Posts Tagged ‘lonny powell’

GOOD NEWS FRIDAY sponsored by Liberation Farm - WAGERING INTEGRITY

Friday, July 3rd, 2009


It’s generally agreed that the foundation of the entire Thoroughbred industry in the United States rests on a pari-mutuel system that handles upwards of $15 billion per year in wagering transactions. The integrity of that system, once a given, is now subject to widespread skepticism because of a series of incidents dating back to 2002, when a small group of employees of one of the totalizator companies hacked into the system and attempted to pull off a major coup involving the Breeders’ Cup Pick Six.
Powell said the industry has come a long way in at least recognizing the problems of tote security. “When I first started negotiating contracts with the tote companies, the only security that was ever discussed was that the tote room at the racetrack had to be secured with a lock,” he said. “That was tote security. We now know it’s so much more than that. Tracks have to ask more questions of the tote companies. Fans have to keep doing what they’ve been doing—keep raising the issue when incidents occur.

By Ray Paulick

Since then, horseplayers have kept a wary eye on the tote board during the running of races, when they’ve routinely seen odds changing as late money pours in to the system. Officials with racetracks and tote companies have insisted those odds changes are not the result of wagers made after a race has begun –otherwise known as past-post betting—but occur because of the time it takes for legal wagers to cycle through the system.

But there have been more than a few incidents of actual late betting, just in the past year, where communications errors occur and a “stop betting” signal has not been received by all of the sites taking wagers. As a result, many horseplayers remain skeptical about the integrity of the wagering pools, and several racing commissions have looked into the problem. One of them, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, became the first to take significant action by approving a contract between Hoosier Park and Indiana Downs and Advanced Monitoring Systems, or AMS, a Stamford, Conn., company that offers real-time transaction monitoring systems and services to the pari-mutuel, lottery and casino industries.

Isidore “Izzy” Sobkowski, the AMS president and CEO, was formerly a consultant with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Office of Wagering Security, back when the NTRA felt the integrity of the pari-mutuel pools was a critically important issue. The NTRA, then under the guidance of Tim Smith, acted quickly in the wake of the Breeders’ Cup Pick Six scandal, hiring former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s company to investigate what happened that day and conduct a thorough review of the wagering systems. It found an antiquated system in need of serious attention and proposed, among other things, creation of the Office of Wagering Integrity. Only a few years earlier, Smth invited IBM Global Services to devise a solution for the industry’s aging tote infrastructure, but that project was shot down by small-minded track operators.

Sobkowski has, for the most part, been a one-man band in explaining the services of AMS to racetracks and racing commissions, but just this past week he has been joined by racing industry veteran Lonny Powell as a senior advisor to the company.

Powell (pictured, left) has been around. Or, as he likes to say, “This is not my first rodeo.” Following his graduation in the early 1980s from the University of Arizona Racetrack Industry program (which he headed for five years in the late 1980s), Powell has worked in many industry positions, as a racetrack manager (at Longacres, Turf Paradise, Santa Anita Park), regulatory chief (president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International), and as chief compliance and regulatory officer of the account wagering company Youbet.com. That’s real-life experience in the trenches.

As a member of the NTRA board representing Magna Entertainment, Powell heard the IBM pitch and was convinced then the industry was going upstream without a paddle with its wagering infrastructure. “But the Breeders’ Cup Pick Six scandal absolutely floored me,” he said. “That’s when I really realized the kind of trouble we were in. Then I started hearing about past-posting incidents. What (horseplayer) Mike Maloney said about some of these things during a University of Arizona Symposium absolutely made me feel as sick as when the Breeders’ Cup Pick Six happened. Our industry has so many other issues to deal with, but the fundamental integrity of our pools should be automatic. We need to be dealing with getting more racing on television, with revenue from slots, etc., We shouldn’t have to defend our pools.”

The deal between AMS and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission came before Powell joined AMS as a senior advisor, but it’s interesting that the executive director of the Indiana Commission, Joe Gorajec, is a fellow University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program alumni. A core group of program graduates from the early 1980s has made a major impact on the industry: besides Powell and Gorajec, there’s longtime racing official Pat Pope; Remi Bellocq, an executive with the national Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association; former Equibase chief and current consultant Phil O’Hara; Jockey Club executive Dan Fick; Jane Greely of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America, Wendy Davis, a coordinator of the UofA program; and racetrack exec Cal Rainey.

At Indiana, Gorajec and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission have developed a reputation for being tough on medication violators and progressive in solving problems. It comes to me as no surprise that it is the first commission to take tote security to the level it has. Racing commissions in Kentucky, California and New York are exploring ways to adapt real-time monitor of its wagering pools, but have yet to act. The Association of Racing Commissioners International, under the leadership of Ed Martin, has emphasized the importance of installing serious, real-time monitoring of pari-mutuel pools.

 

“I think (Keeneland president) Nick Nicholson said it best,” Powell added. “’Our most valuable asset is the pari-mutuel pool. If you can’t trust it, nothing else survives.’”

Here’s hoping that Powell and the AMS team can help restore the confidence in our wagering pools. Confidence in wagering integrity has fallen, and so has the amount of money bet: we’re at a 10-year low nationally in terms of total wagering dollars. It’s well past time we do something about it.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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GOOD NEWS FRIDAY sponsored by Liberation Farm: SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR A CAUSE

Friday, June 12th, 2009

By Ray Paulick
We’ve all heard of online social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Some of us have experimented with these web sites to keep in touch with friends and family, make new acquaintances or promote our businesses, charitable activities or social causes.

