Posts Tagged ‘kentucky derby’
Friday, December 19th, 2008
Fred Pope is one of those rare individuals in racing who does more than identify problems and complain about them; he actually spends a great deal of time working on solutions. Whether it’s the National Thoroughbred Association, an owners-driven organization he created more than a decade ago, or pushing for a "major league" of racing, the Lexington advertising executive has been a strong proponent of horse owners and their rights to get a greater share of simulcasting revenue.
Pope’s current proposal, which he outlined recently at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing, is for a change in the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, the federal law that governs interstate simulcasting. By providing for more rights to the racehorse owners where the live race is run, Pope believes purses and bloodstock prices will greatly increase and the sport of racing will grow. The complete text of his speech follows.
What is your opinion on this subject? Do you believe the lion’s share of takeout from simulcast wagers should go to the business taking the bet (simulcast site, OTB, or ADW company), or to the track and horsemen’s organization where the live race is run? Take the Daily Paulick Poll (located on the left-hand column of the Paulick Report home page) or leave a comment at the bottom of Pope’s article. — Ray Paulick
Correcting the Interstate Horseracing Act
Racing’s Off-Track Business Model Favors Bet Takers. It Should Favor Host Tracks Putting on the Show.
Speech by Fred Pope at Univ. of Arizona Racing Symposium, December 11, 2008
 Let’s start off today with a show of hands. Be honest. How many of you feel that Government should be involved in Thoroughbred racing? I see just one or two hands, so perhaps we should work to get government completely out of Thoroughbred racing.
First, let’s tell government we want them to take back the laws that make it legal to bet on racing. Why should government intrude and force our sport to have a monopoly on legal wagering?
Next, let’s ask Jay Hickey when he returns to Washington to see if we can get the federal government to rescind the Interstate Horseracing Act. Why did government feel the need to give our host tracks expanded distribution across state lines?
And third, for good measure, let’s tell government that we don’t want the exemption they gave us in 2000 from the law that prohibits gambling on the Internet. That ought to do it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the truth is racing is more involved with government than any other sport. Government involvement is at the core of racing’s existence. If it weren’t for government involvement in racing, the only place we would enjoy our sport would be at the County Fair.
I understand why most of you didn’t raise your hand today. Government involvement comes with strings doesn’t it? There’s a yin and a yang to government and politics.
It seems when government steps in and passes a law to do one thing; it inadvertently winds up hurting something else.
That’s why I am here today, to talk about how government’s gift of the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA), has inadvertently resulted in an Upside Down business model that is killing Thoroughbred racing.
We are all aware of how our once-healthy American automakers are suddenly on the verge of collapse because they failed to take action and correct their business model.
Talking about off-track betting and business models isn’t a very sexy subject. It causes a lot of people to get a glassy look in their eyes; however, that is where 90% of all the money in racing is today. If you want to have a future in racing, or breeding, you need to understand where the money from off-track wagering is going now, and where it needs to start going.
Here’s how wagering under the IHA should have worked. The regulated host tracks and racehorse owners putting on the show would have licensed and paid a small commission to those taking off-track bets on their product. For example, if someone bet $100, the host track and purse account would get about 15% and perhaps pay a 5% commission to the bet takers.
That’s the model used by lotteries. Lotteries pay a 5% commission to the convenience stores punching in the numbers on the lottery bets. It is a very straightforward distribution model. The lotteries and the IHA in racing kicked in about the same time, but last year the lotteries grossed $50 billion and paid out about $2.5 billion to their bet takers. Racing could have used that same distribution model, instead racing invented its own model.
Now, here’s how wagering under the IHA actually happens today. The host track and racehorse owners putting on the show contract and receive only 3% from the people taking bets on their product. The bet takers keep 15% or more for just taking the bet.
Whether the bet takers are other racetracks, or OTBs, or ADWs, or casinos, they keep the majority of the takeout on the host track and racehorse owners’ live racing product.
Why? The short answer is because the bet-takers felt they owned their betting customers. If the bettor was going to wager on other tracks’ races, the bet-taker was going to get the lion’s share. Today, bettors can bypass the receiving tracks and pick up the phone or go online. The genie is out of the bottle and won’t ever go back in again.
The 3% going to the host track is split between the track and its purse account. It isn’t enough to pay for the live show, but 3% is the going rate established by the receiving racetracks taking the bets. Since the Interstate Horseracing Act has a provision that requires approval by the group representing horsemen in the receiving state, the host track has no option, but to accept the going rate of 3%.
Bet Takers Keeping All the Off-Track Money
If you bet $100, only $1.50 goes to purses at the track putting on the live show, but more than $15 stays with the place taking your bet.
You might think the cumulative effect of 3% from lots of sources totals more than the bet-takers receive, but it doesn’t. If $3 million is bet off-track, the host track and purse account split 3%, or $45,000 each, while the off-track bet takers keep $450,000 or more and many have no connection to racing.
This upside down, business model impacts 90% of the handle and it is the reason Thoroughbred racing is dying in America.
The bet-takers are gaming the IHA to the effect that there is no incentive for the host track to produce the live racing show. Just like the American automakers; racing has to correct this model or risk a total collapse of the business.
The potential closing of Hollywood Park is the new reality that no matter how large the market, a host track cannot overcome the upside down business model that is enabled by the wording in the IHA.
The IHA is supposed to help racing by simply expanding the distribution of the host tracks’ product. That is all it was supposed to do. Racing was relatively healthy in 1978 and this new distribution should have seen the sport and business revenue explode. If we had used the normal distribution model like the lotteries, racing too could have $50 billion in handle.
Now that it has been identified, this is a problem we can fix. With the stroke of a pen, the promise of the IHA can be realized. We can turn the upside down business model, right side up.
Racing has a monopoly on legal sports betting. We have virtually national distribution of a wagering product. We have a monopoly on Internet gambling. All we are missing is a real world business model and that comes quickly by correcting the Interstate Horseracing Act.
The American automakers’ business model doesn’t work because labor costs are too high. Even if a labor official knew the business was going to collapse, you can image how hard it would be convince the members to go from $70 an hour to $40 an hour.
And the same in our business, even if receiving track horsemen know the off-track business model means major tracks will fail, it would be hard for them to voluntarily give up making 15% as a bet-taker in order to save the host tracks.
That’s why it will take responsible people who have a national interest in racing to get involved, because few people will ever agree to a haircut in the interest of the sport.
That’s the beauty of correcting the Interstate Horseracing Act. Without state by state turf battles, the national law will fix the problem. Racing’s upside down business model will be turned right side up.
At a time when everything in racing and breeding is heading south, correcting the IHA would see $1 Billion going to the host tracks in the first year. Half, $500 million, would go into racehorse owners’ purses at the host tracks. For breeders it should be noted, that $500 million in racehorse owners’ purses is more than all yearling sales in 2008, and it is reasonable to expect racehorse owners would reinvest that purse money into new racing prospects.
