Photojournalist Zohra Bensemra meets Fallou Diop, one of Senegal’s most promising jockeys who won the country’s top racing prize when he was 17. He hopes to begin racing in France next year, realising a dream coveted by some of Senegal’s foremost riders
Continue reading...Category Archives: Horse Racing
‘If you wanted to design a virus dispersion hub, you could do worse’: the Cheltenham Festival, one year on
It was one of the last major sporting events before Britain went into lockdown in March 2020. Racegoers recall a tense week and its aftermath
When the roar of 65,000 people greeted the first race of the third day, at 1.30pm on Thursday 12 March last year, Geoff Bodman was feeling just fine. The 56-year-old painter and decorator from Tremorfa in Cardiff, whose friends call him “Boddie”, had been going to the Cheltenham Festival every year for 25 years. He had paid £30 for a ticket to the affordable Best Mate enclosure, where he planned to have a punt on the horses and a day on the beer. The following morning he’d be back in Cardiff, getting on with a job painting the outside of a house.
The week before, Bodman and his wife Julie, who worked in a Cardiff care home, had cancelled their second wedding anniversary trip to Venice. They had been looking forward to it for months, but Italy had become a hot spot for the new coronavirus. “We didn’t want to take the risk. We lost money because easyJet wouldn’t repay us, but we played safe. We thought it wasn’t that bad in Britain.” According to government figures, there were 1,302 confirmed cases of Covid across the UK by 11 March; data from the Office for National Statistics later revealed that there had been 26 Covid deaths.
Continue reading...Outrage after Venezuelan racehorse stolen and butchered
Horse owners say theft is becoming an increasingly common crime in nation where many are going hungry
In his prime, the coffee-hued Venezuelan racehorse known as Ocean Bay thundered down tracks and snatched up the nation’s most prestigious titles.
His end this week has outraged many: the stallion was stolen and butchered in what horse owners say it becoming an increasingly common crime in a nation where many are going hungry amid a severe economic contraction.
Continue reading...‘We were packed like sardines’: evidence grows of mass-event dangers early in pandemic
Research appears to back up stories of people who believe they got coronavirus at events UK government allowed to go ahead
The last major football match played in England before all sport was suspended because of the coronavirus crisis was the European Champions League showpiece between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. It was a thrilling contest that transfixed 54,000 people under the floodlights of Anfield.
But now that match, along with many other mass events that the government allowed to go ahead as the pandemic spread in March, is coming under renewed scrutiny as evidence grows of the lethal danger to which people were exposed. They include rugby matches, horse races, musical concerts and dog shows attended, in total, by hundreds of thousands of Britons.
Continue reading...English sport returns behind closed doors after government green light
- Horse racing will be first sport to resume on Monday
- Premier League season set to restart on 17 June
“The British sporting recovery has begun,” declared the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, as he announced that professional sport in England can resume from Monday, paving the way for the first domestic live action in almost three months.
Speaking at the daily Downing Street press briefing, Dowden said the government had settled on a set of strict conditions that must be followed for sports to be allowed to return behind closed doors. The rules form stage three of the process of bringing sport back from the coronavirus lockdown. Stage two, which allowed for close-contact training for elite athletes, was published last Monday.
Continue reading...Horse slaughter: irresponsibility and hypocrisy on all sides have brought us here
The public recoils, although sheep and cows are killed in identical fashion. But the racing industry has a serious case to answer too
The biggest trucks at any horse sale belong to the meat dealers. At the end of the day, once those awarded a second chance have been led away, the dealers open the remaining pens and run their unlucky purchases through the saleyard to the loading ramp.
Young, well-fed, well-muscled horses – such as thoroughbreds or standardbreds that have recently left the racing industries – are sent to export abattoirs in Peterborough, South Australia, or the Meramist abattoir in Caboolture, Queensland. The latter is currently being investigated for animal cruelty offences after footage aired on the ABC’s 7.30 program showed horses being shocked with electric prods, hit and kicked before slaughter.
Continue reading...Dubai’s ruler battles wife in UK court after she fled emirate
British government alleged to have been lobbied for return of Princess Haya
A legal battle between two of the most prominent Middle Eastern royals has been launched in the London courts amid claims that the UK government has been lobbied over the case.
Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, are understood to have parted. They are now engaged in a formal dispute in the high court. The case began after she fled Dubai and is due to resume later this month.
Continue reading...A Federal Case
Sitting in a duck blind in Escatawpa, Miss., you tug your smartphone out of your camouflage overalls and wager $200 on the third race at Running Aces. You have an account with a little known, perhaps dodgy, offshore gambling outfit.
Harrah’s to become 4th Atlantic City casino with sports bets
Harrah's casino plans to start taking sports bets at 11 a.m. Wednesday, two days after its sister property, Bally's, did. So far, the Borgata, Ocean Resort and Bally's are offering sports bets, along with two horse racing tracks, the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.
