NEWS
Gill accounts for five Penn National breakdowns
Posted: Thursday, February 04, 2010 10:30 AM
by Jeff Lowe and Ed DeRosa
Michael Gill owned five of the 21 horses who broke down during races at Penn National Race Course in 2009 and the first month of ’10.
Gill, the nation’s leading owner by earnings and wins in 2009, started 1,038 horses at Penn National in that period who earned $3,193,365. His breakdown ratio was 1 per 208 starts.
The total number of starters at Penn National in the 13 months was 18,410, for a breakdown ratio of 1 per 877 starts.
Without Gill’s horses, the track had 17,317 starters and a breakdown ratio of 1 per 1,085 starts.
The breakdown totals are from comments in the official charts, and they do not include horses listed as being eased. Gill’s final Penn National starter, Laughing Moon, is not included because he went down while galloping out after a third-place finish on January 23.
Following that race, Penn National jockeys said they would not ride in any race in which Gill had an entry, claiming safety concerns. On Monday, Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission ejected Gill from racing at Penn National, citing the jockeys’ boycott threat, which the commission said would “negatively and adversely affect pari-mutuel racing at Penn National Race Course and the orderly conduct of that race meet.”
Commission officials have not been available for comment.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer; Ed DeRosa is news editor
