Sports

Horse racing to adopt universal rules July 1

Published

3 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

Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

Published

3 hours ago

May 28, 2025

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Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5 preview: Can Carolina force another game?

All signs pointed to the Florida Panthers finishing off the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4, but the Canes kept the series rolling with a 3-0 win on Monday.

Will the Panthers finish the story in Game 5? Or will the Hurricanes send the festivities back to South Florida again?

Here are matchup notes heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More on Game 4: Recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5 | 8 p.m. ET | TNT

The Panthers’ odds to win the series are now -1600, adjusted from -5000 heading into Game 4. The Hurricanes’ odds have shifted to +750 (adjusted from +1500) after their win. The Panthers’ odds to win the Cup are now +105 (previously -110), while the Canes’ are now +1800. Sergei Bobrovsky is the leading Conn Smythe candidate in this series at +200, followed by Aleksander Barkov (+800).

Game 4 was the Canes’ first win in the round since Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals against the Buffalo Sabres, snapping a 15-game conference finals losing streak. It was the longest losing streak in NHL playoff history for a team in the round preceding the Stanley Cup Final. The Hurricanes are now 4-4 all-time in Game 4s when trailing 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.

Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for his fifth career playoff shutout, his second with the Hurricanes. He joins Cam Ward (four), Kevin Weekes (two) and Petr Mrazek (two) as goaltenders with multiple playoff shutouts in Whalers/Hurricanes Stanley Cup playoffs history.

Carolina’s Logan Stankoven scored playoff goal No. 5 in the second period. He joins Erik Cole (six in 2002) and Warren Foegele (five in 2019) as the only rookies in Whalers/Hurricanes history to score at least five goals in a single Stanley Cup playoffs year.

Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal in the third period, his 32nd career playoff tally. That extends his own franchise record for career goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Panthers were shut out for the second time this postseason; both games were at home — the other instance was Game 6 of the second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Florida went 0-4 on the power play in Game 4, and the team is now 0-8 with the man advantage in the last two games of this series after going 4-for-5 in Games 1 and 2.

Though he hasn’t scored a goal in the past two games, Sam Bennett has a team-leading nine this postseason. That is two shy of the franchise record in a single playoff year, currently held by Matthew Tkachuk (2023) and Carter Verhaeghe (2024).

Scoring leaders

GP: 16 | G: 6 | A: 9

GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 9

Sports

Astros’ Blanco having elbow surgery, done for ’25

Published

6 hours ago

May 28, 2025

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Astros' Blanco having elbow surgery, done for '25

ESPN News Services

May 28, 2025, 12:22 PM ET

Houston Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco will have surgery on his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, the team announced Wednesday.

The starter had sought a second opinion after being placed on the injured list last week with inflammation in the elbow.

The Astros said Blanco — who is 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA, 48 strikeouts and 20 walks in nine starts this season — is anticipated to return at some point during the 2026 season.

Blanco, 31, is among a long list of starting pitchers on the injured list for the Astros. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last week, while right-hander Spencer Arrighetti has been out since April after breaking his right thumb in a batting practice mishap.

Houston is also without right-handers Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier, who are both still recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Blanco is in his fourth major league season, all with the Astros. In 2024, he finished 13-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 30 games (29 starts). He threw his only career complete game in his season debut on April 1, no-hitting the Toronto Blue Jays in a 10-0 win.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

Sports

Renovated Belmont to host Breeders’ Cup in ’27

Published

7 hours ago

May 28, 2025

admin

Renovated Belmont to host Breeders' Cup in '27

Associated Press

May 28, 2025, 12:14 PM ET

The Breeders’ Cup world championships are returning to New York in 2027 at the rebuilt Belmont Park, following a massive renovation project to revitalize one of the most important horse racing tracks in the country.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with officials from the Breeders’ Cup and the New York Racing Association, announced Wednesday that the track on the edge of Queens and Nassau County on Long Island will stage the event in the fall two years from now.

“We wrote the governor of New York a letter in 2023 that simply said, ‘If you build it, we will come,'” Breeders’ Cup Limited president and CEO Drew Fleming said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “And so we’re very honored to keep our word and have a wonderful Breeders’ Cup world championship here in 2027 to showcase the new development and investment in Belmont Park to our fans from across the globe.”

Keeneland in Lexington was revealed as the 2026 host.

Belmont Park was last home to the Breeders’ Cup in 2005, the fourth time in two decades after also being there in 1990, 1995 and 2001. A goal of the $455 million teardown and reconstruction was to attract the major event.

“It was always part of the plan: We weren’t going to redevelop Belmont Park without Breeders’ Cup in mind, so it was always part of the initial goals,” NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke told the AP by phone. “Getting the championships back to New York is big from an economic point of view and probably one of the most important [things], if not the most important. It gives our trainers and horsemen a chance to compete on their home tracks. I think it’s great. It’s been over 20 years.”

Hochul said in a statement that the redevelopment is bringing thousands of jobs and $1 billion in long-term economic activity to Long Island.

“Thanks to the investments we are making at Belmont Park, the long held dream of bringing the prestigious Breeders’ Cup back to New York will soon be a reality,” Hochul said.

The Breeders’ Cup has been at a Kentucky or California track every year since 2008. Del Mar outside San Diego has it this year as a back-to-back host and for the fourth time since 2017.

Santa Anita outside Los Angeles, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in Louisville — home of the Kentucky Derby — have become the regular sites for the two-day festival featuring the best thoroughbreds in the world and tens of millions of dollars’ worth of races. It’s shifting back to the Eastern time zone for the next two years.

“California is and has always been a wonderful spot to have the Breeders’ Cup with Santa Anita Park and Del Mar, but one of the missions of the Breeders’ Cup is to grow the sport, and one of the ways we do this is hosting world championships at various venues across the United States,” Fleming said, adding that he expects the event to generate $100 million for the New York economy.

While NYRA has not announced a location for the 2026 Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown is set to return to its old home by 2027, after a multiyear stint at historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York during renovations.

With the Belmont at Belmont Park shifting back to an annual occurrence, it is possible the track known for greats like Secretariat and Seattle Slew rumbling down the stretch to the finish line with fans roaring might get back in a regular rotation.

“The best part about working for the Breeders’ Cup is that nothing is off the table,” Fleming said. “New York City has some of the finest accommodations and restaurants and entertainment in the world, so it’d be a natural fit that we would be at Belmont Park frequently.”