DERBY NOTES
LOUISVILLE – Churchill Downs Inc. has been awarded the “Champion Award” by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation for its work on behalf of the humane retirement of racehorses.
Last year, CDI instituted its “Green Pastures Program,” with three main goals: to encourage horsemen to retired their racehorses sound, and suitable for second careers, to use CDI facilities, including Churchill, Calder and Hollywood Park racetracks, to raise money to help the TRF care for the retired horses that are donated to it, and to promote the TRF’s mission, program and retirement farms.
“Through its unwavering support of humane racehorse retirement and its willingness to raise money and awareness for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Churchill Downs Incorporated has set the standard among U.S. racing organizations,” said TRF executive director Diane Pikulski. “When the TRF was looking for a racetrack partner, CDI volunteered without hesitation.”
The TRF, a pioneer in horse-rescue programs, is the largest organization of its kind in the world, providing lifetime homes for former racehorses at farms in 11 states, including one at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York, and through private adoption.
Previous winners of the “Champion Award” include John Hettinger, a noted New York owner-breeder, and Allaire DuPont, who owned the mighty Kelso.
Approximately 400 Iraq veterans from the 101 Airborne Div. based at Fort Campbell, Ky., were guests at Churchill yesterday thanks to a new racing industry initiative, the “Thoroughbred Thank You Fund.”
The fund was created this year by Terry Finley, president of the racing partnership West Point Thoroughbreds. Finley, a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, served as an Airborne ranger.
Is the Kentucky Derby responsible for oil prices spiking $1 on Friday? Possibly, according to a report that notes many traders from the N.Y. Mercantile Exchange played hooky Friday to attend the Derby.
“There’s probably 40 different locals out for it this year,” one trader told Reuters. “Those locals being out would not necessarily affect the market being up or down, but it makes for a choppier day.”
Baseball and football, embroiled in steroid scandals, aren’t the only sports coming under the scrutiny of Congress.
The U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations also is putting thoroughbred racing under the microscope with a probe into how the industry handles the health and safety of jockeys, exercise riders and backstretch workers.
Subcommittee chairman Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) has contacted the Jockeys’ Guild, the NTRA, TRA and National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association to provide documents.
