Monmouth Park stewards have fined both owner Randal Gindi and trainer Jorge Navarro $5,000 for conduct "extremely detrimental to racing"—behavior documented in a Youtube video—and have requested that the state regulator increase the fine for both.
Patrick Thompson has been named executive director of the National Racing Compact after serving as longtime license administrator.
Though New Jersey Thoroughbred racing has a long way to go from a financial perspective, some racetrack operators and horsemen's representatives appear bullish on the future.
Thoroughbred racing dates in New Jersey in 2014 will resemble those awarded for this year, with one shift in the schedule: Monmouth will race 57 days and shift four to New Meadowlands to make for a 14-night all-turf meet.
Bruce Levine, the leading trainer at Monmouth Park, had his entire stable of 41 horses tested for erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, by a New Jersey state veterinarian who made a surprise visit to Levine's Monmouth barn June 24 at the request of the New Jersey Racing Commission.
Edward Martin, currently executive director of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, will take over as president and chief executive officer of the Association of Racing Commissioners International in April.
Model rules for the proposed national medication policy are moving forward, but the unification of the Association of Racing Commissioners International and North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association apparently isn't going to happen anytime soon.
New Jersey Racing Commission executive director Frank Zanzuccki, expected to officially take over as chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International during an April 3 board of directors meeting, said the unification of RCI and the North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association would be his top priority.
Frank Zanzuccki was elected chairman-elect of the Association of Racing Commissioners International at its convention Saturday in Seattle.
A state judge has frozen the assets of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association pending a racing commission investigation into the group' finances.
Prominent New Jersey owner and breeder Dennis Drazin, who has been accused of accepting inflated legal fees from the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, denied the allegations and called conduct by his accuser "improper."
The executive director of the New Jersey Racing Commission has charged in a nine-page internal memo that the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has mismanaged hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and contributions. He also suggested the leadership of the organization be removed.
Management at Philadelphia Park sent a letter to all of its Phonebet customers in New Jersey advising them that it expects to receive formal notice from the New Jersey Racing Commission to stop accepting their phone wagers. "Once the commission issues this formal directive (expected to be on Jan. 20), you will receive notice from us and all New Jersey accounts will be closed," the letter states.
New Jersey, home to Meadowlands, arguably has the best Standardbred racing and breeding program in the country, but that hasn’t stopped the chairman of the state racing commission from creating a task force that will review drug-testing, licensing, and integrity issues.
