Archive for the ‘Keeneland’ Category

By Ray Paulick
Brereton Jones, the former governor of Kentucky and the chairman of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, pulled no punches during a horse industry rally at Keeneland Wednesday night when talking about what derailed House Bill 2, legislation that would have permitted video lottery terminals at state racetracks and enhanced purses. In an obvious reference to Senate President David “Blackjack” Williams, the "anti-gambling" Republican from Burkesville who likes to visit riverboat casinos in neighboring states, Jones talked about how a “third-world dictatorship” killed the legislation in a Senate committee controlled by  Williams’ followers. “The only way to get rid of a dictatorship is through a revolution,” Jones said, “and the revolution starts here tonight. We are going to make this happen.”

That brought the crowd of over 1,000 to their feet in one of many standing ovations during a rally that in some ways demonstrated the resilience, hope and perseverance of horse people. Individuals from virtually all segments of the horse industry attended.

Nick Nicholson, president of Keeneland, served as the emcee of the rally, which was scheduled less than 24 hours earlier in the wake of the defeat of the VLT legislation in the state capital of Frankfort. It began shortly after 7 p.m., when Gov. Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear arrived to the first standing ovation of the night.

“I know that we’re disappointed in the final result,” Nicholson said about the legislation that was approved by the House before being killed in the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee. “We’re angry, scared, and more determined than ever. This industry has more solid friends in Frankfort now than it did a month ago. Let me be real clear, no question about it, no doubt. This fight ain’t over yet. We as an industry are more unified than we have ever been.”

Nicholson introduced Kentucky legislators on hand who were among the horse industry’s friends and supported the VLT bill. Present were House members Rocky Adkins (D-Boyd, Elliott, Lawrence, Rowan Counties); Linda Belcher (D-Bullitt); Leslie Combs (D-Harlan, Letcher, Pike); Robert Damron (D-Fayette, Jessamine); Kelly Flood (D-Fayette); Reginald Meeks (D-Jefferson); David Osborne (R-Jefferson, Oldham); Sannie Overly (D-Bath, Bourbon, Fayette, Nicholas); Ruth Ann Palumbo (D-Fayette); John Will Stacy (D-Menifee, Morgan Rowan and Wolfe); John Tilley (D-Christian, Trigg); and Susan Westrom (D-Fayette).

Supporters on hand from the Kentucky Senate were: Walter Blevins Jr. (D-Boyd, Elliot, Fleming, Lawrence, Rowan); Tom Buford (R-Boyle, Fayette, Garrard, Jessamine); Perry Clark (D-Jefferson); Denise Harper Angel (D-Jefferson), Gerald Neal (D-Jefferson); Joey Pendleton (D-Christian, Logan, Todd); Kathy Stein (D-Fayette); Johnny Ray Turner (D- Breathitt, Floyd, Knott, Letcher); and Ed Worley (D-Lincoln, Madison, Rockcastle).

Nicholson also thanked House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, co-sponsors of the bill. Neither was able to attend the rally.

One local politician who wasn’t mentioned by name but was referred to several times as the “Senator from Scott” (county) was Republican Damon Thayer, a horse industry consultant and former Breeders’ Cup and Turfway Park executive who has been the point person for the horse industry on legislation in Frankfort but has been silent on the issue of VLTs or slots. Thayer is not a member of the A&R Committee that killed the VLT bill, but today on the Senate floor he reportedly said Beshear and anyone else who wants to support the horse industry should get behind an alternate bill proposed by Williams that would divert funds toward purses through a tax on the state lottery, out of state wagers on Kentucky races, and charitable gaming. Those comments angered Senate minority leader Ed Worley, who gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate criticizing Thayer and others who said Beshear doesn’t support the horse industry. In that speech, which was shown on video at the horse industry rally, Worley challenged those who criticized Beshear to come to Keeneland Wednesday night and hear first-hand from members of the horse industry.

Worley was then introduced at the rally and began his brief talk by asking, “Would the senator from Scott please stand up?” a comment that brought derisive laughter from the standing room only audience. Thayer apparently was not present.

“You do not deserve people who represent districts with horse tracks and horse farms, if they vote against the horse industry. You need to remember them on election day,” Worley said.

Patrick Neely, the executive director of KEEP, was even more blunt in his remarks to the crowd. “Elections matter,” Neely said. “We cannot forget that Alice Forgy Kerr–whose district is home to so many horse farms and to Keeneland—voted no. Only Tom Buford (the lone Republican supporter on the A&R Committee) had the courage to vote yes,” a comment that brought the crowd to its feet with thunderous applause. Another Republican supporter, Rep. David Osborne, was cited as evidence that the VLT legislation was not a partisan bill.

Beshear said he felt if the VLT bill had gotten a chance for an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor, it had a good chance to be approved. “Some of these senators are now looking for cover,” Beshear said. “They’ve thrown out some quick proposals. The senator from Scott (Thayer) said we could even take the money out of the general fund. My friends, they are looking for cover, and I’m telling you: Don’t let ‘em find that cover.”

Now that Ohio appears to have racetrack slots on a fast track to passage, Beshear said Kentuckians will be “educating Ohio’s kids, building Ohio’s roads,” by gambling at Ohio casinos, just as they’ve been doing at Indiana casino boats. “It’s time we kept that money at home to help our people,” he said.

“Tonight is not an ending,” Beshear added. “It’s a beginning of a campaign that’s not going to quit until we have done our job to save our beloved horse industry.”