So, here’s what we need to do to correct the Interstate Horseracing Act and have a normal business model for off-track wagering that will restore the business of Thoroughbred racing.
1) Change from the term “horsemen” to “racehorse owners”. There is no reason for trainers to be making business decisions for racehorse owners. This should never have been written into the original legislation. Like in California, the HBPA should be funded for benevolent activities in every state.
2) Eliminate the provision in the IHA requiring approval of horsemen in the receiving state taking the bets. This provision, while well intentioned in 1978, is obsolete today and is responsible for the upside down business model that has evolved over the past thirty years. Approval of racehorse owners at the host track should remain in the IHA.
3) Mandate the host racetrack and host purse account receive a minimum of 50% of the takeout on interstate bets. This will allow the host track and a receiving track taking the bet to share the same amount. All other bet takers, like ADWs and OTBs, will need to contract with the host track and racehorse owners who approve the host track agreements under the IHA.
The Interstate Horseracing Act is business distribution legislation and these corrections, that must be made, are relatively minor amendments. I do not support using the IHA as a vehicle for non-business issues like safety and medication.
Once this new business model for off-track wagering is law, racetracks and racehorse owners putting on the show will have great incentive to package, present and yes, promote their Thoroughbred races.
Under the new business model, the host track will be free to go direct to the betting customers in every racing state. Racing can be a leader in the new economy and take advantage of technology that can deliver the same business model we enjoy with on-track wagering.
The problem is today a bettor can be standing in the paddock at the host track putting on the show and make a phone bet that results in very little money going to that host track and its purses.
After these corrections to the IHA, it will not matter where the bettor happens to be at the moment, the majority of the money will go to the host track putting on the show.
That means if even small tracks, like Turfway Park or Tampa Bay Downs, puts on a good day of racing and attracts wagers of $10 million, they could split up to $2,000,000 with the purse account. That’s how you bring Thoroughbred racing back. And, when racehorse owners start winning these purses, that’s when the breeding business has a firm foundation for the future.
Every track in America will have the opportunity to provide their races to every wagering jurisdiction, with no gatekeepers, or middlemen siphoning-off the fruits of their labor.
This philosophy of owning the bettor and giving the majority of the money to the entity taking the bet is a worldwide problem. We have the technology for live racing to be sold to a worldwide audience, yet because of protectionism and old economy thinking, we do not have a business model to grow the live racing product. Everything today favors who takes the bet, not who produces the live show. Change that premise and you assure the international future of racing.
Leaving the Old-Economy Model and Moving to the New Economy
The day of the franchise that values bet taking is over. It has no place in the new economy.
When racing’s business model moves away from the old economy thinking of we own the bettor, to the new economy realization that we own the show, then our sport has a bright future.
Changing economies are frightening things, particularly with the realization that if you don’t change you die. The new economy for racing, under a business model that favors those putting on the show, will bring innovation and opportunities that are unimaginable today.
Nothing succeeds like a profit motive and corrections to the IHA will bring solid incentives to package, present and promote its races. The sky is the limit for our host tracks.
The unfair advantage racing has been given, time and again by government, has never been realized because of the stranglehold bet-takers have had over the sport.
The Holy Grail of Sports Marketing
A monopoly on gambling, with national distribution and a solid profit margin is the holy grail of sports marketing. How we have screwed this up all these years is a crying shame.
Five years ago, I was hired by a racetrack company to do the most extensive consumer research ever done on Thoroughbred racing. I reviewed the research done by the NTRA, and then set out to find more in-depth answers using a top research firm.
I’m restricted from telling you the results, however, I can tell you this: The research did not support other entertainment or alternative gambling at the tracks. The facilities are not the problem and they are not the solution.
The research did show there is nothing wrong with Thoroughbred racing that cannot be fixed by packaging and presenting a better racing product. The first step though, is to change the business model to make it all possible.
The Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup have shown us the daily market for racing exceeds $100 million. That’s a good goal for host tracks to aspire to each week.
This current ADW problem is a symptom of how upside down our business model has become. ADW’s should be simple businesses that just handle transactions. Not companies trying to game the IHA with schemes and kickbacks called source market fees. When we correct the IHA, the ADW’s will no longer be a problem.
The real problem that must be solved is between the bet-takers, and the host tracks and racehorse owners putting on the show. Everything else at this time is just noise.
We have the opportunity for a new golden age of Thoroughbred racing, in full partnership with government. This industry is all about jobs and a way of life we all love. This is how we take action and reclaim our sport.
To those who might say we should not risk correcting the Interstate Horseracing Act, I say how can we not risk correcting it? Do we, like the automakers, risk total collapse of our business because we’re afraid to change and act?
We cannot fail to correct the Interstate Horseracing Act now.
Thank you.
© Fred A. Pope 2008
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Tags: Account Wagering, advance deposit wagering, ADW, Breeders' Cup, fred pope, Horse Racing, horsemen's organization, iha, interstate horseracing act, jay hickey, kentucky derby, national thoroughbred association, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, nta, NTRA, off-track betting, otb, pari-mutuel wagering, Paulick Report, pope advertising, Ray Paulick, Simulcasting, symposium on racing, university of arizona racetrack industry program
Posted in Account Wagering, Industry Reform, Regulatory Issues, Simulcasting | 112 Comments »
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
While the Breeders’ Cup board of directors acted swiftly to reverse last week’s suspension of the $6-million stakes supplement program for 2009, somewhat overlooked in the swirl of controversy was the organization’s loss of $11 million in the stock market this year. Breeders’ Cup president and CEO Greg Avioli said the losses were not as severe as those suffered by endowments and funds related to other industries (i.e., the Harvard and Yale endowments have lost billions), but some Thoroughbred breeders are questioning why so much of the money from foal and stallion nominations and other revenue was tied up in a volatile equities market in the first place.
The losses, first reported by the Paulick Report on Monday, have dropped Breeders’ Cup cash reserves from $40 million to less than $30 million. The board of directors originally had voted unanimously not to use those cash reserves to plug any of the projected $10-million revenue hole in the 2009 budget, a move that led to the brief suspension of the stakes supplements as well as deep cuts in the marketing and television budget.
Avioli said the market losses, which exceeded the size of the budgeted deficit for 2009, were unrelated to the board’s original decision.However, an examination of the Breeders’ Cup 2007 annual report shows $2.7 million of unrealized and realized gains on investments were reported as revenue. Total revenue for the year was $56.5 million against expenses of $56.3 million. Without that $2.7 million capital gains reported as income, it appears the Breeders’ Cup would have had an operating deficit of $2.5 million in 2007. It’s unclear to me what becomes of the reported income, now that potential “paper gains” in the equities market have been wiped out in the tumultuous economic climate of 2008. It will also be interesting to examine the 2008 financials to see whether unrealized or realized gains in stock holdings exist or are reported as revenue.