On one extreme there is someone like the University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach, John Calipari, who has accumulated more than 175,000 “followers” at Twitter.com (people who sign up to receive the frequent updates he sends out in 140-characters “tweets.”) The latest from Coach Cal: “Busy day. Great mtg w/ music dept, who I want to help. Mike Pratt stopped by & we x-o a little. Ran on campus w/ Robes. Saw my team (:-).”

At the other end of the popularity chain is a Facebook social group of three individuals from the not so popular sport of lawn bowling. 

The best example I’ve found in the racing industry of how social networking can play an important and beneficial role was the Facebook page set up by former racing publicist Brock Sheridan in the wake of the accident at Arlington Park on May 23 that left jockey Rene Douglas severely injured.

The “Rene Douglas Get Well Card” Facebook group has nearly 3,500 members who are able to send their best wishes to Douglas, and get regular updates on the jockey’s condition from family friend Doreen Razo, wife of jockey Eddie Razo, as well as learn of fund-raising activities to help the Douglas family during this very difficult time. You don’t have to be a member of Facebook to view the page. Click here to see it.

Sheridan is a financial adviser to jockeys and trainers who had only recently set up a blog called “The Brock Talk” as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. I have been so impressed by how much the “Rene Douglas Get Well Card” has benefitted the racing industry and asked Sheridan a few questions about the experience. Following is our exchange.

When/how did it occur to do the “Rene Douglas Get Well Card” page on Facebook?
Brock Sheridan
: On Sunday morning following the accident, I was working on my blog and reading drf.com and learned of the accident. At that time, I had been on Facebook about two months and was still learning about its applications and decided this was an opportunity to try to do something nice with what I was learning on Facebook.

What were your original expectations and goals?
I honestly thought that if I could get 25 of my friends to post some well wishes and prayers on the “wall” of the Get Well Card on Facebook, it would be something nice to maybe print out and send to the hospital inside a conventional get well card.

All I did was produce the Card and write on my Facebook status “just created a Rene Douglas Get Well card group on Facebook. Feel free to post your messages, well wishes and prayers for Rene who took a bad spill at Arlington Park yesterday.” I didn’t even send out an invitation to friends to join the group. I was maybe going to do that after I had finished my work on my blog.

The first member was (racing consultant) Lonny Powell, who had just started on Facebook, and the first person to post a message was John Hernandez (a radio show host from California), who I had worked with on some Facebook marketing ideas. My honest reaction was, “that’s nice… those are two good guys in horse racing.”

When did you realize there was going to be a greater response than expected?
Almost immediately. Within a few hours more than 50 Facebook members had posted messages to Rene and at around 6:30 that night, people were posting messages at a rate of one every 2-5 minutes for a while. I was struck by two things: the heartfelt and sincerity of the messages and that these messages were being posted by people I didn’t know. By the end of the first day, I had 69 get well wishes to send to Rene and I was very pleased.

But Memorial Day Monday was when things began to really surprise me. We passed 1,000 members and had 169 additional wall posts with messages for Rene. By that time members started sending me messages to my personal Facebook page asking about Rene’s condition and where to send money, questions for which I had no answers. So I knew that I now had an opportunity to help Rene and felt a sense of responsibility to get this information out to these members.

That’s when the milestones started.

That afternoon, I had sent an e-mail to Anthony Granitza, president of the Illinois Race Track Chaplaincy, asking about where to send money. Anthony replied within a few hours and had copied me in his e-mail to Nancy La Sala at the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Nancy sent me an e-mail the next day (Tuesday) and informed me that a fund would be set up in time and that she would notify me.

Shortly thereafter, Doreen Razo became a member and started posting on the discussion board topics on the Card. I didn’t know Doreen but assumed she was Eddie Razo’s wife. I was looking to contact Dennis Cooper to get information, but I was very hesitant to bother anybody close to Rene with this because things were still pretty uncertain regarding his condition. That’s when I sent out some info on an Illinois OTB fund raiser by accident and before I could recall the message it had already gone out. So I called Illinois Inter-Track to confirm and got Dave Zenner (Arlington Park’s director of media relations). After apologizing for my erroneous message, Dave said they were looking at my Get Well Card at that moment and I knew then that it had really taken off. I struck up a conversation about the situation and he told me that Doreen was acting as a family spokesperson. I called the hospital public relations department to confirm as well.

So when Doreen started posting updates on Rene’s medical condition, I started re-posting them on Recent News on the Card so they would be more visible, and created a Rene Douglas Medical Update on the blog for non-Facebook users as well. I also started sending out “Messages to All Members” with updates. (At one point I had replied to so many inquires that Facebook suspended my message center for a day because I had somehow kicked in some “Spam Guard” even though all of my messages were individual responses to individual questions.)

On Tuesday, May 26, Doreen Razo posted that the family was aware of the Card and messages. But a few days later at 5:45 am, Natalia Douglas (Rene’s wife) posted a thank you message and I knew that the messages and prayers were getting to Rene and the family. That was a milestone.

Looking back what have learned about this experience.
First, it is now obvious that there are a lot of people out there that care and want to help. This is not just illustrated by the number of members or posts on the card, but by the people who have sent me messages asking what they can do to help. There is a RDGWC member who is an exercise rider at Hollywood who posts updates in the racing office and in the jock’s room. There are people who have contacted me about wanting to volunteer time or organize fund raising events.