It’s time to do one of two things, Beshear said. “Change some of the state senators’ minds, or we’ve got to change some of the state senators. Over the next 18 months, let’s get this done.”

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Christa Marrillia said she always keeps some tissues handy on Military Appreciation Day, held on the third Sunday of both the spring and fall meetings at Keeneland, where she has served as special events coordinator for the last five years. They are afternoons often filled with emotion and special moments.

First conceived five years ago as a day when veterans, active military and their families could enjoy a day of racing at the Lexington, Ky., racetrack with complimentary admission, seats and a program, Military Appreciation Day has grown steadily under the nurturing of Marrillia, who has no personal connection with family in the military but sees the day as an opportunity for the Keeneland family to give back to those who serve our country.

Working with the United States Army at Fort Knox each spring for the past three years, Keeneland has brought in a thousand recruits fresh from basic training, feeds them, and gives them a day of diversion from the more serious matters for which they are preparing.

When she learned that many of the soldiers had limited opportunities to talk with their families and friends and saw long lines at the track’s pay phones, Marrillia (pictured, left) organized a phone bank, using borrowed cell phones from Keeneland employees and customers, allowing the soldiers to call home for free. “Someone from Windstream was there that day, saw what we were doing and said, ‘We can do something to help,’” said Marrillia. “They came on-board as a sponsor, providing a bank of 50 phones to allow the soldiers to call anywhere in the world.”

The stories Marrillia heard had her reaching for a tissue. “One soldier found out he is going to be the father of a baby girl,” she said. “Another one discovered his son had learned to say ‘I love you.’ It was very touching, and it’s so nice to give them that opportunity.”

Marrillia also learned that Keeneland’s gift shop sold out of disposable cameras within minutes of the soldiers’ arrival at the track. She wanted everyone to take some memories home with them and went to work to find a sponsor to donate some cameras. “Many of them had never seen horse racing before,” she said, “and they wanted pictures. Wal-Mart provided them the cameras to do that this year, donating 1,000 disposable cameras.”

The soldiers consumed more than cameras. Each of them received a $10 food voucher from Turf Catering, and the first year the track ran out of ice cream. “We had no idea how much those boys would eat,” Marrillia said.

During the fall meeting, Keeneland worked with the Kentucky National Guard and the University of Kentucky to set up a satellite feed at the track, allowing military families in Kentucky to have private video conferences with their loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the highlights of the last video conference was a soldier overseas getting to see his baby for the first time.

“Over 500 family members came in for the video conferencing,” Marrillia said. “We made personalized buttons for them, and during the national anthem we put pictures of all the soldiers stationed abroad on the infield monitor ‘Hollywood Squares’ style. It was very touching and they all enjoyed it.”

Participants also take part in winner’s circle presentations, and a military band is brought in to add color to the festivities. Keeneland’s regular customers get into the spirit, too, many of them giving up their tables in the dining rooms and buying them food, or inviting them up to the corporate suites.

Marrillia credits Ted Bassett, chairman emeritus of the Keeneland board of trustees and a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps, for helping Military Appreciation Day get off the ground. “I worked one-on-one with Mr. Bassett in the early stages because he was able to cut through so much of the red tape and help make the primary contacts with the military, allowing me to connect with the appropriate people,” she said. “Now that we’ve had a number of these days it’s a little easier. Every year he’s pleased that it’s a new Keeneland tradition.”

Marrillia is the driving force that makes Military Appreciation Day bigger and better each year. “This has been a success because of Christa’s enthusiasm for the project,” said Jim Williams, Keeneland’s director of communications. “She works with Fort Knox, the local military and our sponsors. She’s made it happen.”

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick

10:30 P.M. UPDATE …..Daily Racing Form’s Mary Rampellini is reporting from Oaklawn Park that beaten Arkansas Derby favorite Old Fashioned came out of his second-place finish to Papa Clem with a slab fracture in his right knee. Trainer Larry Jones described the injujry to Rick Porter’s son of Unbridled’s Song as possibly career-ending but not life threatening. He is due to ship to Lexington Monday, where he may have surgery at Rood & Riddle equine hospital.

Live blogging of today’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes card from Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby from Oaklawn Park kicks off around 4 p.m.

In the meantime, today’s Lexington Herald-Leader front-page sports article on the Blue Grass Stakes (“Polytrack coincides with drop in class: Blue Grass Stakes winners haven’t fared well lately”) is sure to win reporter Alicia Wincze some icy stares from Keeneland officials, led by Rogers Beasley, the track’s director of racing who may still harbor resentment against the paper for its Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series 23 years ago that led to sanctions against the beloved University of Kentucky basketball team. Some UK basketball fans know how to carry a grudge!

But Wincze is right: the ol’ Blue Grass ain’t what she used to be. Perhaps it’s the Polytrack installed in 2006 or maybe it’s the three weeks between the Blue Grass and the Kentucky Derby, which some horsemen now consider to be too little time between races. The three weeks hasn’t seemed to hurt the same day’s Arkansas Derby, which has had more high-profile winners in recent years than the Blue Grass, among them Curlin, Lawyer Ron, Afleet Alex and Smarty Jones.

The Blue Grass still retains its Grade 1 ranking from the Kentucky-based Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s Graded Stakes Committee (of which Beasley is a member), while the Arkansas Derby is Grade 2. It’s a sore subject down in Hot Springs, and for good reason.