The 2009 operating budget before last week’s cuts were announced was projected to be down $10 million, from $50 million to $40 million. Critics have complained the company should have first undergone more corporate belt tightening (which it has been doing since 2006, when Avioli replaced D.G. Van Clief Jr. as CEO) before cutting out the stakes supplements and marketing expenses.
The supplements have been part of the Breeders’ Cup program since its inaugural year in 1984, when $10 million was put into championship purses and $10 million into other stakes. That was done to give the Breeders’ Cup broad appeal to potential nominators across the country, and the supplemental money was dispersed at both large and small racetracks.
In his statement about the decision to use cash reserves to reinstate some portion of the stakes supplements in 2009, Breeders’ Cup board chairman said the board is “not in a position to commit to the stakes program beyond 2009.” The Breeders’ Cup board and executive team have discussed elimination of the stakes supplements in recent years, citing research that shows the money has not been a great incentive for breeders to nominate their foals.
Farish also said in his statement that “the Board still believes, as I do personally, that it’s critical to maintain sufficient reserves to allow for the long-term viability of the Breeders’ Cup.” Avioli said the cash reserves are viewed by the board as a catastrophic fund in the event the Breeders’ Cup is canceled because of unforeseen circumstances (equine disease outbreak, fire, earthquake or other disaster) or a multi-year financial crisis. Business interruption insurance would cover a great deal of any potential losses if the event had to be cancelled – in which case the current $25.5 million in championship purses would not have to be distributed.
The odds against holding the event, which can be moved from one venue to another in the event of a crisis, would appear to be slim. The Kentucky Derby has been run continuously since 1875 despite two World Wars and the great flood of 1937 that covered much of Churchill Downs.
IRS Form 990 for the Breeders’ Cup shows $28.3 million in stocks and bonds holdings in 2006 with another $7.8 million in U.S. treasuries and $2.5 million in Breeders’ Cup properties (the 2007 Form 990 is not yet available). Earlier this year, the Paulick Report has been told, members of the Breeders’ Cup board and its Investment Committee were urged by at least two individuals on the larger board of members and trustees not to keep such a high percentage of the organization’s reserves in the equities market. The Investment Committee, chaired by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. (its other members are Farish, Antony Beck, Donald Dizney, Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, Joseph Shields, and Satish Sanan, who recently was appointed), opted to keep a substantial part of the assets in stocks. By year’s end, the assets have fallen sharply.
A number of breeders told the Paulick Report the money should never have been invested in the market because they view the Breeders’ Cup as a pass-through organization. “It’s our money,” one breeder said. “I didn’t pay $500 to nominate my foal so the Breeders’ Cup could buy stock in Coca-Cola. An emergency fund should be kept, but the rest of the money should go into purses.”
Cash reserves were an important part of the program 25 years ago, one founding member of the Breeders’ Cup said, because putting together and keeping a coalition of stallion farms was not an easy task, and there was the threat that if one or two major farms pulled out it could cause the whole concept to collapse. Keeping enough reserves to fund the program for a full year was considered a strategic defense against any boycott.
The coalition has held together, however, despite some bumps in the road along the way. The Breeders’ Cup has expanded from the $10 million championship day of seven races to a two-day event worth $25.5 million. The stakes supplement program has been reduced several times over the years from its original $10-million budget, and it now appears to be in jeopardy beyond 2009.
Farish said in his statement the board is looking at other ways to provide benefits to nominators of the program, though gave no further specifics. One benefit would be to continue to do what the board has done in the last five days: listen to those who support the program through their stallion and foal nominations. Beyond that, the board should provide greater transparency and disclosure about financial matters, committee appointments and board activities. The production of a 2007 annual report, something that had not been done in the early years of the Breeders’ Cup, was a good first step.
The Breeders’ Cup is designed to promote Thoroughbred racing and enhance public awareness of the entire industry. But it should always be remembered that the foundation and single biggest stakeholders remain the breeders who have financially supported the program since it was nothing more than a vision in the creative mind of the late John Gaines.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Antony Beck, Bill Farish, Breeders' Cup, breeders' cup annual report, Breeders' Cup board of directors, breeders' cup cash reserves, breeders' cup stakes program, Breeders' Cup World Championships, churchill downs, D.G. Van Clief Jr., Dinny Phipps, donald dizney, G. Watts Humphrey, Greg Avioli, John Gaines, Joseph Shields, kentucky derby, Ogden Mills Phipps, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, satish sanan
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Industry Organizations | 14 Comments »
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
When IEAH Stables bought an interest in 2007 Remsen Stakes winner Court Vision from WinStar Farm earlier this year, the son of Gulch had the look of a Derby horse. He eventually lived up to that billing, though his Grade 1 Derby victory came not on the dirt at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May but on the Hollywood Park turf on the last Sunday in November. Under Ramon Dominguez, who earlier in the day won the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes with Godolphin Racing’s Cocoa Beach, Court Vision made an eye-catching run from last at the top of the stretch to win the Hollywood Derby by three quarters of a length, defeating Cowboy Cal and Midships.
Trained by Bill Mott, Court Vision covered a mile and one-quarter on firm turf in 2:01.43 as the 7-2 second choice in the betting. It was his fifth win in 12 starts and first in a Grade 1 event.
After winning three of four starts as a 2-year-old, Court Vision regressed somewhat on the road to the Triple Crown, finishing third in both the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. After a disappointing 13th behind IEAH’s Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby, Mott switched the colt to turf, where he finished fourth in the Colonial Turf Cup and an unlucky second, beaten a nose, in the Virginia Derby, both races at Colonial Downs.
Back on dirt in the Travers at Saratoga, Court Vision was never a factor when sixth behind WinStar’s Colonel John, then ended his six-race losing streak with a victory in the Jamaica Handicap on turf at Aqueduct (the first time Dominquez rode him).
Muny set the pace from the outside post position in the Hollywood Derby, going a half mile in :49.41, six furlongs in 1:13.40, and a mile in 1:37.56. Cowboy Cal overtook the frontrunner in midstretch, but didn’t have enough to withstand the fast-finishing Court Vision, who caught him in the final strides. Midships closed well to get third. Based on Court Vision’s position at the one-mile call on the Equibase chart, he flew home his final quarter-mile in about 22 3/5 seconds.
Bred in Kentucky by the W.S. Farish and Kilroy Thoroughbred Partnership, Court Vision was produced from the Storm Bird mare Weekend Storm, a half sister to leading sire A.P. Indy.
Video of the Hollywood Derby.
Earlier in the Hollywood Park Turf Festival program, favored Cocoa Beach rallied in the stretch to catch the front-running second-betting choice Precious Kitten and win the Matriach by three-quarters of a length. Juddmonte Farms’ Visit was third.
