November 21, 2011 “The Quarter Horse crowd claims that lowly barrel racing is just a cheaper vehicle for Gretna Racing to qualify for poker rooms and slot machines. Of course, the Thoroughbred folks said the same thing about Quarter Horse tracks. They’re both right. Gambling conglomerates, if they could get slots and card rooms and table...Read More
By Kent H. Stirling November 21, 2011 Only Florida could permit something like this to legally take place. But I live in Florida and we are on the verge of having our first pari-mutuel barrel racing facility in the town of Gretna in northern Florida, and so far it is completely legal according to...Read More
November 21, 2011 Bill Kaplan kept Calder’s winning streak alive in Breeder’s Cup races with the impressive performance turned in by Musical Romance in the Filly and Mare Sprint. Last year trainers Stan Gold and David Fawkes each won Breeders’ Cup races with Awesome Feather and Big Drama respectively. This year neither trainer fared...Read More
By Eric Mitchell, The Blood-Horse November 1, 2011 The state of Florida is either on the cutting edge of the pari-mutuel sports industry or being manipulated to fatten the pockets of a few creative investors. Last month, the Florida Department of Pari-Mutuel Wagering gave approval for a company called Gretna Racing LLC to...Read More
August 16, 2011 By Kent H. Stirling, FHBPA Executive Director This year’s renewal of the Summit of Speed came within a neck of being yet another Calder sweep of the four Graded Stakes as was accomplished last year. This good fortune for Calder horsemen was on top of recent overnight purse increases of 7...Read More