And there are people who still care enough to send messages and tell their friends even after more than two weeks after the accident.

People have posted messages about Rene winning races they remember, fans have posts of memories of Rene stopping to take pictures with them at the track, Rene helping others, the list goes on. Of the nearly 600 posts, I have not had to remove one post.

These members can be broken down into:
• People who click “join this group”
• People who care enough to type a message or send a prayer.
• People who look through the Recent News, Discussion Topics and The Brock Talk blog for information. (Judging by my up-tick in blog hits I assume they are also telling their non-Facebook friends where to get more info.)
• People who want to help financially.
• People who want to help any way they can.

What has been accomplished?
If it has offered any sense of comfort and support to Rene and his family I would say it has accomplished an awful lot.

I’m sure we have helped increase the awareness of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the individual fund raisers, but we have just hit the tip of the iceberg on what can be done in that arena. I’m hoping to continue my work to promote the PDJF and create awareness of the everyday dangers Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse jockeys endure on a daily basis.

I am working on formulating some way to keep this momentum going to support all of these riders and the other disabled jockeys.

The Paulick Report wrote about the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund in a “Good News Friday” article in the wake of the injury to Douglas. Those who haven’t read that article can click here to do so. Please consider a donation.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris ClayThe Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network, TV Ratings Are Up, Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club.

Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

Visit the Paulick Report for
all the latest news throughout the racing world.

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GOOD NEWS FRIDAY sponsored by Liberation Farm - BLUE GRASS FARMS CHAPLAINCY

Friday, May 8th, 2009
Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.


By Ray Paulick

Her name is Mary Lee-Butte, but many who have benefited from her work with the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy call her “Mary Christmas.” Whether it’s helping organize the chaplaincy’s annual “Festival of Christmas,” an event that brings joy to hundreds of children from needy, horse industry families, or stopping by a nursing home to visit and drop off the latest copies of Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Times magazines to former horse industry workers, Lee-Butte has a heart, as track announcer Trevor Denman likes to say, as big as the racetrack.

But the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, as the name implies, serves a community much larger than the track. “When we started this organization,” said industry consultant Lonny Powell, the chaplaincy’s founding president, “we saw that it was an enormous challenge. With a racetrack chaplaincy, you draw a square and define the stable area as your community. With the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, we’re serving several counties in Central Kentucky. But it’s worked, and it’s given me great satisfaction and pride to see how many people have benefited.”

The chaplaincy was formed in 2003 by a group of individuals in Central Kentucky that included Powell, David Foley of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Jockey Club’s  Dan Fick, Tom Thornbury of Keeneland, Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association CEO Remi Bellocq, breeder Ben Walden, Bobby Maxwell of Sallee Horse Vans and Bethlehem Farms’ Sandra White. (Click here to learn more about the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy.)

“Back in the early days, we’d hired a part-time administrator and a part-time chaplain to get this kicked off,” recalled David Foley, a past president and current treasurer of the chaplaincy. “We used to meet several times a month the first few years trying to get the ministry going. Both of these positions ended up going full-time and we were covering a lot of ground; however, fundraising was always a challenge. Then, along came Mary–as the song goes. She came to us initially as a volunteer a few years back, began participating and then inquired about setting up a Ladies Guild to assist the chaplaincy with additional needs and to help with fundraising. She was ‘on fire’ for this ministry, back then and remains so today.”

When the chaplaincy’s original executive director left Central Kentucky and resigned her position, Lee-Butte was working virtually full-time as a volunteer. The executive director job was offered to her, and she stepped in to help the organization through a transition without missing a step. It’s grown under her leadership and expanded its outreach to the community in many ways. Lee-Butte is one of three employees, along with the chaplain Claudio Toro and executive assistant Deanna Widaman.

“On a day to day basis, we are able to take care of any emergency needs the workers have,” Lee-Butte said, “whether it’s physical, spiritual, financial or medical. It’s a one-stop resource center.”

The chaplaincy, which was previously affiliated with the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America but ended its ties with that national organization earlier this year, opened an Enrichment Center at its Lexington office in the last year.  The center is used as a classroom, where courses on safety and English as a second language are taught. The center will be used this summer for a new children’s reading program, and it also hosts a mentoring program for mothers who either have husbands working on horse farms or themselves are farm employees. A computer lab is being created, thanks to a gift of eight computers from Darley Farm. Classes will be taught to help farm workers develop word processing and basic computer skills that will help them on the job. Lee-Butte hopes to arrange for regularly scheduled medical and dental services to also be available for those in need.

“Our greatest achievement last year by far was opening the Enrichment Center,” said Fritz Widaman of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the chaplaincy’s current president. Its development, Widaman said, would not have been possible without the generosity of many people in the industry.

Lee-Butte echoed Widaman’s sentiments about the widespread support, saying funding comes from all levels of the industry, from wealthy farm owners who make substantial donations to individuals who send in $5 or $10.

“Taylor Made Farm has been phenomenal in their support,” she said, “Beau Lane of the Lane Foundation has supported the chaplaincy for a long time and has been one of our major donors. Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton have been supportive, and so has the Blood-Horse family, especially at Christmastime. Darley has been very supportive, both with funding and with the recent donation of computers.”

The heart and soul of the chaplaincy’s fundraising, however, comes from the Ladies Guild that Lee-Butte helped start.