Cocoa Beach, second to Zenyatta in her last start, the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, was trying the grass for the first time since her maiden victory in Chile in January 2007. She was purchased by Godolphin last year and sent to Dubai, where she won two of four starts and was third in the UAE Derby. The 4-year-old daughter of Doneraile Court won her first two American starts, including the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont Park, before running second in the Breeders’ Cup on the synthetic Pro-Ride track. She is trained by Saeed bin Suroor. Cocoa Beach covered the mile on firm turf in 1:35.49.
Matriarch chart.
Video of the Matriarch.
Video of the Hollywood Turf Festival graded races.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Beldame, Big Brown, bill mott, Cocoa Beach, colonel john, court vision, cowboy cal, Doneraile Court, dubai, farish and kilroy, Godolphin, gulch, hollywood derby, IEAH, jamaica handicap, kentucky derby, ladies' classic, matriarch, midships, muny, Paulick Report, precious kitten, ramon dominguez, Ray Paulick, remsen, saeed bin suroor, uae derby, visit, William S. Farish, winstar farm, zenyatta
Posted in California, Horse Racing | Comments Off
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
It was billed as the “Biggest Vegas Qualifier Ever,” but horseplayers who paid $250 to enter Saturday’s TwinSpires.com contest in hopes of getting a berth in the annual National Handicapping Championship might call it the biggest online screw-up since the Churchill Downs-owned wagering platform melted down on Kentucky Derby Day earlier this year.
Midway through Saturday’s 15-race contest, many of the 550 entrants were unable to make their online selections. Instead they got an error message saying “database connection failed; too many connections.” The problem went on for at least five races, and there was no communication from TwinSpires.com to participants. “Obviously, it was not pleasant for the players,” one contestant wrote to the Paulick Report.
 Vernon Niven, president of TwinSpires.com and executive vice president of Churchill Downs Inc., told the Paulick Report a decision was made to cancel the contest, refund all entry fees and reschedule the qualifying event as soon as possible. Fifteen berths were scheduled to be awarded for the National Handicapping Championship, to be held in Las Vegas Jan. 23-24. Prize money in that event, sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Daily Racing Form, is expected to be $1 million.
“We had a database failure with the contest engine that overloaded some queues and caused the login process to freeze,” Niven told the Paulick Report. “Not every player was affected but due to the nature of this we had to cancel the contest and will be refunding everyone.”
No wagers were processed incorrectly, according to Niven, although he said the issue also prevented TwinSpires.com telephone operators from placing wagers via telephone. Some TwinSpires customers not involved in the handicapping contest also experienced log-in problems.
“It’s a huge embarrassment for all of us, and we pride ourselves in our contests,” Niven added. “It’s a slap in our players’ faces. We’ll look at who was affected and how they were affected.”
Saturday’s problem, on top of the Derby Day online wagering malfunction, comes from a company that hired a CEO in Bob Evans with a tech-savvy reputation and has a “think tank” division based in California’s Silicon Valley.
“CDI, which promotes itself as racing’s technology company has failed to deliver,” a contest player wrote to the Paulick Report. “I know I’ll be cancelling my account after this and the Derby Day fiasco.”
“We do pride ourselves on having an outstanding technology team and are working on this as best we can,” Niven said. “We did have problems on Derby Day 2008. That was a different issue – a wagering platform problem. We fixed that issue, as evidenced by Breeders’ Cup Day. This was a different issue. It is one of those things that our guys missed. It was a programming error on our part having to do with database queries that allowed our queues to overflow.
“Our players should not have to worry about that. We are contacting our players to let them know that we apologize and that we will be refunding them within 24 hours.”
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: biggest vegas qualifier ever, bob evans, Breeders' Cup, CDI, Churchill Downs Inc., daily racing form, derby day, handicapping contest, internet wagering, kentucky derby, national handicapping championship, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, NTRA, online wagering, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, silicon valley, twinspires, twinspires.com, vernon niven
Posted in Account Wagering, Churchill Downs Inc., National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Wagering, kentucky derby | 11 Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Bob Evans, president and chief executive officer of Churchill Downs Inc., said during a Friday morning press conference at the company’s flagship track in Louisville, Ky., that the CDI board of directors discussed the possibility of reducing the field size of the Kentucky Derby during a regularly scheduled meeting in New Orleans last week.
The Derby’s maximum field size of 20 is under scrutiny in the wake of the death of the filly Eight Belles in last year’s Derby, even though her fatal injuries occurred after the finish and apparently were unrelated to the number of runners or trouble she may have encountered in the race. The Derby traditionally has the largest field of any race in the United States. No Derby starter has fallen during the running of the race since 1970, when Holy Land clipped heels and fell going into the far turn.
By contrast, Breeders’ Cup fields are limited to 14 starters.
Maximum field size of 14 horses and the prohibition of fillies running against males were considerations in an original discussion document circulated by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to industry leaders who formed what ultimately came to be known as the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.
Field size or sex limitations were not part of the final recommendations of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance Pledge, which can be viewed by clicking here.
Evans said CDI has devoted a great deal of time and resources to examine a wide range of safety issues since the death of Eight Belles and has adopted all of the safety recommendations made by committees formed earlier this year by the Jockey Club and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
The CDI board discussed the reduction of the field size, Evans said, though he gave no indication whether a change will be made. “For now, it’s the way it’s always been,” he said. Nominations to the Triple Crown races, including the Derby, state that the size of the Derby can be “up to 20 horses.”
A reduction in field size might not be greeted favorably by horse owners and trainers who throughout the winter and spring closely follow whether their 3-year-olds are in the leading 20 contenders, based on money earned in graded or group stakes races. Churchill recently announced a marketing agreement with Kempton racecourse in England that will guarantee one spot in the Derby field to the winner of the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race on Polytrack, on March 18.
Handle on the Derby would also decline in the event of a reduction in the field size. Evans said Churchill has researched Derby handle in relationship to field size but would not say how much handle might fall. A reduction from 20 to 14 starters would also cost Churchill Downs $300,000 in lost entry and starting fees ($25,000 to enter and $25,000 to start).
Evans discussed the Derby field size and other safety measures following a media briefing announcing that Oaks and Derby ticket prices, with a few exceptions, would be frozen in 2009. “Our slowing economy is having a pronounced effect, and many of our customers have been affected in various ways as well,” Evans said. “Although the Kentucky Derby occupies an elite spot in the world of sports and tickets are typically in high demand, we want to keep our price points at the same level to help our customers in this challenging economic climate.” Click here to read more about the ticket price freeze.
The only exceptions will be scheduled price increases in the 30-year personal seat license program, which are coming off a three-year price freeze; some luxury suites and Marquee Village accommodations; and reserved seats in the infield.