The Blue Grass lost its top Grade from 1990-98 when the committee downgraded it to Grade 2, a year after the Arkansas Derby was stripped of its Grade 1 status. Until 1988, the race was run not three weeks before the Kentucky Derby but just nine days before the Run for the Roses, on a Thursday afternoon. Track management recognized the need to give horsemen more time between races to attract better fields, and eventually got its Grade 1 ranking back.

In the 1990s, there were nine Blue Grass starters who went on to win one or more Triple Crown races (Unbridled, Summer Squall, Strike the Gold, Sea Hero, Prairie Bayou, Thunder Gulch, Editor’s Note, Louis Quatorze and Lemon Drop Kid). But since 2000, Street Sense, the 2007 Blue Grass runner-up who won that year’s Kentucky Derby, is the only Blue Grass starter to win a Triple Crown races.

This decade has been the leanest ever for the Blue Grass in terms of producing Triple Crown race winners. The 1940s produced four winners, there were two in the 1950s, eight in the 1960s, six in the 1970s, three in the 1980s, and the aforementioned nine in the 1990s.

But that will all be forgotten if this year’s winner goes on to Triple Crown glory.

4:00 p.m. … Keeneland’s big stakes day got under way  a few minutes ago in the Shakertown, a 5 1/2-furlong turf spring won in off-the-pace fashion by Heros Reward and jockey Javier Castellano. Cannonball, who chased early pacesetter Mr. Nightlinger (last year’s winner of the Grade 3 event), finished second, beaten a head, with with Chamberlain Bridge another head back in third and Due Date fourth.

My exacta of Hellvelyn and Hewitts tanked.

The winner is a hard-hitting 7-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Partner’s Hero who’s won 11 of 29 starts. Trainer Dale Capuano trained Heros Reward up to the Shakertown off a more than five-month layoff, his last start coming with fifth to Desert Code in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Final time was 1:04.24 for 5 1/2 furlongs after fractions of :22.25, :45.87 and :57.89. The course was rated good on a sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s, a welcome relief following Friday’s torrential storms.

Shakertown chart.

4:15 p.m. … Eternal Star got the job done  in the Grade 2 Commonwealth, coming from just off the pace under Eibar Coa to beat defending champ Rebellion bythree-quarters of a length. My Pal Charlie and Ravalo were third and fourth, respecitvely, after battling on the lead for the opening five furlongs of the seven-furlong contest.

Eternal Star, trained by Michael Trombetta, was winning for the 10th time in 21 career starts for Harry and Tom Meyerhoff. The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred is by the Carson City stallion Five Star Day out of Retsina’s Princess, by Eternal Prince. He was coming off narrow loss to Ah Day in the Toboggan at Aqueduct March 7, closing from well back to just miss at the wire. 

Time for the seven furlongs on Polytrack was 1:21.17 after fractions of :23.16, :46.12, and 1:09.37.

Commonwealth chart.

4:25 p.m. … Morning linemaker Mike Battaglia hung even-money odds on female turf champion Forever Together for the Grade 2 Jenny WIley, but in the early betting the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner wasn’t even the favorite. Early action was on Paul Pompa’s Backseat Rhythm, who recently switched from the Pat Reynolds barn to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Backseat Rhythm  is coming off a nose win in the Grade 3 Hillsborrough at Tampa Bay Downs. Forever Together hasn’t raced since the Breeders’ Cup.
Lady and Visit have been scratched from the Jenny Wiley, leaving a field of seven fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on a turf course rated good for the earlier Shakertown. 

4:30 p.m. … Love the ShamWow! ads on TVG, especially now that I know a little bit more about Vince Shlomi, the pitchman for the spongy product. You can read about Vince’s recent run-in with the law here.

4:40 p.m. … Maybe Battaglia’s estimated odds will be on target. As post time approaches for the Jenny WIley, the odds are dropping on Forever Together and they’re going up on 

4:45 p.m. … That’s what I like to see! A champion coming back to run like a champion. Forever Together, confidently ridden by Julien Leparoux, won the Jenny Wiley by a length in a most impressive performance. Not sure what trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s been doing with this daughter of Belong to Me all winter, since she only had two published  workouts in her past performances (what’s that all about?), but she was ready to run. 

Leparoux allowed Forever Together to fall back near the back of the field as Kiss With a Twist set slow fractions. He urged Forever Together to pick it up entering the far turn, she swung wide at the top of the stretch, then won without really being seriously asked down the stretch by her rider, who never uncocked his whip. Rutherienne tried to make a race of it, finishing second, with Kiss With a Twist hanging in for third and Rustic Flame fourth. 

Battaglia nailed the odds perfectly, as Forever Together paid $4 for her eighth win in 15 starts for the Augustin Stable of  George Strawbridge. Call me a sucker, but I went for the early money play, betting on Backseat Rhythm to win.

Final time was 1:46.93 after fractions of :25.92, :51.83, 1:17.12 and 1:40.80 on a track labeled good. 

Jenny Wiley chart.

5:00 p.m. … No major early money odds swings in the Blue Grass. A little action on Mafaaz, bet down from 12-1 morning line to 8-1, but everyone else is pretty  much in accordance with the morning line. Hold Me Back looks like a million-dollars in the paddock, a fact confirmed on TVG by Jill Byrne, who knows a bit more about horseflesh than I do.

For what it’s worth, I’m taking a stab at Patena, who was a big disappointment in the slop at Fair Grounds in the Louisiana Derby last out, his first start for trainer Rick Dutrow. A cough may have interrupted or compromised his training up to that race, and I like his chance to run much bigger today. But he will be up against it with Hold Me Back looking like a legitimate favorite off his 3-for-3 record on different Polytrack surfaces at Arlington, Keeneland and Turfway Park for trainer Bill Mott and WinStar Farm.