“The Ladies Guild is a very cohesive, supportive group of women who are cheerleaders for the industry and for each other,” Lee-Butte said. “It raises money, but it’s also an outreach for people who want to be involved in doing something. That’s what drives me; volunteer work is very rewarding.

“We needed a group of ladies to raise funds to do the legwork,” she added. “We all know that women are the ones who will go out there and do the work and set up the fundraisers. I can do a lot, but if I can get a group of women together we can do anything.”

The Ladies Guild’s annual fundraiser, Nags, Bags and Rags, is scheduled for Oct. 1 at Keeneland’s Keene Entertainment Center on the eve of the opening of the fall race meeting. The theme for this year’s event is Racino Grande, which will create a Roaring ‘20s atmosphere, with roulette, a wheel of fortune, raffles, auctions, celebrity dealers, a paddock marketplace and cabaret music.

But the work of the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy is far from all fun and games. Lee-Butte has led several memorial services recently, and the chaplaincy offers bereavement and grief counseling for families that have lost loved ones. The chaplaincy works with local funeral homes to seek discounted rates for families that can’t afford funeral costs, and Lee-Butte or chaplaincy volunteers will show up with food and household goods at the home of horse industry families that have suffered a loss.

Just this week, Lee-Butte dealt with the tragic death of a 24-year-old young man from the Ukraine, who was serving as an intern at a local veterinary hospital at the time of his death. His family could not afford to have his remains shipped home, and Lee-Butte quickly raised the necessary funds to help bring some degree of closure to the young man’s grieving parents.

There are many worthy organizations that serve the industry’s human and equine participants, and it’s become increasingly difficult to raise funds during the current challenging economic conditions. But Lee-Butte maintains an incredibly upbeat and optimistic viewpoint.

“We just have to have faith in God,” she said. “I think we’re probably one of the industry’s best-kept secrets, but people call us when they need us. So far we’ve never had to turn any legitimate need away, and that to me is mind boggling.

“I don’t see challenges, but I see opportunity.”

Readers have an opportunity help the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy continue its good work. Click here to make a donation.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris ClayThe Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.

Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick

RCI: OPENING THE DOOR TO CONGRESS

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
By Ray Paulick
There was a table-pounding moment Tuesday afternoon at the annual convention of the Association of Racing Commissioners International when Ed Martin, president of the group seen widely as a do-nothing organization, admonished its members to do something.

I felt, for the first time in over 20 years of reporting on the RCI, that it actually might have a pulse. I flashed back to the cherubic Tony Chamblin, whose primary job as longtime head of the RCI was trying to keep his own job. When he could no longer win that battle, he left behind a legacy of a civil war among regulators, one that resulted in two national organizations, RCI and the splinter group North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association. Racing industry veteran Lonny Powell replaced Chamblin in 2001, and in his tenure helped put Humpty Dumpty back together. Martin finished the job in 2005, when he succeeded Powell as president of RCI, and the merger of the two organizations was completed in 2006.

So, a cynic might say, we once again have just one useless national organization of regulators with no real authority, instead of two.

Martin is hoping to change that image of the RCI, but it was clear in his rising voice and pointed words that his frustrations are growing. Betting scandals and pari-mutuel pool tampering continues, Martin said, but regulators do nothing. The industry spends $35 million on drug testing to little avail, he said, but virtually nothing on wagering security, the economic foundation of the business. Regulators  at the RCI convention hear proposals for how wagering security can be improved and then go home and do nothing. Tracks, he said, say they want to do their own thing but end up doing nothing.

Professional horseplayer Mike Maloney outlined ongoing problems with past-post betting and pool tampering and said regulators exacerbate the problems and suspicions about the integrity of wagering by shielding the incidents from the public. There must be transparency before you can insure integrity, Maloney said.

I had the opportunity to address the regulators at the RCI convention and tried to impress upon them that horseplayers are fed up like I’ve never seen before. I asked readers of the Paulick Report to tell me what they think should be the top priorities of state racing commissioners, and owners, breeders, trainers and horseplayers responded with legitimate and well-reasoned concerns. Foremost among them were calls for tougher enforcement of medication violations and uniform rules from one state to another, something that might not have been important 25 years ago when racing was a localized sport. Today, with interstate simulcasting accounting for nearly 90% of pari-mutuel handle, it is imperative that the rules are the same across the board: on medication, drug testing, penalties, wagering, and licensing.

There is cheating going on, and people in this industry know it, whether it’s medication violations by trainers and veterinarians who know how to game the system (and only get a slap on the wrist when they’re caught) or gamblers using off-shore account-wagering businesses that are not adequately regulated.

Your comments (all of which are being made available to RCI members) helped me convey to regulators how critically important it is for them to take serious action. If they don’t, I suggested, the federal government will.

That point was driven home earlier in the day by Keeneland president and CEO Nick Nicholson, who is also chairman of the American Horse Council and as a former U.S. Senate aide knows how Washington can work. “This particular Congress is not concerned where the problem is but they are determined that they will be part of the solution,” Nicholson said. “This Congress is going to be activist.”

Nicholson brought the Council of State Governments into play last year in hopes of creating an alternative to federal intervention, using interstate compacts, something that is common to other industries. RCI’s president, Ed Martin, also sees interstate compacts as a realistic solution to the challenge of having 38 state regulatory boards walking in lock-step with one another. But it’s going to be up to the individual state racing commissions to make a compact work.

