The decline of East Coast fair racing

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THERE aren’t many of us left,”the 69-year-old Mosner said.Actually, there is no “us.” Theexpiration of theMassachusetts fair circuit inearly September, 2005, leaves Timoniumstanding alone on the East Coast. “It’s allgone,” Bruce Shallcross, general …

In his 47 years of working at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium, Max Mosner, the fair’s president and general manager, has seen Thoroughbred racing at Maryland fairs, and at other fairs on the East Coast, slow to a crawl.

By Bill Heller

First Published  (21 July 2010 - Issue Number: 17)

Rescinding claims - is it time to change the rules?

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Rescinding claimsLast October, during a regular meeting of theCalifornia Horse Racing Board (CHRB) at then-CHRBchairman John Harris’s Harris Ranch Inn andRestaurant in Coalinga, California, commissioner BoDerek, the actress and horsewoman, brought u…

Last October, during a regular meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) at then-CHRB chairman John Harris’s Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant in Coalinga, California, commissioner Bo Derek, the actress and horsewoman, brought up an agenda item that sooner or later will likely have national ramifications. The issues: should long-held claiming rules be changed to void claims when a claimed horse doesn’t finish (DNF) a race or tests positive for prohibited substances?

By Sid Fernando

First Published (21 July 2010 - Issue Number: 17 )