5:05 p.m. … It’s a great accomplishment for any breeder to have a horse in a Grade 1 race, but for a small breeding operation to have two horses in the same race is really something. Hats off to Carrie Brogden and her family’s Machmer Hall for having two starters in the Blue Grass, Join in the Dance and Loch Dubh, bred in the name of The Answer.

5:15 p.m. … TVG did a nice feature on the NBA star Rashard Lewis, one of the owners of Join in the Dance. Overall, the TVG coverage has been quite good, though Frank Lyons seems underutilized in the coverage. He’s always seemed to be one of the stronger parts of TVG’s big-race coverage.

5:20 p.m. … Perhaps dreams do come true. Tom McCarthy, the owner and trainer of General Quarters, is on his way to the Kentucky Derby after the son of Sky Mesa gave him the biggest win of his life, taking the Blue Grass over favorite Hold Me Back. 

McCarthy, a 75-year-old Army veteran and retired high school principal who has trained a small string of horsers for 45 years, has attended every Kentucky Derby in his home town of Louisville, Ky., since 1959. This year he’ll be there to saddle the only runner in his one-horse stable.  He claimed General Quarters  for $20,000 out of his first start at Churchill Downs last May 30, from Ken and Sarah Ramsaey and trainer Wesley Ward. Most recently, after General Quarters had won the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in February, McCarthy turned down some seven-figure offers for the colt, saying, "You can’t sell a dream."

General Quarters got a great trip from Eibar Coa, racing in mid-pack early, then moving toward Join in the Dance, the early pacesetter, as the field approached the far turn. He hit the front around the three-sixteenths pole, opened up by several lengths, and under aggressive handling held off the late charge of Hold Me Back to win by 1 1/2  lengths. West Coast invader Massone was third, a length and a quarter back, with Terrain fourth and Join in the Dance fifth. Theregoesjojo had to be one of the bigger disappointments in the Blue Grass, finishing ninth as the second wagering choice behind Hold Me Back.

Coa is also the rider of Musket Man, who defeated General Quarters in the Tampa Bay Derby and then went on to victory in the Illinois Derby at Hawthroen last weekend. 

McCarthy earned $465,000 from the Blue Grass’s $750,000 purse, and backers of the colt were rewarded with a $30.60 mutuel. Time of the Blue Grass was 1:49.26 for 1 1/8 miles after fractions of :24.40, :49.06, 1:13.31, and 1:37.32 for the mile. General Quarters ran a strong final furlong under 12 seconds after racing wide much of the way.

My pick, Patena, beat one horse.

Blue Grass chart.

5:45 p.m. … As much as I love the feel-good story of Tom McCarthy, I think it’s extremely doubtful General Quarters will win the Kentucky Derby. This wasn’t a particularly strong Blue Grass Field. Nevertheless, when the pack of sports columnists and turf writers arrives on the Churchill Downs backstretch for Derby week, the saga of General Quarters and McCarthy will give them something to write about that fits the romance and tradition of America’s most famous race. And if he does win, well, won’t that be quite an inspiration for all the dreamers and small-time stables, giving them hope that they too might someday stand in the infield winner’s circle under the shadow of the Twin Spires.

6:05 p.m. … Good news for all you college lacrosse fans out there. ESPN2 will show the Duke-Virginia game to its conclusion. Duke is pounding Virginia 15-9 with less than 4:00 minutes to go. Not good for people tuning in to expect horse racing, but, hey, that’s the breaks. Actually, a scroll says the Arkansas Derby/Blue Grass (tape delay) has been shifted to ESPN Classic. Duke lacrosse…aren’t they famous for something?

6:10 p.m. … This lacrosse game is fantastic. Duke is ranked No. 8 in the country and they are on the verge of upsetting No. 1 Virginia.  My only question is, is a touchdown in lacrosse worth six points?  There appears to be hundreds of people on hand at the lacrosse stadium, probably similar to an average day at Aqueduct, but there are probably hundreds  more tuning in on ESPN2  to watch these two great lacrosses rivals.

6:15 p.m. … Duke is playing keep away as the clock winds down. Great strategy.

6:16 p.m. … Do you believe in miracles? Yes! The lacrosse game is over. DUKE WINS!

6:35 p.m. … Jeanine Edwards asked good questions of Larry Jones in the ESPN2 interview, and he didn’t blink in his responses. Sounds like he really will retire at year’s end, at least for a short spell.  Post parade for the $1 million Arkansas Derby, with Old Fashioned rightly the heavy favorite. I think Papa Clem is going to run a big race for trainer Gary Stute, going right to the front in a manner that would make Gary’s dad, trainer Mel Stute, proud. Mel’s won all kinds of races over the decades, but he’s always been one of those "speed is king" kind of trainers. Papa Clam is owned by Bo Hirsch, son of the late Clement Hirsch, a California racing icon for many years.

6:45 p.m. Even money on Old Fashioned. Win Willy, the late runner who upset Old Fashioned in the Rebel Stakes, is 4-1, as is Papa Clem.

Uh-oh….Hank Goldberg likes Papa Clem. I’m running back to the windows to see if I can refund my ticket on the horse.