Churchill Downs is also offering the opportunity for on-track customers to buy Derby reserved seats in a sweepstakes running each day from tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 22) through Nov. 29. Individuals whose names are drawn will be eligible to buy two Derby tickets ranging in price from $88 to $207. (Derby tickets range in price from $88 for infield reserved seats to $693 on millionaire’s row.) One thousand of the tracks 55,000 seats are being offered in the sweepstakes. For more details, click here.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: bob evans, Breeders' Cup, CDI, cdi board of directors, churchill downs, Churchill Downs Inc., derby field size, eight belles, Horse Racing, horse racing safety, Horse Welfare, Jockey Club, kempton, kentucky derby, kentucky derby 135, kentucky derby tickets, kentucky oaks, NTRA, ntra safety and integrity alliance, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, TOBA, Triple Crown
Posted in Churchill Downs Inc., Horse Racing, Horse Welfare, Jockey Club, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, TOBA, kentucky derby | 12 Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
One of the Thoroughbred industry’s biggest challenges may also present one of its greatest opportunities. The challenge, brought to the fore this year by a series of widely publicized events but always lingering just off center stage, is the issue of animal welfare. How the industry deals with this subject may be one of its last, best opportunities to derail our slow but steady march toward irrelevance in the eyes of the general public.
The death of Eight Belles in this year’s Kentucky Derby, from all indications, was a freak accident, one of those incidents that could not have been prevented by anyone. But her demise, along with revelations about the routine administration of anabolic steroids to many of the sport’s best performers, shined a spotlight on racing that revealed to the general public some of its darkest truths.
Foremost among those is the question of what becomes of a Thoroughbred when it is no longer useful as a racing or breeding animal. Some owners and breeders take great measures to insure either a productive second life for their horses or dispose of them through humane euthanasia. Too many horses slip through the cracks, however, and end up on meat wagons headed to slaughter houses in Canada or Mexico, or are simply abandoned.
The perception of our sport is shaped by media reports of the cruelty of slaughter or abandonment of Thoroughbreds, and it does not present an image attractive to many Americans, especially a younger generation that is more in tune with animal welfare issues.
That is the challenge.
The opportunity lies in the numerous programs and untold number of volunteers who work to find second homes for Thoroughbreds as riding, pleasure or performance horses, or as therapeutic animals used in programs for the mentally, spiritually or physically challenged, and in prisons where they have helped rehabilitate hardened criminals.
It’s time for the racing and breeding industry to fully embrace programs like the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, CANTER, Rerun, Tranquility Farm, Thoroughbred Charities of America and others, instead of pretending the issue of unwanted ex-racehorses does not exist.
Last week I heard a presentation on how our sport can energize its “brand” from marketing expert David Aaker at the Asian Racing Conference in Tokyo, Japan. Aaker, an advisor to Japanese advertising giant Dentsu and professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, talked about how some other businesses have energized their brands by hitching their wagons to something outside of their core business that it is interesting, relevant and compelling to their customer base.
Avon, one of the oldest cosmetic brands for women, was cited as one very good example. There was little the company could do to energize itself by making better lipstick, Aaker said, so it found an issue with great relevance and interest to its female customers: breast cancer. Avon put enormous resources into a breast cancer awareness campaign, created a foundation to support breast cancer research, and promoted an annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer throughout the world. Breast cancer research and other social issues relevant to women were foremost among Avon CEO Andrea Jung’s program to rebuild and re-energize the Avon cosmetic brand. It has been a great success.
What social issue is of great importance to current and potential racing fans? I think that’s a no-brainer: it’s the humane treatment of the animals that give us so much pleasure and entertainment.
Look into the eyes of any fan when a horse dumps its rider in the post parade and takes off on a perilous solo run, or when a horse breaks down in a race or is carted off on an ambulance. It’s not just the champions our fans care about, either, it’s those low-level claimers they’ve followed in the first or last race on any day at any track.
Racing is fortunate to have people who are animal lovers and do what they can to protect them. Just today, Madeleine Paulson Pickens is reported to have come up with a plan to rescue from death the tens of thousands of wild mustangs who have roamed the American West and are so much a part of our culture. The late Paul Mellon bequeathed a most generous gift to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation that will benefit former racehorses for years to come. John Hettinger dedicated the last years of his life to ending slaughter and protecting our horses.
But it’s time for racing, as an institution, to understand that what’s good for our horses is good for our sport, to face this challenge and embrace it as an opportunity. The Jockey Club realized this with its recent announcement that it will give to horse retirement causes and offer breeders an easy way to donate funds to this cause whenever they register a foal. Suffolk Downs officials established a zero-tolerance policy against trainers sending horses to slaughter and a few other tracks have followed their lead.
But the clock is ticking. Voters in Massachusetts banned dog racing in that state Nov. 4 because of concerns over animal welfare. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to see similar measures taken against the racing of horses. Think about that for a minute.
We have some very bright people in this industry, people who can understand what marketing expert Aaker was talking about with Avon and apply the same principle to help both the horses and the business of Thoroughbred racing. We can energize the Thoroughbred racing "brand" by taking on one of our biggest challenges and viewing it as an opportunity to sell our sport to a new generation.
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Tags: 32nd asian racing conference, andre jung, animal welfare, anti-slaughter, asian racing conference, avon, avon walk for breast cancer, ban on dog racing, CANTER, ceo andrea jung, david aaker, dentsu, dog racing ban, eight belles, haas school of business, Horse Racing, horse slaughter, john hettinger, kentucky derby, Madeleine Paulson Pickens, madeleine pickens, massachsusetts dog racing ban, mellon foundation, paul mellon, Paulick Report, pickens plan, Ray Paulick, rerun, thoroughbred charities of america, thoroughbred racing and breeding, thoroughbred retirement, thoroughbred retirement foundation, tranquility farm, trf
Posted in Horse Slaughter, Horse Welfare, Industry Reform | 17 Comments »
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
To hear Carl Pascarella tell it, you’d think corporate marketers would have lined up from Louisville, Ky., all the way to New York’s Madison Avenue to bid on the Triple Crown sponsorship that Visa USA dropped in 1995 after a 10-year run. The relationship between the Triple Crown and Visa ended the same year Pascarella retired as the credit card giant’s chief executive officer.
Pascarella, speaking at a Tuesday afternoon session on Marketing & the Customer Experience at the 32nd Asian Racing Conference in Tokyo, used the familiar introduction from ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” to describe sponsorship of American racing’s highest-profile series, which begins with the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, continues two weeks later in the Preakness, and concludes three weeks after that with the Belmont Stakes.
First, there is the “thrill of victory,” Pascarella said. “From a sponsor’s standpoint, nothing gives you more of a thrill than the Kentucky Derby winner driving down the Preakness stretch with a three- or four-length lead and knowing, as a sponsor, that you’ve got legs, with another three or four weeks to promote in and outside the world of sports. It was something we could use from April on through to June.”
On the other hand, he said, there is “the agony of defeat. In six of eight years we had horses that won the first two legs and didn’t win the Belmont.” That defeat eliminated the possibility of further promotions congratulating the winner of the Visa Triple Crown Challenge and the accompanying $5-million bonus, as well as any additional races the winner might compete in, including the Travers Stakes or Breeders’ Cup.