John Mountjoy, director of policy and research for the Council of State Governments, explained to RCI members how interstate compacts work and outlined their various benefits. Among other things, Mountjoy said, interstate compacts offer a federal solution “without Washington.” Uniform rules, operations and training can be achieved through an interstate compact, he said, while allowing flexibility and state sovereignty.

Interstate compacts can’t happen overnight, he added, indicating it could take several years to have one fully operational.

This much we know. There is a crisis of confidence in this industry among the biggest stakeholders–the horseplayers who fund the economic engine with billions of dollars of bets each year. But those stakeholders wagered fewer dollars on U.S. racing in 2008 than in any year since 1998, and this year’s handle promises to be even lower.

Racing commissioners from different states have shown over time they are incapable of taking the necessary steps to address the fundamental problems. There may be a pulse at the RCI that I didn’t sense 10 years ago, and there are good people involved at RCI and many state racing commissions. However, I’m afraid that when most of the commissioners and their paid staff return home from the RCI 2009 convention, it will be business as usual and nothing significantly will change.

That will open the door to Congress and let the federal government come up with its own solution.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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WILL BETFAIR BECOME A PLAYER IN THE U.S.?

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
By Ray Paulick

Are betting exchanges a possible solution to the problems facing the U.S. Thoroughbred industry, which in 2008 saw its annual pari-mutuel handle fall for the fourth time in six years, dropping over 7% to a 10-year low? The Thoroughbred Owners of California thinks they may be, having recently signed a letter of agreement with betting exchange giant Betfair to have the UK-based company promote California racing abroad while TOC helps BetFair obtain statutory and regulatory approval to operate a betting exchange in California.

Betfair, which has been trying for several years to gain access to the U.S. market, is also believed to be a leading candidate to buy TVG, whose parent company, Macrovision, announced its intention to sell TVG last year. Though there are no confirmed suitors, others rumored to be potential buyers of the racing network and Advance Deposit Wagering platform include Churchill Downs Inc.; Marc Nathanson, a cable TV industry billionaire and father of TVG president David Nathanson; and an industry consortium that could include Keeneland, the New York Racing Association, former Hollywood Park chairman R.D. Hubbard, and Los Alamitos racetrack owner Edward Allred.

Betfair, a privately held company, was founded in June of 2000, using a technologically advanced platform permitting individuals to go online and bet against one another on a wide range of events, including horse racing, sports, politics and even reality television shows. By taking commissions of 2%-5% from winning bets, the company offers extremely low takeout and has built enormous volume: it claims to have over one million customers from 140 countries, with 100,000 or more active players in a given week. (UPDATE: Betfair said in October 2008 that it signed up its two millionth customer; see comments section, below) Its wagering platform handles over five million bets per day. In 2007, Betfair had 42 million English pounds in earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization on revenue of 240 million pounds. According to its annual report (which can be seen here), Betfair has 110 million pounds cash on hand.

CONCERNS ABOUT BETFAIR

The problem many see with Betfair is that the company pays a small percentage for the rights to races on which it handles wagers. In England, for example, it pays a bit over 10% of gross profits on racing wagers. In some cases, however, it pays no fees at all, as is currently the case with racing from the U.S. Betfair currently accepts bets on American racing, but only from customers outside of the U.S., and it does not have rights to any video signals. Betfair is acutely aware of concerns from racing interests in the U.S. who believe betting exchanges would cannibalize pari-mutuel betting and decrease revenue to tracks and purses. It addresses some of those fears in this pamphlet, which was designed to appease the racing industry in the United Kingdom.

Another concern raised about Betfair centers on wagers it accepts that a specific horse will lose, prompting worries about race-fixing. But Betfair has cooperated in several investigations involving horse racing and sports betting, giving authorities access to detailed betting information as part of its memorandum of understanding. 

Drew Couto, the president of TOC, said the letter of agreement with BetFair was signed last month. He believes wagering will continue to suffer unless the industry distances itself from Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing time after time and expecting a different result.  “That really describes our industry’s approach to this sport and business over the last decade,” Couto said. 

“Going forward,” he added, “we have to face two very important realities. “First, we have allowed the sport to basically disappear. It’s no longer a sport, but simply a justification to gamble and wager, and as a wagering proposition we know it’s not the most attractive. We have to go back and make it a sport. We have to give the sport some structure to have it make sense for the fans, make some very serious fundamental changes to focus on the sporting aspect of racing. We have left it largely to the tracks to be the stewards of the sport, and they only care about the financial side. 

“Second,” Couto said, “we have to adopt new ways our fans can participate. New wagers, betting exchanges. We have to embrace these new ways of playing as ancillary to the way we currently operate, so it’s new and fresh. That includes tournament-style wagering that was approved by the RCI (Association of Racing Commissioners International) last summer. If we don’t begin to do things differently and find new ways to operate, we are bound to be the definitive example of what Einstein said.”

CAN RACING DEVELOP ITS OWN BETTING EXCHANGE?

Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America, a racetrack trade organization, for years has advocated that North American tracks consider developing their own betting exchange. He sees the trend in downward handle as a serious crisis. 