6:50 p.m. …  Wrong again….Old Fashioned gets the lead…. but Papa Clem gets the win. He came from off the pace, as new rider Terry Thompson sent Old Fashioned to the front and set pretty quick fractions (:22.65, :46.19 and 1:11.15). Old Fashioned tried to spurt away at the quarter pole, but he was under pressure from Flat Out and Papa Clem, who rallied wide under Rafael Bejarano.

Old Fashioned proved a stubborn rival down the stretch, even after it looked like Papa Clem would roll on by. Papa Clem won by about a half-length, with Summer Bird a non-threatening third. It was just the second win from six starts for the Smart Strike colt out of Miss Houdini, by Belong to Me. He was coming off consecutive seconds, to Friesan Fire in the Louisiana Derby and to PIoneerof the Nile in the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita Park.

Papa Clem covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.01.

Gary Stute said to Jeanine Edwards the difference between the Louisiana Derby and Arkansas Derby was that Papa Clem had a chance to trainer over the Oaklawn strip for several weeks, unlike the Louisiana Derby, where he arrived just two days before the race.

The win, coupled with I Want Revenge’s dominance in New York in the Gotham and Wood after losing twice to Pioneerof the Nile, suggests that the West Coast horses this year may have the upper hand in the Kentucky Derby. Papa Clem and I Want Revenge, who began their careers on synthetic tracks in California have made a smooth transition to dirt. Will Pioneerof the Nile be able to say the same thing three weeks from today? 

7:00 p.m. … One last thought: Hank Goldberg, you’re the man! Great pick.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report 

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By Ray Paulick

March 11, 2009: Fasig-Tipton cancels its fall yearling sale, scheduled to begin Oct. 26.

April 1, 2009: Fasig-Tipton reinstates the fall yearling sale.

What they said then: “A sale should be viable for consignors, buyers and lastly for the sales company. The feedback we are getting from our constituents indicated this was not the case of the October yearling sale. This was also the majority position at our advisory board meeting in early March.” – Dan Pride, Fasig-Tipton’s chief operating officer.

What they are saying now: “Responding to input from several October consignors and buyers, Fasig-Tipton has reinstated its Kentucky fall yearling sale, which will be held at Newtown Paddocks, Lexington, on Oct. 26, 27 and 28.” – Fasig-Tipton press release

“We certainly value the feedback that our customers shared with us. One of the main goals of the company will always be to listen and react to what is important for our customers.” – Fasig-Tipton chairman Walt Robertson.

So what happened in the three weeks between the time the sale was cancelled because “constituents” said it was not viable and it was reinstated because of feedback from buyers and consignors? Who were those “constituents” polled about the original decision to cancel?

Fasig-Tipton, under its new ownership and a retooled management team (the addition of Dan Pride is the main difference), wants to focus on the auctions that bring in the most money: the 2-year-olds in training sale held recently at Calder, the Saratoga August yearling sale, and the November mixed sale. The Dubai-based owners are investing significant money on capital improvements and marketing to that end. However, the company cannot risk alienating some of the bread-and-butter consignors who have been loyal to the July and October Kentucky yearling sales, which may not be as glamorous or profitable but are an important marketplace for breeders.

By cancelling the October sale, Fasig-Tipton was shooing breeders of more than 1,000 horses over to the other side of town to the tail end of Keeneland’s September yearling sale or forcing them to incur shipping expenses by offering them at the Fasig-Tipton Eastern fall sale in Maryland. Neither was a positive public relations outcome for Fasig-Tipton.

The flawed decision sounded awfully similar to what happened in December when the Breeders’ Cup board outraged many breeders with a decision to cut out the stakes supplements that have been part of the Breeders’ Cup program from the outset. That decision was reversed in a matter of days. This one took a few weeks for the complaints to percolate high enough to get the attention of Fasig-Tipton’s management team. Both decisions smacked of elitism, suggesting not enough attention was paid to the grass roots or “blue collar” breeders who don’t get elected to boards of directors. Both reversals were justified and proper.

Lessons learned.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Will a bet-processing tote division be the newest sibling in the Jockey Club’s family of companies? That’s the word I’m hearing from a variety of sources within the industry who say the not-for-profit breed registry is itching to get into the tote business with a new, for-profit subsidiary along the lines of Equibase, the horse industry’s official database for racing information that the Jockey Club owns in partnership with the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America.

Alan Marzelli, the Jockey Club’s president and chief operating officer, declined to comment when asked by the Paulick Report about the company’s possible entry into the tote business.

It makes perfect sense for the Jockey Club to take over yet another segment of the Thoroughbred industry, though it would be a move that is not universally supported. Would its entry into the tote business be a case of merely doing what’s right for the industry, or an opportunity for empire building by the Jockey Club, which already has six for-profit divisions? Those divisions are Jockey Club Information Systems (a data provider to industry publications, sale companies, and others); equineline.com (which sells breeding and racing statistical reports); Equibase (which sells past performance information to Daily Racing Form and for programs sold at racetracks and provides some free information to the public); TrackMaster (which sells customized handicapping information); InCompass (which bills itself as a technology solutions company for the industry and is involved in such areas as racetrack paymaster accounts); and TJC Technology Services (which provides technological infrastructure and support for the various Jockey Club companies).

These Jockey Club companies are all inter-related. For example, Jockey Club Information Services and equineline.com require pedigree information, which is provided by the Jockey Club’s registration department. Racing results from Equibase are fed into TJCIS, equineline, and Trackmaster products for consumers and into software applications in racetracks. A bet processing or tote company and an account wagering division currently are missing pieces in a Jockey Club strategy to cover as many of the industry’s bases as possible. The various companies must pay for the data, but the money essentially shifts from one pocket to another.