The Triple Crown was one of several world-class sponsorships for Visa in the sports and entertainment world. “Each one of them,” Pascarella said, “had a common focus on a couple of very important things: understanding who their fan and audience was; and secondly, they understood how to drive value to that fan base. They had an unwavering commitment to both things. At Visa, we looked more to sports as being the pinnacle of entertainment for fans, or our customers. No other form of entertainment brings the same kind of excitement or elation as sports does.
“The sports that are best for our sponsorship,” Pascarella continued, “put the fan in the center of the activity. They create deeper relationships because it’s a fan-centric approach. They give the fan a way to get into the event itself.”
Pascarella recalled how much value he was able to give to Visa’s best customers — bankers and merchants — who would come to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. “We’d bring them on a backside tour of Churchill Downs on the day before the Derby,” he said. “They’d see the horses who would be racing in the Derby the next day, meet trainers like Bobby Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas, and these people felt like they were part of it all. We were giving them something special because of a sponsorship that was invaluable. That’s what we were paying for, that extra feeling that allowed our customers to get inside the sport.
“We’re not looking at fan numbers, we are looking at fans who are engaged, fans who will be engaged with us and our products and services,” Pascarella said. “We look at selecting and evaluating sponsorships based on being able to drive consumer behavior. How have we lifted the brand, how have we changed behavior, how have we made the consumer closer to us as a result of the association? The more we win, the more we put into a sponsorship. But it’s not just about the money. It’s about the relationships you can build with your sponsor and what you can give your sponsor in return. You need mutually beneficial objectives.”
Interestingly, while Visa dropped its sponsorship of the Triple Crown, it entered into a five-year agreement with Churchill Downs to sponsor the Kentucky Derby. No company has stepped forward to sponsor the Triple Crown since Visa’s exit from the series. One reason may have been a decision by the New York Racing Association to end its association with NBC Sports, and put the Belmont on ABC/ESPN. Another may have been fragmentation within the three tracks that comprise Triple Crown Productions and a power struggle over how sponsorship revenues were divided. Currently, of course, they have nothing to divide from a Triple Crown title sponsor.
Pascarella, now an executive adviser to TPG Capital, also cautioned racing associations that the current economic climate will cause nearly every major corporation to reevaluate its advertising, marketing and sponsorship budgets. “Every economist projects a very deep and long recession,” he said. “That means your sponsors are going to be under a great deal of pressure. You need to reach out to them, even though your revenues also are going to be under pressure. If you reach out to them, and say, ‘How do we work together to get through this?’ that will go a long way.”
BRANDING GURU DAVID AAKER , professor emeritus of marketing strategy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley, talked about how racing can build its brand.
At a time when brand trustworthiness and quality perceptions of most brands are down significantly in the minds of the public, Aaker said there are opportunities to improve branding through increased energy. He cited the Nintendo video game brand as one recent phenomenon in the branding world. Five years ago, Aker said, Nintendo ranked 165th among brand names in Japan, moved up to 65th three y ears ago, fifth two years ago, and now ranks as the country’s leading brand, thanks to the energy created by the Nintendo Wii platform and games.
He cited five other very diverse brands that have energized themselves in recent years: 1) the Memphis Redbirds minor league baseball team; 2) the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 3) PGA Tour golf; 4) Harley Davidson; and 5) Avon cosmetics.
All of those brands used one of two methods: energizing the business itself, or finding something with energy that is interesting and involving and attach it to the brand. “Both options are really powerful,” Aaker said.
The Memphis Redbirds, Indianapolis Speedway and Harley Davidson energized their brand by engaging their customers in multiple activities that built on the customer experience. The PGA Tour and Avon tied themselves to something with energy. The PGA Tour used Tiger Woods to its best advantage, and Avon linked its products to a breast cancer crusade and created the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, with millions of people engaged each year. Similarly, Aaker said, Lowe’s home improvement stores attach their brand to Habitat for Humanity. In the case of Avon, he said, “Breast cancer is so important an issue and involving to the target audience that it provides Avon a way to get energy that it could never do through their products and services.” Aaker said companies seeking to strengthen their brand should “find role models, companies in related or unrelated industries…someone who’s done it well with a brand people are talking about. What can you learn from them?”
In addition, he said, self-reflection is necessary. “What about the customer experience is boring or unpleasant? How can you mitigate that? What can be added to en rich and improve the customer experience.” To find what he calls “branded energizers” like Avon’s breast cancer campaign, Aaker said companies should examine “what existing program has energy that fits your brand and can be connected to your brand…programs that aren’t part of the experience people are currently buying? What new program with energy can be developed that fits the brand and can be connected to the brand?”
“You have one of the most exciting events in sports and entertainment,” Aaker said. “But you need to ask yourself, ‘How can I add energy to my brand?’”
TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS PROMOTING RACING around the world were shown to the group and audience members were asked to vote on their favorites. The ads were divided into five categories: Celebrating the Horse; Sex and Glamour; The Punt; A Good Laugh; and The Buzz.Most provocative were ads from Australia promoting sex and glamour. Other countries featured included France, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Ireland and the United States (two ads from Santa Anita were featured). Details tomorrow on the winning ad.
Tags: 32nd asian racing conference, asian racing federation, avon, avon walk for breast cancer, belmont stakes, Bob Baffert, brand energizers, brand marketing, branded energizers, Breeders' Cup, carl pascarella, churchill downs, d. wayne lukas, david aaker, dentsu, haas school of business, harley davidson, Horse Racing, indianapolis motor speedway, kentucky derby, Marketing, memphis redbirds, New York Racing Association, Paulick Report, pga tour, presakness, racing sponsorships, Ray Paulick, sports sponsorships, tokyo, travers, triple crown productions, visa, visa usa, wide world of sports
Posted in Horse Racing, Industry Conferences, International Racing, Marketing, Sponsorships | 3 Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Ray Paulick will be live blogging the teleconference featuring trainer Rick Dutrow and IEAH president Michael Iavarone as they discuss the foot injury that ended Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown’s racing career earlier today. The teleconference, organized by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. UPDATE: Only Michael Iavarone will participate in the conference call.
(For detail on the type of injury Big Brown suffered, click here.)
2 p.m. … Eric Wing of the NTRA outlines the week ahead. Jess Jackson will be on a teleconference Tuesday to discuss whether or not Curlin will be pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup; on Wednesday, someone from the NTRA will discuss safety and welfare recommendations resulting from industrywide meetings on Thursday the Breeders’ Cup pre-entries will be announced in a teleconference.
The first speaker on the call is Michael Iavarone, president of IEAH Stable, co-owner of Big Brown with Paul Pompa Jr.