“We’ve got to look into pricing (the takeout charge on pari-mutuel bets), the product that’s being provided and the convenience factor for wagering,” Scherf said. “We need to make the same kind of concerted effort on handle that is currently being made to improve the safety and welfare issues. Track by track, you can get swamped in a million problems, but this has to be at the top of the pile. We are losing bettors. What do we have to do to change that aspect of the business, the part that provides us revenue? Of course, the entire debacle of cutting off signals in the last year (due to contractual disagreements between tracks and horsemen over ADW splits) was extremely detrimental to any kind of sustained gambling business. 

“The problem,” Scherf said, “is we’ve got tracks and horsemen both saying they need more money in this economy. But the first thing we need is an engaged gambling public, and they should be at the top of the list.”

Scherf said he is “somewhere in between fear and welcoming” Betfair into the industry. “We had no master plan for how ADW would fit in and now we are trying to retrofit it, which is causing a lot of angst and problems. We need to spend more time developing a strategy (for exchange betting), though it’s difficult to do that when you have a wide disparity throughout the industry in resources and markets.” 

Lonny Powell, an industry consultant based in Lexington, Ky., who previously served in executive positions with racetracks (including head of Santa Anita Park), the ADW company Youbet.com and as president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, said BetFair has done a good job of “mainstreaming themselves” in recent years by sharing more of its profits with the racing industry in Europe. 

“It’s here to stay,” Powell said of Betfair and exchange betting. “When I was in the ADW world, I wished they would just go away, but I don’t feel that way anymore. We’re like an ice cream store that only sells vanilla, but you can go over to Baskin Robbins and get 33 flavors. We need variety.” 

Powell, who said he is optimistic the industry will find a solution to its present challenges, believes racing interests should look at developing their own betting exchange. “If the industry could somehow take this wagering crisis a little more seriously and rather than find ways to kill something, find ways to make it work, we can grow the gambling dollar,” he said. “A Betfair type of platform can be operated by U.S. racing interests. The economic model that Betfair offers is flawed, but we all agree our current model is flawed, too. I’ve got to believe a Betfair type of platform would work. Our product is stale, and our wagering levels are stale.”

INTEGRITY ISSUES REMAIN A CONCERN

The reason for declines in handle go beyond a limited product line, said Mike Maloney, a professional gambler in Kentucky who has become an outspoken advocate for horseplayers at industry conferences and who served as an ad hoc member of a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Task Force. “We are at a very significant crossroads in racing,” Maloney said, “probably the biggest one in my lifetime. The financial crisis is magnifying our problems, but the problems have to be dealt with before racing can recover. The economy may improve, but racing’s problems will still be there.

“Our customer base is aging, and they’ve lost a lot of their faith in the integrity of racing,” he said. “As they age, they aren’t being replaced. The second problem is the takeout is too high. We can’t attract new players and are having a hard time holding on to existing ones. It’s exacerbated because the takeout keeps going up. With competition from other gambling opportunities, you can’t get away with that any more. It’s roughly 5% in other forms of gambling – sports, table games, trading options – but it’s 20% for us. New York just raised takeouts; trifectas are 26% now, and I just refuse to play it. Kentucky wants to raise takeout. What other business in this economic climate would consider racing prices? 

“Third,” Maloney said, “racing integrity problems are real, and they are not exaggerated. If anything, they probably are underplayed. Trainers who use drugs to cheat; unsecured wagering pools with outdated technology; unregulated participants allowed access into those pools. People are just beginning to learn about some of the problems in these areas. In the last couple of years the light is being shined on them. These are serious problems that need to be dealt with. Big players realize they can’t trust the pools they are playing money into.”

Finally, Maloney said, the corporate mentality of many racetracks has hurt the game. “There is a disconnect with customers with some of these racetrack holding companies. They don’t really understand their business, and there’s too much short-term bottom line thinking; cutting costs, worrying about the next quarterly report, and too little thought about long-term improvement of the product.”

Maloney, who called betting exchanges a “two-edged sword” because of how they would cannibalize pari-mutuel betting, said the industry has had a wake-up call after being “rocked by betting and drug scandals and threatened” by the federal government. “This crossroad we’re at, what we do from here, will determine the fate of racing.”  

(Do you have an opinion on how the industry reverses the trend in declining handle? We’re interested in your comments below and in your thoughts about betting exchanges, the subject of the Daily Paulick Poll, which can be found on the left-hand column of the Paulick Report home page.)

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report 

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MAGNA EXECS: BEEN NICE, BUT PUT ME ON ICE

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

It’s almost impossible to keep track of the comings and goings of executives at Magna Entertainment, the racetrack spinoff created in 2000 from Frank Stronach’s highly successful auto parts company, Magna International.

Magna Entertainment owns numerous racetracks, including Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields in California, Gulfstream Park in Florida, Pimlico and Laurel Park in Texas, and Lone Star Park in Texas; it co-owns HRTV with Churchill Downs and operates the Xpressbet account wagering company.

When the public company’s stock price fell below $1 per share earlier this year, the MEC board of directors enacted a 1-for-20 stock split, giving shareholders one share for each 20 they own. A $1,000 investment in MEC (symbol MECAD on NASDAQ) one year ago would be worth just $121 today. A $1,000 investment in MEC when it was created in 2000 would be worth less than $64 today. 

As a sidenote, during the time the stock price was plummeting, Stronach lent his name to a product called Frank’s Energy Drink, complete with "energy girls" and special events, a move that further fueled critics who said Stronach was no longer in touch with what was going on at his racetracks.