Let’s look a little more closely at the state of the tote industry. The three existing companies – Scientific Games Racing (Autotote), AmTote and United Tote – each has roughly one-third of the North American market. All have been struggling for years, in part because racetracks have played one company against another in contract negotiations and have marginalized their business. As a result, they have not made the kind of profits that lead to substantial investment in research and development, and the end product has been one that is technologically inferior and suspect in its ability to maintain absolute integrity in wagering pools.

All three companies are for sale. AmTote, which Magna Entertainment acquired for $17.4 million in a two-phased purchase agreement in 2003 and 2006, is part of that company’s bankruptcy filing. Last month, Scientific Games, a company that makes most of its money in lotteries, hired a financial consultant to look into selling its pari-mutuel division, formerly known as Autotote. Youbet.com, an account wagering company that has not been profitable, paid $49 million for United Tote in 2005 (at least two times higher than the appraised value of some industry insiders). One year ago, Youbet.com officials said they were hoping to find a buyer for United Tote.

At this stage, a purchase by the Jockey Club of United Tote seems the most likely, and sources say a deal could be announced in the coming weeks. The company has contracts with the New York Racing Association, which walks in lockstep with the Jockey Club. United Tote also serves Keeneland, whose president, Nick Nicholson, was instrumental in the development of the “family of companies” strategy when he worked as executive director of the Jockey Club. United Tote has contracts with the other Kentucky racetracks, including Churchill Downs, which employs AmTote at the other racetracks it owns.

All of the uncertainty involving the three leading tote companies comes at a time when the integrity of the Thoroughbred industry’s pari-mutuel wagering systems is being questioned by racing commissions, track operators, and, perhaps most importantly, horseplayers. Autotote, in particular, has been at the center of several controversies, including the 2002 Breeders’ Cup pick six scandal when three of the company’s employees had the only winning ticket and were in line for a $3-million payout. It was discovered they hacked into the system and processed their pick six tickets after the first four races had been run.

Racing executives familiar with the tote business suggest that United Tote may have the best tote machines, while the back end or software infrastructure for AmTote is the most advanced. Scientific Games is viewed as the laggard of the three companies, from a technology standpoint.

SHADES OF EQUIBASE?
This all sounds a bit similar to when Equibase was created in 1990. The Daily Racing Form had been owned by Walter Annenberg’s Triangle Publications for well over a half-century when he sold it to Rupert Murdoch’s News America Corp. in 1988, ending what had been a very cozy relationship between the Form and the racing industry. Whether this upstart Aussie (whose publishing empire includes the New York Post, Fox and other major media outlets) upset Jockey Club pooh-bahs like chairman Ogden Mills (Dinny) Phipps or they were worried about price-gouging or additional changes in the Form’s ownership will probably never be known. But under the banner of the racing industry collecting and owning its own data (versus a private company like Daily Racing Form doing it), Equibase was established in the imposing shadow of the Jockey Club.

At the time, there were pronouncements that the industry needed to provide more information to fans. Alan Marzelli, then the chief financial officer of the Jockey Club, said the “promotion and betterment of racing is behind the decision” to start Equibase. David Haydon, a longtime Jockey Club employee and the first Equibase president, took it one step further, saying the new company would “address racing’s need for fan base expansion.” Jockey Club chairman Phipps himself said, “Everyone in the industry realizes we have to make a day at the races more enjoyable and less intimidating for the general public.”

Equibase has succeeded as a business. Now, instead of competing with the Daily Racing Form, which eventually closed its track and field data collection operations, the Form is its biggest customer, purchasing past performance information to provide in its daily newspaper and for its online products. Most racetrack programs now include past performances – at a fee to consumers.

But where exactly has Equibase succeeded in expanding the fan base or making the races less intimidating?

Other sports, from Major League Baseball to the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the PGA Tour, provide extensive data at absolutely no cost to the fans. This information is used by fans to make watching the sports action that much more enjoyable, and allows them to be more informed, whether it’s for their own general knowledge or to participate in the fantasy leagues that have become so popular, especially with young people.

Racing, or more specifically Equibase, insists on charging its fans for some of the most basic data. Lifetime past performances of a single horse cost a consumer $8; lifetime stats on a jockey or trainer cost $7 on Equibase’s sister site, equineline.com. If you want career statistics for a baseball player, just go to Google and type “Barry Bonds stats” and you’ll have a plethora of choices for free.

If you want to look at a simple race chart that’s more than a few days old, Equibase charges you $1.50. You want the box score of an NBA game from last month? Go to NBA.com, and click on scores. They’ll provide you with more stats on the game than you could possibly ever want – at no charge.

“It is symptomatic of our industry being a step behind,” said one racing executive who has grown wary of Equibase’s profit-driven motive and thinks the company has strayed from its original mission. “It’s short-term thinking. If our objective in racing is for the horseplayers to win, we should do everything we can to help him, and increase the churn. That’s where the revenue for our business should come from, not from the statistics the horseplayer needs.”

Hank Zeitlen, the current president of Equibase, said fans can get deals for free past performances from some of the account-wagering companies (which, of course, have to pay Equibase to buy the data) and there is often past performances for “feature races of the week” that Equibase makes available at no charge.

 “If you look back to 1990 and see what information was available and how it was made available, we’ve accomplished a lot,” said Zeitlen, who added that it’s unfair to compare racing with other sports. “The economic models of other sports are different than ours,” he said. “Each of those leagues has revenue coming from television. We don’t have that. And Equibase is not a handle-driven business.”

