had not resolved major gaming issues including whether the Seminole Tribe of Florida should be able to keep blackjack and baccarat tables at its casinos.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Calder Race Course will open its eight-month season April 24, with track officials and South Florida horsemen hoping for a big rebound from a problem-filled 2008.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Hialeah Park probably will begin Quarter Horse racing in 2010 only if the Florida Legislature makes three major changes in state racing laws, the track's owner John Brunetti said April 15.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Calder Race Course announced April 16 that it has signed a 2009 purse contract agreement with the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. The Miami Gardens, Fla., track and its parent, Churchill Downs Inc., reached the agreement with the Florida HBPA on the evening of April 15.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Calder Race Course is preparing to open its 2009 season on April 24, but as of April 7 the track's parent Churchill Downs Inc. had not signed a purse contract with the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Technology entrepreneur Halsey Minor said on April 3 that he has submitted a bid to Magna Entertainment Corp. under which he would buy substantially all of that bankrupt company's assets except Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Calder Race Course March 31 submitted its final filing for 2009-10 racing dates to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, and it confirms earlier reports that Calder will not run head-to-head with nearby Gulfstream Park during that period.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Gulfstream Park said March 27 it will run its next meet from Jan. 3, 2010 to April 24, 2010, ending speculation it could seek dates in November and December of 2009.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Members of the Florida House of Representatives March 24 released a draft of a bill that would require the Seminole Tribe of Florida to remove blackjack and baccarat tables from its casinos. The proposal would permit the Seminoles to keep the Class III Las Vegas-style slot machines they began installing at their Florida casinos last summer.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The chairman of an important Florida Senate committee March 24 introduced a bill that would allow Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course to have blackjack and baccarat, while permitting the Seminole Tribe of Florida to keep those two games and add roulette and crap tables at its casinos.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hialeah Park received a Quarter Horse permit from the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering on March 17, with an apparent mandate to begin that racing by March 17, 2010.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Gulfstream Park said its average daily all-sources handle rose 3.6% and that its average daily on-track handle was up 7.2% during this year's first two months.
Friday, March 06, 2009
The Florida Legislature will begin its annual two-month session on March 3, with the state's Thoroughbred tracks and other pari-mutuels seeking changes in a gaming compact that Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida signed in 2007.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Magna Entertainment Corp. and partner Forest City Enterprises announced Feb. 26 the first 32 tenants for the retail portion of their The Village at Gulfstream Park development. Plans for the $1.2-billion complex, adjacent to Gulfstream's clubhouse/casino building, include a hotel and condominiums on the property in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Meanwhile, officials are reluctant to speculate on a possible bankruptcy filing by MEC.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Technology entrepreneur Halsey Minor on Feb. 9 filed a civil suit that maintains John Brunetti, by not holding racing at Hialeah Park since 2001, is in default on agreements under which he purchased the historic race track.
Monday, February 09, 2009
A switch to five-day racing weeks and a long stretch of dry weather are among the factors helping Gulfstream Park buck an industry trend of lower pari-mutuel handle.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Eclipse Award attendees and the TVG viewers tuned in on the night of Jan. 26 were anticipating, and many were hoping, that Curlin would repeat as Horse of the Year.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wagering in Florida on Calder Race Course's recently concluded Tropical at Calder meet fell 31% in 2008, according to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Monday, January 12, 2009
In a step some racing industry officials expected, Gulfstream Park has told Florida regulators that it plans to hold races during 2009's last five weeks--a lucrative set of dates on which Calder Race Course has raced exclusively in South Florida for more than a decade.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Gulfstream Park said its opening day attendance was more than 15,000 Jan. 3, making it the largest turnout at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track since 2004.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Youbet.com has reached an agreement to take bets on Gulfstream Park for that track's meet which begins on Jan. 3, Sam Gordon, president of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said Dec. 30.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Gulfstream Park is hoping that a move to a five-day race week will help produce larger fields and attract more live fans and other bettors on days that have proven more popular than its newly-dark Mondays.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Gulfstream Park on Dec. 18 asked the Supreme Court of Florida to issue an order that would give law enforcement officials authority to shut down blackjack and baccarat tables at the Seminole Tribe of Florida's casinos in the state.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has ordered jockey Pascacio "Paco" Lopez to serve 27 days of stewards' suspensions, including seven days at Gulfstream Park's 2009 meet that begins Jan. 3.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Calder Race Course will not hold any overnight stakes through the rest of its meet that ends Jan. 2, 2009. Five have been cut from the next condition book, which runs through Dec. 14.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Churchill Downs Inc. said Nov. 14 that it has barred Pascacio "Paco" Lopez, this year's leading jockey at Calder Race Course, from riding at Calder and other CDI-owned tracks through Jan. 2, 2009, which is the end of the Tropical at Calder meet. The prohibition also includes current meets at Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has postponed a hearing that was scheduled for Nov. 5 on a possible 30-day suspension of Paco Lopez, who leads Calder Race Course jockeys in victories this year.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Handle at Calder Race Course's recently-concluded Calder meet fell 20% compared with 2007, according to the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Monday, November 03, 2008