The latest departure, Scott Borgemenke, from the position of executive VP of racing, led the Paulick Report on a search of other departures from the executive offices of MEC’s headquarters in Aurora, Ontario, Can., and at various racetracks.

Here are just a few, including statements made by the executives and by Stronach upon their hiring and their leaving:

SCOTT BORGEMENKE
Jan. 28, 2008 - Appointed to the position of Executive Vice-President, Racing.

Said Borgemenke: "I am very excited to be taking on this new position. MEC’s commitment to the racing industry is unmatched. I feel fortunate to be joining a great team and look forward to putting my experience to work on the company’s behalf."

Frank Stronach, MEC’s Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer, stated: "I am very pleased to have Scott join our team. I first met Scott a number of years ago and am confident that he will make a positive contribution to MEC."

July 21, 2008 - Borgemenke to leave his position as Executive Vice President, Racing effective July 18.

Stronach stated: "Scott has helped MEC move forward on a number of important operational initiatives. We very much appreciate his efforts, and we wish him well."

Said Borgemenke: "MEC is a company with enormous growth opportunities. I wish my friends there nothing but success, and will continue to provide any counsel I can. I will watch intently as the MEC team implements its strategic plan. Unfortunately, at this point in my life, my corporate and family responsibilities conflict."

CHRIS DRAGONE
Nov. 28, 2007 - Named president of Magna Entertainment’s Maryland Jockey Club tracks.

Said Dragone: "I look forward to working toward improving the racing and entertainment experience for Maryland horsemen and our customers. Working with the other key stakeholders I hope to build upon the platform established by Lou Raffetto and the De Francis family."

Stronach stated: "MEC remains strongly committed to the future success of Thoroughbred racing in Maryland. To this end we will put the full support of MEC behind Chris and the MJC management team."

May 13, 2008 - Dragone to be released as MJC president after Preakness.

Frank Stronach told Washington Post: "Chris is a nice fellow, but we thought (Tom Chuckas) had more experience."

LOU RAFFETTO
Feb. 10, 2006 - Lou Raffetto named president of the Maryland Jockey Club, replacing Joe De Francis.

Nov. 28, 2007 - Raffetto replaced by Chris Dragone as president of Maryland Jockey Club.

Stronach stated: "Lou worked very hard during his tenure with MJC to manage the day-to-day operations and improve the future of Thoroughbred racing in the state of Maryland. We wish him well in his future endeavors."

Said Raffetto: "I wish my colleagues at MJC well going forward and hope that the company will be successful in implementing its long-term plans."

MICHAEL NEUMAN
Feb. 27, 2007 - Michael Neuman named CEO. (Neuman succeeds Stronach, who has been Interim CEO since March 2006.)

Stronach stated, "The Board of Directors conducted an extensive search for candidates who understood the role of horse racing operations, gaming and entertainment to MEC’s business, while also demonstrating a proven track record to execute in the important new areas of opportunity. The Board of Directors is pleased to have attracted a candidate for CEO so uniquely qualified as Michael to lead MEC at this exciting time. We were also impressed with Michael’s understanding of the continued importance of debt reduction and improved operational effectiveness to MEC."

June 22, 2007 - Neuman leaves the company "effective immediately to pursue other opportunities.

Stronach stated: "Michael worked very hard during his time at MEC and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

Said Neuman: "I wish my colleagues at MEC well going forward and hope that the company will be successful in implementing its long-term plans."

JOE DE FRANCIS
July 20, 2006 - Joe De Francis named a Magna Entertainment Director, member of Executive Management Committee and Stronach’s "principal advisor on all technology and distribution initiatives."

Stronach stated: "Over the years, Joe has made an enormous contribution to the horse racing industry and to Magna Entertainment, in particular, and we are delighted that he has taken on this new role. Given Joe’s vast knowledge of both Magna Entertainment and the racing industry, we feel he is the perfect fit for our Board. On behalf of the directors of Magna Entertainment, I welcome Joe to the Board."

Said De Francis: "It has been a pleasure working with everyone at Magna Entertainment and watching the company evolve. I am thrilled about the direction in which Magna Entertainment is headed and look forward to being a part of this exciting time."

March 3, 2008 - De Francis resigns as a Director.

Stronach stated: "I want to thank Joe for all of his hard work on behalf of MEC over the years and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

PAUL CELLUCCI
March 18, 2005 - Former Massachusetts governor and U.S. ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci named Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development for Magna.

Said Cellucci: "It has been an honor to serve the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the President of the United States, but it is time for me to step away from public life. I am very excited about the prospects for MEC and working with Frank Stronach and MEC’s management team to build MEC into a global entertainment company and improve stockholder value.

Stronach stated: "Mr. Cellucci has an outstanding record of public service and will make an enormous contribution to (Magna Entertainment) and he will play a leadership role in our efforts to bring about regulatory reform at the state level aimed at modernizing the horse racing and pari- mutuel industry."

June 30, 2006 - Cellucci resigns.

Stronach stated: "Paul has helped MEC move forward on a number of important initiatives and we are pleased that we will continue to benefit from his counsel as he builds his new consulting practice", said Frank Stronach, MEC Chairman.

Said Cellucci: "MEC is a young company with a great future and I have enjoyed my full-time association with Frank and the other members of management. As I move into this new phase of my career, I look forward to continuing to advise MEC as it successfully implements its strategic plan".

TOM HODGSON
March 8, 2005 - Hodgson named President and CEO of Magna, replacing Jim McAlpine.