Zeitlen overlooked the fact that the tracks in the TRA that own two-thirds of Equibase (the Jockey Club owns one-third) are handle driven businesses.

JOCKEY CLUB’S THIRST FOR PROFITS
Perhaps it’s this thirst for profits that makes more than a few people wary that the Jockey Club may be getting into the tote business. There are some in that industry who say the Jockey Club, despite its claims, is not a very savvy technology company, and that its entry into the business would not be a giant leap forward – particularly if they wind up with a monopoly. Others believe the Jockey Club should focus on its core business, registering foals, and let private enterprise take care of other segments of the industry.

It was 10 years ago that Tim Smith, then commissioner of the National Thoroughbred Racing Associations, tried to forge a deal between the North American racing industry and IBM Global Services, which promised to modernize the tote system. An IBM executive told the Jockey Club Round Table in 1999 that he had never seen an industry so far behind in technology. The IBM proposal was blown up by some tracks who didn’t see the need for change or improvements in the industry’s tote and simulcasting technology.

Ten years later, we’re even farther behind. It’s clear something must be done to guarantee that the process of handling wagers is improved. If not, the industry will continue to lose the confidence of horseplayers, many of whom are convinced that past-posting of bets and tampering within wagering pools is all too common.

Is the industry ready for the Jockey Club’s family of for-profit companies to grow? Do we really have a choice?

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Kentucky’s signature horse industry is in a battle for survival, but its enemy is not the army of slot machines in neighboring Illinois, Indiana, Missouri or West Virginia, or a few hundred miles north in Pennsylvania or south in Louisiana. It is the commonwealth’s own elected officials, beginning with Gov. Steve Beshear, whose bumbling leadership in Frankfort has enabled a gang of hapless legislators to begin the process of euthanizing the state’s No. 1 industry.

The mercy killing may not take that long. Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, told the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission yesterday that 2009 will be the Western Kentucky track’s final season unless Kentucky legislators give tracks the tools to compete with other states: slot machines. Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky has cut purses and may be forced to reduce the number of racing dates next year. The only reason the track has not been closed and sold for development is that Keeneland is part owner, and officers of the Lexington racetrack and auction house understand how important a racing circuit that extends beyond Keeneland and Churchill Downs is to Kentucky.

How desperate is Kentucky’s racing business? When Churchill Downs general manager Jim Gates asked the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for approval to add a single race to this year’s Kentucky Oaks and Derby day cards, there was a lengthy discussion about whether or not the Louisville track would have enough horses to fill those additional races.

And the racing commission itself is all but tapped out. Forget about heightening integrity of pari-mutuel pools, improving backstretch security and launching out-of-competition drug testing. The commission is having a hard enough time making payroll for existing staff, let alone filling new, vital positions and creating programs to boost public confidence in Kentucky’s horse racing product. Other states may have permanent funding for their racing commissions to do what’s required to maintain integrity, but this is Kentucky, where the horse industry is viewed by some legislators as “the sport of kings” when in reality it is becoming a poor, forgotten stepchild.

Click here to take a look at the distressing presentation Ellis Park owner Geary made to the commission when he explained why he won’t have enough horses for this year’s meeting and will likely cut back to three days of racing per week, or perhaps just open for live racing on weekends. The reversals of fortune in purses being offered at Ellis Park and Turfway are frightening. Tracks in Indiana with purses enriched by slot machine revenue are taking an in-your-face, competitive posture against southern neighbor Kentucky. Pennsylvania, with a booming racing and breeding program fueled by gambling devices, is boasting that it is the future horse capital of the world. Vans are transporting racehorses and breeding stock in every direction – away from the Blue Grass State.

“Kentucky’s signature industry is fading away…100,000 jobs, and they are at risk right now,” Geary told the racing commissioners.

Yet Kentucky’s governor, who made expanded gaming his signature campaign platform and had the wholehearted support of the horse industry, suffered a severe case of memory loss in 2008 after his election, failing to bring up the issue in his “state of the state” address or make it a legislative priority. This year, Beshear has apparently gone into the witness protection program or is hiding out in a bunker until the legislative session comes to an end. He has shown a complete lack of leadership.

Legislators in some parts of Kentucky understand the importance the horse industry plays to the state’s economy, but too many House and Senate members from outlying areas simply don’t see the connection between those 100,000 jobs at racetracks, training centers and breeding farms and their own districts.

What’s not to understand? Jobs provide for payroll taxes to the state and revenue to local communities. Racetracks and breeding farms promote tourism throughout Kentucky. Without racing and breeding, Kentucky’s already bleak budget crisis would only be worse. Can you imagine how much the state would have to invest to create 100,000 new jobs? Kentucky must move forward on a plan to provide video lottery terminals, slots machines or casino wagering at the state’s racetracks for the industry to compete.

But if Kentucky’s governor and legislators can’t even provide funding for its own racing commission, how can we realistically expect them to approve a plan to provide economic stimulus to the racetracks and breeding farmers who are struggling?

“We’re essentially going to be broke at the end of this fiscal year,” said Robert Beck, chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “I’ve got an economics degree, and I can’t figure it out. Our source of funding is not going to go through the legislature, and I’m very disappointed by this.”

The lack of support from the state, which Beck called a “travesty,” will, he said, “directly affect the integrity of the game.”