2:05 p.m. … Michael Iavarone said "today was a tough day." He was there to watch the work with his family and co-owner Paul Pompa Jr. He said Big Brown worked in company with Kip Deville on the turf and both horses went well. "I had my daughter in my arms," Iavarone said as he walked back to the barn. When he got there, trainer Rick Dutrow told Iavarone, "I think we are in big trouble with Big Brown." Dutrow said a large chunk came out of the right front foot and blacksmith Alex Leaf said there was no chance the horse could run in the Breeders’ Cup. The injury, called grabbing a quarter, occurs when the back foot strikes the back of the front hoof.
"This was a tremendous blow to the gut of all of us," said Iavarone. He said Big Brown would have a few tough days ahead, though this is not a life-threatening injury. Iavarone expects him to remain in New York for about a month before leaving for Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., where he will take up stallion duty in 2009.
2;10 pm. … The injury would have required a minimum of 60 -90 days to heal, said Iavarone. "Horses grabbing quarters happens in Thoroughbred racing all the time," said Iavarone. "He tore it up so bad that even if he had wraps he could grab right through there. … We have done everything we could to keep this horse going in the right direction. … To have this come up just shocks all of us."
2:12 p.m. … "He’s a one in a million as an owner and as far as the fans are concerned, there are going to be more Big Browns that come down the road. Continue to market and advertise them. Horses like Big Brown and Curlin are great for the sport. As long as we continue to advertise and market these kinds of horses, the game is going to be OK."
2:15 p.m. … "As a fan I want horses to stay around forever, naturally. But I’m a fan and an owner and have responsibilities to the other owners. As much as I am a fan, I have to look at this as a business. … We capitulated to the agreement (whereby Three Chimneys insisted Big Brown go to stud as a 4-year-old)."
2:17 p.m. … Iavarone is asked to describe how the injury happened. "What I’ve heard is that someone said he may have taken a funny step at the 3/8 pole." Iavarone didn’t see it from his vantage point. "To me the work looked outstanding." The bulb on the back of the front foot was split right in half, Iavarone said, and a piece of the hoof also got caught up in the injury.
2:20 p.m. … Was this related to other foot problems? "It’s unrelated. It’s not even a foot problem. He grabbed his quarter and it’s not related to any pre-existing conditions. It’s the first time it’s happened to me in a work. It’s just a stroke of bad luck."
A question about Curlin and the anticipated matchup. "The banter that went on between the two camps was almost like professional wrestling. Rick and I were having fun with it. We have no problem with Jess Jackson and Steve Asmussen. ,… Curlin is a special horse and I hope he makes it to the race. I’m devastated today. I felt going into it we didn’t have a lot to lose. We had a lot to gain."
2:22 p.m. … "The key right now is we have to prevent infection. He’ll heal. That’s the only way thiis could become serious." The injured area has to be cleaned out and Big Brown will be given antibiotics. "He’s walking very sore but he can stand on it."
2:23 p.m. … Iavarone describe watching today’s work as two F-16s in formation.
2:24 p.m. … "We still own a significant piece of Big Brown. … They (Three Chimneys) were great in structuring a deal that kept us in the game."
2:25 p.m. … Iavarone said he and his wife stayed up late last night watching a replay of the Kentucky Derby and he admitted getting a little tear in his eye, but said to his wife there’s still one big race ahead.
2:26 p.m. … "He had no front shoes on," Iavarone said in response to a question about whether or not Big Brown was wearing toe grabs for the turf workout. "No bandages, no wraps, no (toe) grabs, nothing."
2:27 p.m. … "Rick Dutrow is a genius around a racehorse. He got more out of this horse in my eyes than any trainer in the world would have. What we were starting to see was a changeover from (Big Brown’s) utter brilliance to his heart. He developed a heart as big as his physical ability was. If we got to the point where he could put the two together you would have seen something breathtaking. It kills me at this point, it kills me, to get this close and not to see it happen."
2:30 p.m. … "Rick handled this with incredible class," Iavarone said, when asked about the mood at the Dutrow barn. He said it was a time to reflect on the good times and not dwell on the bad luck that ended Big Brown’s career.
2:31 p.m. … Iavarone is asked about whether or not he’ll be cheering for Curlin if he goes in the Classic. "I am completely in Curlin’s corner. If they give me a Curlin hat I’ll wear it."
Almost simultaneously, a statement was distributed from Jess Jackson, the majority owner of Curlin: "My family and I are saddened to learn of Big Brown’s career ending injury during his morning workout. I have always said what an incredible horse Big Brown is and that the bay colt brought energy and excitement to our industry, especially during his run at the Triple Crown.
"I am equally disappointed that Big Brown and Curlin will never compete against each other. It was a dream of mine and thousands of other fans of the sport. Now, we all join together in wishing Big Brown a speedy recovery."
END OF TELECONFERENCE
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Tags: Big Brown, breeders' cup classic, Curlin, grab a quarter, grabbing a quarter, Horse Racing, jess jackson, kentucky derby, kip deville, Michael Iavarone, paul pompa, Paulick Report, quarter crack, Ray Paulick, rick dutrow
Posted in Big Brown, Breeders' Cup, Curlin, National Thoroughbred Racing Association | 16 Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
Under normal circumstances, handle on the 2008 Breeders’ Cup World Championships would blow past all previous betting records. But the economic crisis gripping the United States and many other countries is anything but normal.
This year’s World Championships take place over two days at Santa Anita Park Oct. 24-25 and includes 14 Breeders’ Cup races, up from the 11 held at Monmouth Park in 2007 when the event was first expanded to two days. Last year’s two-day handle was a Breeders’ Cup record $147 million ($31.5 million on the Friday card and $115.7 million on Saturday), but the total was below expectations by at least 10% because of the extremely wet weather conditions. The previous all-sources wagering record was set in 2006 when $140.3 million was wagered on eight Breeders’ Cup races on a single day at Churchill Downs.
Ken Kirchner, the president of FalKirk International and the longtime wagering consultant to the Breeders’ Cup, wouldn’t make any predictions about this year’s handle. “It’s hard to say where the economy is going to be in 10 days,” Kirchner told the Paulick Report. “Everybody has been down between 10% and 20% in wagering all summer and fall. Things can change quickly, but certainly the trend isn’t good.”
Kirchner hopes some fans have been stockpiling a bankroll for the big event. “It’s not a positive situation,” he said, “but we’re going to have very strong and full fields and some people may just be waiting for this as opposed to betting the run-of-the-mill races.”
Holding the Breeders’ Cup’s traditional dirt races on a synthetic surface doesn’t bother Kirchner. “The new (Pro-Ride) track seems to be playing fair,” he said. “If the horses show up, the bettors will follow.
Kirchner did say scheduling the Breeders’ Cup on the last weekend of the month is a disadvantage because of consumer spending habits. “Having it at the beginning of the month (when Social Security and other fixed income checks arrive) makes it 3% to 5% stronger,” he said.
