Mucho Macho Man
Mucho Macho Man
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Winner, Winner, Shot of Kela!
First Two Time Winner at the Churchill Spring Meet! Shot of Kela was the winner by a nose of the fifth race at Churchill Downs today. Congratulations to Dr. Ira Mersack!
Derby time has come and gone
Derby and Oaks have come and gone and made the record books for highest attendance and record handle. The weather turned out to be wonderful, (which really surprised everyone) and enabled us to enjoy the fun with old friends, new friends and even some family coming to experience Derby for the very first time. Now we can look forward to the possibility of a Triple Crown Winner with the next step less than two weeks away. The Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore Maryland is the next step and our wish for ANIMAL KINGDOM is to run another race of a lifetime so racing can come to the forefront of the sports world and shine. Then on to the Belmont. There hasn’t been a triple crown winner since AFFIRMED back in 1978, so we are long overdue. (It is however, kind of hard to root for Barry Irwin after his post-race comment saying he sent all his horses to Graham Motion because all other trainers are liars. Barry is like the person who has been married numerous times and it probably isn’t the spouses’ fault that they didn’t work out.)
Lauer Racing is now housed on three fronts, Churchill Downs/Trackside, Louisville, KY, Indiana Downs, Shelbyville, Indiana and Penn National, Grantville, PA. We raced a number of horses on all three fronts this past week and came out with four wins, one second, two thirds, five fourths and one fifth. Quite a whirlwind, but a successful week. The first winner was at Churchill Downs with SHOT OF KELA who is owned and bred by Dr. Ira Mersack. Then we had two homebred’s ( MS. RED HAWK and MIZZEN MY MOMMA) win at Indiana Downs. The final of the four winners was TRASH TO TREASURE at Penn National. Congratulations to all and let this be just the beginning of a great racing season.
Our goal every month is to win at least $100,000 in purses during the summer months. Churchill’s meet is ongoing and the fields are a little shorter than they like. Purses are still good and we have an empty stall or two. Good spot to claim, help us fill them up. And as always we have two-year-olds for sale: pieces or parts! Give me a call to discuss the possibilities.
Glimmer Ice + Foal
Cuts in Indiana
Indiana lawmakers have passed a two-year budget that will reduce the amount of casino subsidies going to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing industries by approximately $3 million, or 5 percent lower than the amount distributed in 2010.
The cuts were a victory, of sorts, for the racing industries, which were facing much larger cuts in earlier versions of the budget. Lawmakers had initially proposed a more than 50 percent reduction in the subsidies from casino revenue for both the Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries.
In 2010, the two industries received approximately $60 million in subsidies that were directed from casino revenues to both purses and breeder awards. The Thoroughbred industry’s share of that amount was approximately $28 million, a total that will be reduced by approximately $1.4 million in the new budget.
Riverboat casinos in Indiana began operating in the late 1990s, and casinos were legalized at the state’s two racetracks, Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs, in 2007. The parent companies of both tracks have filed for bankruptcy, citing difficulties in paying off debts accumulated to pay an initial $250 million casino licensing fee and to fund the construction of their casinos.
Since the racetrack casinos began operating, the number of mares bred in the state has jumped from 583 in 2007 to 1,137 in 2010, according to Jockey Club statistics, while the number of stallions in the state increased from 80 in 2007 to 114 in 2010.