Sports betting ‘encouraging’ but don’t ignore horse racing, senator says
Attendance and wagering increases at Monmouth Park, combined with strong July numbers at Meadowlands Racetrack, have raised the perception that sports betting would be a positive for New Jersey, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that authorized any state to offer the pastime legally. Still, there is so little information about its impact on actual horse racing, said state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth, that the notion sports betting would benefit the horse industry in the Garden State shouldn't be taken "to the bank."
Big M renames trots for Drazin, Zanzuccki
The Meadowlands is pleased to announce that two of its historic Hambletonian Day stakes are being retitled to honor a pair of men who have contributed mightily to the health and well being of horse racing in New Jersey. The race for Hambletonian eligible 3-year-old trotting colts previously called the "Townsend Ackerman" will now be known as the "Dennis Drazin."
Coach driver, 73, toasts divorce from his former wife by naming horse race
Liberal wunderkind in dramatic primary upset calls for Trump's IMPEACHMENT, demands 'political courage' to raise taxes and claims ICE is running family-separation 'black sites' at the border Trump tells Republicans to pass 'strong' House immigration bill even though Senate Democrats will make it dead on arrival Republican Party launches video takedown of 'unhinged' Democrats featuring infamous moments from Madonna, Kathy Griffin, Samantha Bee and anti-Trump pol Maxine Waters Coach driver, 73, toasts divorce from his former wife by naming horse race in her honour 22 years after split A 73-year-old coach driver has celebrated splitting from his former wife by naming a horse race 'David Chillery Happy Days Celebrating His Divorce'.
House Subcommittee Weighs Equine Drug Testing Bill
Supporters of federal legislation that aims to improve horse racing's integrity and uniformity on medication rules reached a milestone June 22 when a Congressional subcommittee considered the legislation in Washington, although both major horsemen's groups voiced their opposition during the hearing. For the first time since it was introduced in May 2017, the Horseracing Integrity Act of 2017 received a Congressional hearing.
Delaware Park suspends assistant handler caught punching horse27 minutes ago
An assistant handler at Delaware Park horse-racing track has been suspended for punching a horse in the head, park officials have said. A special hearing on the incident was expected to be held Saturday by the state Thoroughbred Racing Commission, and a ruling could come out Sunday or Monday, according to NBC10.
New Jersey governor signs bill allowing sports betting
Gamblers in New Jersey will be able to start betting on sports by Thursday, June 14 under legislation the governor signed Monday legalizing a pastime that has long lived in the shadows of organized crime and shady offshore operators. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the bill just three weeks after the state won a U.S. Supreme Court victory paving the way for all 50 states to allow sports gambling.
New Jersey set to begin taking legal sports bets
In 1978, the Democratic governor of New Jersey threw the first dice at an Atlantic City casino to kick off an era of legal gambling in the state. Forty years later, another Democratic governor will place the state's first legal bet on a sporting event.
Horse Royalty
Or just CLICK THIS LINK to start shopping for anything. Don't worry - anything you buy through it will pay Daily Pundit a commission! Thanks! ELMONT, N.Y. - When Bob Baffert switched from quarter horses to thoroughbreds in 1991, fellow trainer D. Wayne Lukas was in the middle of his record run of 14 Triple Crown race victories.
Justify Wins Triple Crown
The last time there was a Triple Crown coronation, President Barack Obama was still in office, Princess Charlotte was a month old and the long-suffering Cubs had not won a World Series since 1908. The drought before that lasted so long - 37 years, in fact - that many began to believe that horse racing's grand sweep would never again be accomplished.
The Latest: Murphy: ‘No timetable’ to act on sports betsThe Latest:…
In this May 14, 2018, file photo, men watch horse racing on an array of screens at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, N.J. New Jersey's proposed sports betting law is heading down to the wire, with final legislative approval expected on Thursday, June 7. less FILE - In this May 14, 2018, file photo, men watch horse racing on an array of screens at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, N.J. New Jersey's proposed sports betting law is heading down to the wire, with ... more New Jersey officials are cracking the whip on horse racing tracks that are contemplating starting to offer sports betting before Gov. Phil Murphy signs the bill permitting it.
Delaware launches sports betting, other states close behind
In this May 14, 2018, file photo, men watch horse racing on an array of screens at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, N.J. New Jersey lawmakers are facing some key decisions Monday, June 4, as they race to legalize sports betting after winning a case in the U.S. Supreme Court. less FILE - In this May 14, 2018, file photo, men watch horse racing on an array of screens at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, N.J. New Jersey lawmakers are facing some key decisions Monday, June 4, as they ... more DOVER, Del.