Said Hodgson: "Over the past several years, MEC acquired and developed the racing content and technology necessary to become a truly global player in the pari-mutuel industry," Hogdson said. "In order to ensure that MEC remains well-positioned to capitalize on industry opportunities, including alternative gaming and international opportunities, we need to operate with financial discipline."

Stronach stated: "MEC remains committed to its strong vision and leadership position within the horseracing industry. However, at this point in our development, we need to focus on financial and operating discipline at many of our operations. Our entire board, including Jim McAlpine, strongly supports Tom’s appointment as well as the need for improved financial discipline throughout the company. Tom brings a very strong financial background to MEC and he, together with the other members of the MEC executive management committee, will ensure that MEC maintains that focus."

March 14, 2006 - Hodgson resigns, effective March 31. Stronach named interim CEO while search for a new CEO is launched. Hodgson remains a consultant.

Stronach stated: " The Board has decided that, going forward, MEC should seek a CEO with in-depth knowledge and experience in the horseracing and gaming industry who can lead the Company in fully exploiting its opportunities in
this sector….Tom Hodgson has more than achieved our recapitalization plan goals, and we are grateful for his contributions to the Company."

JAMES MCALPINE
Jan. 10, 2001 -James McAlpine named president/CEO.

Stronach stated: "We are delighted to be able to confirm the appointment of Jim McAlpine as President and Chief Executive Officer of MEC. Having worked with Jim for many years while he was a senior executive officer of Magna International Inc., I have complete confidence in his talents and abilities. I believe that this appointment provides MEC with strong, experienced leadership for its new management team."

March 8, 2005 - McAlpine retires as CEO. He remains as a consultant to the company.

Stronach stated: "On behalf of the board of directors of MEC, I would like to thank Jim for his hard work over the past several years in launching MEC and helping to position it for the next stage in its development. We look forward to Jim continuing to contribute to MEC in his new role."

Said McAlpine: "Over the past five years, MEC people have worked diligently to make MEC the company that it is today, a company filled with opportunity. I have enjoyed leading this dynamic group and look forward to making a continuing contribution by supporting Frank, Tom and the executive management committee to see MEC achieve its full potential."

BRIAN TOBIN
March 24, 2004 - Former Canadian governmental official Brian Tobin elected Vice-Chairman of the MEC Board. Tobin is CEO of Magna Development, the majority shareholder of MEC.

Stated Stronach: "Brian will be an excellent director and I look forward to his contributions to our Board’s deliberations."

Aug. 20, 2004 - Tobin resigns.

Stronach stated: "Brian Tobin has been a great team leader and a great team player. The Board of Directors and I wish him well in his future business endeavours."

Said Tobin: "I have great respect for the MEC team and for Frank Stronach."

MARK FELDMAN and JERRY CAMPBELL

July 14, 2000 - Mark Feldman, named CEO (replacing Jerry Campbell, who was named vice chairman of the board).

Said Feldman: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Jerry Campbell, the other members of the MEC Board of Directors and the talented MEC management team. I am anxious to get started implementing the Company’s multi-faceted growth strategy, including maximizing opportunities to utilize interactive media in sports wagering, development of the Company’s real estate assets with location based entertainment and retail operations and improving cash flow by taking advantage of scale efficiencies in track operations. All of these initiatives will be supported and enhanced by our commitment to developing a strong global brand."

Said Campbell: "I am pleased to continue to serve as Vice-Chairman and to remain a director of the Company. MEC has a strong balance sheet, has assembled some of the finest and strategically located thoroughbred racetracks in the United States and has the ability to expand, particularly pari-mutuel wagering via off-track betting centers (OTB’s) and telephone account wagering systems, within currently existing regulations."

Stated Stronach: "I would like to thank Jerry for his contributions in establishing the Company and am delighted that he will continue to provide guidance and assistance to the management team as Vice-Chairman. I believe that the management changes…will facilitate our pursuit of the opportunities in media distribution of racing and sports wagering."

Dec. 11, 2000 - Feldman resigns.
Stronach stated: "As was previously announced, Don Amos has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and Graham Orr has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Amos and Mr. Orr are based in Toronto, where they were both previously senior officers of Magna International. Their appointment reflects my desire to remain closely involved with the Company during its formative years. As a result, Mark agreed that it would be more effective to consolidate operations in Toronto, but was not prepared to relocate his family to Toronto. I am pleased that Mark has agreed to continue to provide his services to the Company as a consultant, as he is an outstanding media executive."

Said Feldman: "I continue to be enthusiastic about the growth potential for the Company and its prospects to become a leader in the horse racing account wagering business. It is clear that Mr. Stronach should work closely with the executive team during these early years of developing the Company’s operations. In this regard it makes sense to operate the business from Toronto. I look forward to continuing to assist MEC in its key initiatives in the electronic media fields."

A partial list of other executives who have left the company in the decade since Frank Stronach made his first racetrack purchase (Santa Anita Park) in December 1999:

Bill Baker, Peter Beresford, Rick Cowan, Doug Donn, Roman Doroniuk, Andrew Gaughn, Michael Gilligan, Clifford Goodrich, Ed Hannah, Corey Johnsen, Brant Latta, Jack Liebau, Chris McCarron, Jack McDaniel, Graham Orr, John Perrotta, Lonny Powell, David Romanik, Scott Savin.

By Ray Paulick

Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report

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