JC / Railbird

News Archive

Monday Notes

Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero “will un-retire for one day” to ride two horses for trainer Todd Pletcher at Philadelphia Park on October 1. Cordero, who retired in 1995, said it was the ravages of Hurricane Katrina that motivated him to ride competitively once more:

Cordero finally decided to take the plunge after talking to his 83-year-old mother in Puerto Rico several days ago.

“She was crying about all the people in New Orleans who lost their houses,” he said. “My son Pucci is collecting money at school. We have to help each other in this country. If not, who else is going to do it? If I’m going to [ride] one last time, I might as well do it for something worthwhile.”

Cordero plans to donate 25% of his earnings to the relief efforts (New York Post).
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Standings are now up for two-year-olds in the column to the right. Folklore, no surprise, heads up the fillies division after her breakthrough Matron win. Henny Hughes has a narrow lead over First Samurai on the colts side.

Posted in News on September 19, 2005

Fairgrounds Employee Info

CDI Louisiana (Fairgrounds) has started a hotline for displaced CDI employees (including OTB employees) to contact the Churchill Downs corporate office, should they need immediate financial assistance or info on benefits/payroll matters/etc. The number is (877) 244-5536. [Thank you to Jolene at Oregon Racing News for sending along this notice.]
More information for CDI Louisiana employees can be found on the Fairgrounds web site.

Posted in News on September 2, 2005

Other News

Michael Gill claimed his twelfth straight Pimlico owner’s title on Sunday when Spring Rush won the $50,000 Skipat Stakes. Gill last made news in May when he announced he was getting out of racing for good, but don’t expect Gill to go anywhere for a while. Although he has scaled his operations back to about 200 horses, Gill is enthusiastic about a two-year-old named Traveling Leroy, who he recently purchased for $250,000 and is considering for the 2006 classic races. (Baltimore Sun)
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NYRA is positioning itself as best it can to maintain its franchise come 2007:

New York Racing Association officials intend to be among those bidders and have been exploring several models they hope can entice the state government to enter into a private-public partnership. They are also willing to take a harder line, if necessary, by entering into what could be long and costly litigation over who owns the land on which the three tracks stand.

The association maintains that it possesses the deeds to the three properties and has paid more than $422 million in state property taxes since 1955, when it was established as a nonprofit corporation to run the tracks under a state franchise.

“We bought the tracks and have the deeds, and it would be an interesting case to see if the legislature can take away private property,” said C. Steven Duncker, the association’s co-chairman. “But our primary focus has been changing this organization and running it the way the state would want it run.” To that end, the association has replaced top management and implemented a business culture to reverse the $20 million it lost in 2003. For the first time, for example, the association sold a presenting sponsorship, to Argent Mortgage, for this year’s Belmont Stakes. (New York Times)

Posted in News on June 13, 2005

Teamsters, Jockeys’ Guild Meet

Make of this what you will: “While both groups have represented different segments of racing industry workers for decades, the Jockeys’ Guild and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters met formally for the first time Wednesday to discuss how they can leverage each other’s strength to help improve working conditions for track workers such as jockeys, judges, security personnel, and admission workers.” (Thoroughbred Times)

Posted in News on March 16, 2005

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