The Breeders’ Cup had the first $100-million wagering day in North American racing history Nov. 6, 1999, at Gulfstream Park. That was the year the Filly & Mare Turf was added, making it an eight-race championship.
By comparison, Kentucky Derby day betting topped $100 million for the first time in 2000, and it’s grown significantly since. Churchill Downs now holds the North American record of $175 million established on the 2006 Kentucky Derby program. Add wagering from Friday’s Kentucky Oaks program ($33 million in 2006), and the total tops $208 million.
It’s clear the Breeders’ Cup braintrust is trying to emulate the success of the Friday Oaks/Saturday Derby format at Churchill Downs by bundling all of the filly and mare races on this year’s Friday program (and by requiring fans to purchase seats for both days as Churchill Downs has done with the Oaks and Derby). The Breeders’ Cup doesn’t have the cachet of the Kentucky Derby (or the Oaks for that matter), though that doesn’t mean the new format will not work.
With the additional Breeders’ Cup races, better weather and a more traditional big race venue (Santa Anita vs. Monmouth Park), handle will increase this year. My prediction is for $175 million in wagers over the two championship days. Without all the economic uncertainty, $200 million would seem realistic.
SPEAKING OF BETTING, REMEMBER THAT JUNE 28 RACE AT PHILADELPHIA PARK when wagers were allowed at some Florida simulcast sites after the race had been run? The Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau issued a report and sent it to the tracks involved – Philadelphia Park and Tampa Bay Downs – but according to Peter Berube, Tampa Bay’s vice president and general manager, he still doesn’t understand exactly how the Philly Park past-post bets occurred.
“I have the report,” Berube told the Paulick Report last week. “It’s highly technical but draws no conclusions and places no blame on anybody. Apparently it was a sequence of events that took place between the tote companies.”
Scientific Games (formerly Autotote), which handles wagers for Philadelphia Park, was experiencing technical problems with its system that day at races from Philly and Delaware Park. Tampa Bay Downs and 11 other North Florida wagering sites (dog tracks and jai-alai frontons) use AmTote. A communications breakdown between the systems failed to send a stop-bet signal to AmTote.
Joe Wilson, chief operating officer of Philadelphia Park, did not return phone calls seeking a comment.
According to Berube, the past-post wagering was limited to his track, with most of the past-post bets placed by one customer, who is known as a big bettor at Tampa Bay. “What’s in the report would lead me to believe that there was no abnormal spike in bets overall,” Berube said. “We were the 14th ranked site in terms of total bets (on the fourth race, the race in question), but first in cashes. We were the only site that had a negative settlement (with more winnings that money wagered).”
Berube said he interviewed the horseplayer who allegedly made the past-post wagers but allowed him to collect on his winning bets. “We brought people in and spoke with them but after Philadelphia Park priced the race I couldn’t tell them to give us the money back.
“I’ve been here 15 years and have never experienced anything like this before,” said Berube, whose father, Paul Berube, is the former head of the TRPB.
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Tags: amtote, Breeders' Cup, breeders' cup wagering, falkirk international, joe wilson, ken kirchner, kentucky derby, kentucky oaks, pari-mutuel wagering, past-post betting, past-post wagering, peter berube, Philadelphia park, santa anita park, scientific games, tampa bay downs, thoroughbred racing protective bureau
Posted in Breeders' Cup, Horse Racing, Synthetic surfaces, Wagering | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
By Ray Paulick
No horse has ever done what Exceller did 30 years ago when he defeated two Triple Crown winners, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. Given the unlikelihood that the sport will ever see two Triple Crown winners racing at the same time again, it’s hard to see how Exceller’s accomplishment will ever be matched. The son of Vaguely Noble may be the greatest horse never to win a year-end championship in the United States. He was an accomplished runner in Europe and in the U.S., winning 15 of 33 starts for Nelson Bunker Hunt (including seven of 10 starts in 1978), and earning in excess of $1.6 million — when million-dollar winners were rare.
Take a few minutes and enjoy this video of the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup. It was a fascinating contest. Seattle Slew broke through the gate before the start. Then, Affirmed’s saddled slipped, compromising his chances. Seattle Slew was pushed to unbelievably fast fractions for a mile and a half race, yet he fought as gamely as any horse has ever fought, right to the finish. And Exceller, under Bill Shoemaker, rallied from 22 lengths off that rapid pace to get the win.
Sadly, neither the Jockey Club Gold Cup nor the many other outstanding victories are why Exceller is known to a generation of racing fans who never had the good fortune to see him run. This grand Thoroughbred, who gave so much for our pleasure, wound up in a slaughterhouse in Sweden in April 1997, less than 20 years after his greatest racing achievement.
Exceller’s crime? Failure to succeed as a stallion?
(Read more about Exceller’s racing career and his death in a Swedish slaughterhouse. Elected to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1999, two years after his death, Exceller’s biographical information and Hall of Fame plaque fail to state his cause of death.)
Whether you believe that slaughter is a viable alternative for unwanted horses or are sickened by the thought that thousands of Thoroughbreds are led to slaughter for human consumption every year, the story of Exceller is a tragic one. No horse who did for the sport what Exceller did should have such an undignified death.
The same is true of the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand, who is believed to have died in a Japanese slaughterhouse in 2002 after not living up to expectations as a stallion.
Exceller became a cause célèbre for some racing fans who were frustrated that the Thoroughbred industry and its leaders were doing next to nothing for so many former racehorses who failed to generate revenue for their owners and ended up being slaughtered. A group of them decided they would do something about it, forming the Exceller Fund, pooling their own resources and raising additional funds, and volunteering their time to save horses from slaughter and help them transition to a second career off the racetrack. The Exceller Fund is one of many such organizations struggling to make a difference on behalf of the horses and the Thoroughbred industry.
This Saturday, to honor Exceller’s Jockey Club Gold Cup victory, a number of racetracks across the U.S. will host a “Toast to Exceller Day,” in order to raise awareness and donations for the Exceller Fund and many other equine charity groups. A special cocktail, “The Exceller,” is being sold at several tracks, including Mountaineer, Finger Lakes, Laurel Park and Presque Isle Downs, with proceeds benefting the Exceller Fund.
“I cannot thank our partner tracks enough for their support with this and I wish to especially thank the New York Racing Association for their commitment to the Exceller Fund that will be a lasting relationship for many years to come,” said leading New York trainer Gary Contessa, who in August was named president of the Exceller Fund.
Exceller did a great deal for Thoroughbred racing — then and now.
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Tags: affirmed, bill shoemaker, exceller, exceller fund, ferdinand, gary contessa, hall of fame, Horse Racing, horse slaughter, japanese slaughterhouse, jockey club gold cup, kentucky derby, national museum of racing and hall of fame, seattle slew, swedish slaughterhouse, Triple Crown
Posted in Horse Racing, Horse Slaughter, Horse Welfare, New York Racing Association, Racing Greats | 7 Comments »
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