Beshear appears to be well on his way to becoming a one-term governor, and while there is hope Kentucky’s next chief executive will provide more leadership than Beshear has, the damage to the horse industry will be severe – if not fatal — when his time is up.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
It’s now been 15 years since James E. (Ted) Bassett III, then the president of Keenelend, declared before a legislative committee in Kentucky’s state capitol that the commonwealth’s signature industry, Thoroughbred racing and breeding, was “not going to cave in to the hypothetical threat of a mythical armada cruising down the Ohio from Ashland to Paducah under the disguise of a legislative act that has yet to be passed in most of our neighboring states.”

Bassett was talking about the emergence of what then were just a few floating casinos in Illinois and the possibility of additional boats in Indiana; 1994 was only the beginning of an era that has seen an unprecedented explosion in gambling in states from New Mexico to New York, from Florida to Louisiana, from Mississippi to West Virginia, and from Michigan to Pennsylvania.

So much has changed in 15 years that even Bassett’s wise, old head must be spinning. In fact, his successor at Keeneland, Nick Nicholson, is now one of the main proponents to get Kentucky’s gambling playing fields level with those of other states. The mythical armada surrounding Kentucky has grown to include a massive floating arsenal of riverboats carrying blackjack and craps tables, and hundreds of thousands of slot machines at land-based compounds.

I understand completely what Bassett was saying. He hated the thought Kentucky’s racing industry would have to cave in to the pressures created by the dominos falling around him in other states. Betting on a horse and throwing money into slot machines are two forms of gambling, to be sure, but one involves an intellectual challenge, an agriculture based business, and a beautiful sport that at times can capture the interest and imagination of an entire nation. The other is a mindless activity that is virtually guaranteed to separate the player from his money: gradually, tantalizingly, but, ultimately, relentlessly.

Sadly, I hate to admit, the former – pari-mutuel wagering on horses – must depend to some degree on the latter – Video Lottery Terminals or slot machines – to survive.

The debate has gone on long enough in Kentucky. Fifteen years! There probably isn’t a resident in Kentucky who can’t jump in his car and within two hours be feeding a slot machine in a neighboring state. Thousands of Kentuckians are doing just that, every day, and it’s costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars each year in lost revenue. Worse, it’s threatening the very future of Kentucky’s largest and most important industry: the Thoroughbred.

I wrote earlier this week that slots revenue may in the long run be fool’s gold in many states, and I stand by that statement. Any non-essential industry that relies on subsidies to exist is skating on thin ice, because those subsidies can very well be taken away with the slash of a legislator’s pen. The racing and breeding industries in most American states would have to be put into that “non-essential” category. But Kentucky is different. Take away the horse farms and the nearly 100,000 jobs they have created, and you will have a state plunged into a deep, deep economic recession. No other state is so dependent on this major agribusiness. Furthermore, Kentucky’s identity to the rest of the world is so tied to horses that it would forever be changed.

It’s therefore essential that legislators, from Ashland to Hopkinsville, from Paducah to Williamsburg, understand that the armada is no longer mythical, that the assault is ongoing, and that the battle is in serious danger of being lost.

This subject has been debated, not just in the halls of Frankfort and the breeding sheds of Central Kentucky, but on the national airwaves. On Wednesday of this week and next week, Steve Byk’s At the Races radio show on Sirius channel 126 (4-7 p.m. Eastern) is devoting the entire three hours to the issue, “Kentucky in Crisis.” Byk’s guests this week were John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale farm, Kentucky state Sen. Damon Thayer, Eclipse Award-winning writer Billy Read and trainer Chuck Simon.

Click here to listen to Wednesday’s enlightening “Kentucky in Crisis” program.

I’ll be on next Wednesday’s program, following scheduled appearances by Greg Stumbo, the Kentucky House Speaker whose VLT legislation cleared a House committee yesterday, lobbyist Gene McLean and former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones, the owner of Airdrie Stud.

VLTs or slot machines cannot be racing’s salvation. The sport is failing, not just in Kentucky but throughout the United States, because it has failed to adequately address a number of serious challenges. The racing product needs attention, and its business model is broken both on a local and national level, and simply putting additional money into purses is not going to fix the product on its own. It will, however, give the industry an opportunity to invest in its own future, something it has not been able to do since the mythical armada transformed into a very real threat to the survival of Kentucky’s most important industry.

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Keeneland November Cumulative Prices 
First Three Sessions: 
2002-08

Year	Sold	Revenue	Average	Median
2008	523	$114,725,000	$219,359	$125,000
2007	638	$221,137,000	$346,610	$190,000
2006	616	$194,352,000	$315,506	$190,000
2005	633	$200,002,000	$315,959	$200,000
2004	691	$202,533,500	$293.102	$150,000
2003	606	$165,541,000	$273,170	$135,000
2002	613	$134,944,000	$220,137	$110,000

Through the first three days, Keeneland has sold a total of 523 horses for $114,725,000, down 48.1 percent from last year’s $221,137,000 when 638 horses sold.  The average of $219,359 was down 36.7 percent from $346,610 in 2007, while the median of $125,000 decreased 34.2 percent from last year’s $190,000

“In general, given the state of the world today, it was a very good session,” said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales. “What is good is that there is active trade here; and active trade with an international feel.”
Woodland Farm, the day’s leading buyer, purchased the session’s second-, third- and fourth-highest priced horses, paying $500,000 for Capeside Lady, in foal to Empire Maker; $385,000 for Sacred Feather, in foal to Giant’s Causeway; and $375,000 for Princess Patricia, in foal to Hard Spun.