Sports

Horse racing to adopt universal rules July 1

Published

2 years ago

June 8, 2022

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Jun 8, 2022

Associated Press

Lisa Lazarus walked around the backstretch at Belmont Park nine days before the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, selling as much as observing.

The CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority talked with trainers, riders and other horsemen about the sport’s federally mandated new governing body that she has been tabbed to oversee. Lazarus was peppered with questions and complaints about the new rules that are about to become the national standard.

Once she explained what will change — and what won’t — the most common response Lazarus said she got was, “It’s nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

One reason for that reaction at the Belmont? New York is among the states that already follow many of the safety regulations that begin July 1, and the anti-doping rules, which go into effect at the start of 2023.

Lazarus said the policies that will become federal law about four weeks after this year’s final Triple Crown race closely resemble what’s already in place in California, Kentucky and New York.

Now that Congress has passed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, the rules will be the same across thoroughbred tracks in the U.S.

“The biggest that’s going to change is uniformity,” Lazarus said. “Uniformity, really above and beyond: It’s going to be one set of rules for everyone.”

Unlike other sports, horse racing does not have a long-established national governing body, which would make getting every state and track on the same page. With an eye on cleaning up the sport, HISA is the closest thing to that.

Mark Casse, who is set to saddle Golden Glider in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday three years after winning the race with Sir Winston, said he and other trainers are still learning about what’s coming, but is relieved rules will be standardized across all jurisdictions.

“It’s a guess everywhere,” Casse said. “You’re like, ‘What can we do here? What can we do here?’ We have a lot of the same rules. A lot of the rules are not changing. I’m just hoping that they can be better enforced.”

The seven rules that go into effect in July encompass jockey safety (including a national concussion protocol), the riding crop and how often riders can use it during a race, racetrack accreditation and reporting of training and veterinary records. Everyone in horse racing must register with the new safety agency by the end of this month.

Medication regulations, including a drug-testing policy aimed at getting rid of doping in the aftermath of federal charges brought against 27 people in 2020 for what authorities described as a widespread international scheme to drug horses to make them run faster, take effect Jan. 1. Lazarus said her agency would take an extremely hard stance against banned substances that “should never be in a horse” with transparent processes and strict punishments, and “practical and firm” about therapeutic substances.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that anyone who’s involved in it, or the vast majority, love their horses and care about their horses,” she said. “So, there is genuine and, I believe, principled disagreement over what helps the horse and what doesn’t and what puts a horse at risk.”

Betamethasone, the steroid that can help horses’ joints, which 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for and prompted Bob Baffert’s suspension by Churchill Downs, is considered a therapeutic drug. It is different than the performance-enhancing substances trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro were charged with using.

Casse, who has been among those in the sport calling for stricter regulations, hopes HISA “can have a little better control and identify the bad apples.” A lifetime ban is among the potential punishments.

Lasix, the much-debated anti-bleeding medication that also works as a diuretic to cause horses to urinate and lose 20 to 30 pounds of fluid, which can increase their ability to run faster, will get a close look over the next three years. The new safety agency will start by prohibiting Lasix use on race day while allowing tracks to apply for an exemption.

The three Triple Crown races are in their second year running without Lasix. New York also bans it for 2-year-olds and in all stakes races.

“You almost don’t notice it,” New York Racing Association president and CEO Dave O’Rourke said. “That’s actually the best scenario. You don’t really hear much about it, which I think is great and says something about it.”

NYRA executive Glen Kozak is among those on HISA’s racetrack safety committee. O’Rourke said NYRA has been at the forefront of horse safety issues for a while other than appointing people to specific positions as part of adjustments to the new rules won’t have to change much to get up to code.

“A lot of these best practices — and we haven’t done this alone — now will be adopted across the industry, which we think is great,” O’Rourke said. “It’s great for the sport. It’s great for everyone that participates in the sport, specifically equine athletes and the jockeys.”

Lazarus said success will be judged by the rate of horse fatalities, which has been decreasing, and hopes the authority gains the trust of those in the industry and the general public based on the intense research that went into developing these policies.

“I think you will genuinely see a shift in culture over time because the programs are going to be too robust and the enforcement is going to be robust and it’s going to be national,” she said. “There’ll be a cultural shift once there’s a genuine recognition that doping will not be tolerated in horse racing. It just won’t be.”

Sports

Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

Published

17 hours ago

May 4, 2024

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

Associated Press

May 4, 2024, 12:17 PM ET

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Kentucky Derby will remain on NBC through 2032 after the network and Churchill Downs Inc. extended their contract, announcing it hours before the running of the 150th race Saturday.

The race switched to NBC in 2001 after airing on ABC from 1975 to 2000 and CBS from 1952 to 1974. The multiyear extension will make NBC the longest-running home of the race for 3-year-old horses.

The deal includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and Derby and Oaks day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.

Sports

Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

Published

18 hours ago

May 4, 2024

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterMay 3, 2024, 09:40 PM ET
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The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.

The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.

The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.

On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.

“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”

Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.

Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.

“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”

Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.

Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.

Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.

Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sports

Yanks’ Cole takes next step, throws off mound

Published

18 hours ago

May 4, 2024

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Yanks' Cole takes next step, throws off mound

Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterMay 4, 2024, 12:06 PM ET
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NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.

Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.

“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”

Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.

On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.

Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.

Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.

Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.

“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”

Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.

Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.