Paulick Report

U.S. WAGERING NOSEDIVES BY 17% IN JUNE

Ray Paulick — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:55:02 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Pari-mutuel wagering on U.S. races nosedived in June, dropping by almost 17% compared with June of 2008, according to statistics released by Equibase. Purses fell by more than 10% in June. The number of U.S. race days fell by less than 6% for the month, compared with June 2008.

The steep drop reflects the continuing trend of falling handle at tracks from coast to coast, along with a reduction in racing dates at some major tracks (Churchill Downs and Hollywood Park have cut back from five days per week to four). In addition the June 2008 handled was boosted by a huge day at Belmont Park when Big Brown was going for a Triple Crown. This year’s Belmont Stakes day handle was down about $10 million. June 2008 included nine weekend days of racing, with June 2009 having just eight. Weekend programs produce the largest handle.

Those facts notwithstanding, the declines in June are troubling and have led to a year-to-date drop of more than 10%, despite just a 2% reduction in the overall number of racing days, according to Equibase. Purses for the year have fallen by 6%.

If the declines persist, 2009 will be the fifth year in the last six that pari-mutuel wagering on U.S. races has fallen, and the year-end totals may be the lowest since 1998, when just over $13 billion was handled. The record high came in 2003 when nearly $15.2 billion was wagered on U.S. races. Click here for the recent year-end handle figures.

Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators

For June 2009

June 2009 vs. June 2008

Indicator	June 2009	June 2008	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$993,578,873	$1,195,562,620	-16.89%
U.S. Purses	$101,126,923	$112,735,233	-10.30%
U.S. Race Days	620	657	-5.63%

YTD 2009 vs. YTD 2008

Indicator	YTD 2009	YTD 2008	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$6,503,994,769	$7,265,400,239	-10.48%
U.S. Purses	$507,165,548	$539,745,595	-6.04%
U.S. Race Days	2,814	2,873	-2.05%

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

GOOD NEWS FRIDAY sponsored by Liberation Farm - WAGERING INTEGRITY

Ray Paulick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:08:07 +0000

By Ray Paulick
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.

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.

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.

“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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KENTUCKIANS: KNOW WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE

Ray Paulick — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:14:10 +0000

By Ray Paulick
There were several byproducts of the Kentucky General Assembly’s special session called last month by Gov. Steve Beshear to tackle the state’s budget crisis and consider a bill to allow video lottery terminals or slot machines at racetracks.

One of those was anger, an emotion directed largely at Republicans in the Kentucky Senate who defeated House Bill 2, the VLT legislation that would have leveled the playing field with so many other racing states in the region. Another was a feeling of abandonment by the government at a time when people in various parts of the horse industry are hurting. Yet another was a belief among many that the end is near for Kentucky’s year-round racing circuit, with Ellis Park and Turfway Park the tracks most vulnerable to being closed.

The anger many of us felt in the wake of the defeat of the VLT legislation is perfectly normal. The Republicans, led by the bully of the Senate, David “Blackjack” Williams, are the villains in this saga. Williams, who likes to gamble at casinos in nearby states like Indiana and Mississippi, is one of those politicians who wants to “protect us from ourselves” and legislate morality. But Williams can’t, and hasn’t, stopped countless Kentuckians from driving across bridges into Illinois or Indiana or West Virginia and gambling to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year, or more—to the benefit of horse racing in those states and to the detriment of Kentucky’s signature industry.

He’s enlisted people like Damon Thayer, the “Senator from Scott” who was jeered during a horse industry rally at Keeneland held after the Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee voted to kill House Bill 2. I’ve known Thayer for more than 20 years, and like him. We’re about as far apart on the political spectrum as two people can be, but we both want to see the horse industry succeed.

I’m amused that Thayer, who comes from a Republican Party that believes government should stay out of people’s lives, feels Frankfort politicians should keep Kentuckians from gambling on slot machines in their home state to the benefit of the horse industry. He would rather raise taxes on (guess what?) other kinds of gambling, including the lottery and horse racing. In a speech on the Senate floor during the special session, Thayer said he favored raising taxes on these other forms of gambling so the horse industry would get temporary, Band-Aid relief. He was simply hawking Blackjack Williams’ alternative to VLTs, and I’m sure Williams will reward him for his loyalty.

I encourage you to view Thayer’s speech, which can be seen by clicking here, and decide for yourself if he is a friend or foe of racing.

The interesting thing about the inability to get more Republicans behind this bill is that so many powerful horse breeders in Kentucky are major contributors to the Republican Party on the federal level. Perhaps there is a disconnect between people like Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the de facto head of the Republican Party in Kentucky, and Blackjack Williams, the strongman of the state Senate. (Williams, according to many sources, takes his direction from homebuilder Don Ball, who as former head of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association owes an explanation to the horse industry for his opposition to leveling the playing field with VLTs or slots.)

The feeling of abandonment was countered at that same horse industry rally at Keeneland when more than 20 Republicans and Democrats from the state House and Senate came to show their support to the crowd of about a thousand people. As Keenelend’s Nick Nicholson said, people in the horse industry should know that they have more than a few friends in Frankfort. There seemed to be no quit in those who gathered inside Keeneland’s sale pavilion that night, and let’s hope the enthusiasm they showed can carry forward to 2010 and beyond, if necessary.

The industry didn’t have enough friends, though, and it’s more important now than ever to get involved politically, to contact those Senators and Representatives who voted against House Bill 2 and let them know your feelings but to also contact those who supported the industry and thank them for what they did. Respectfully tell the opponents of the VLT legislation that you will work to replace them with people who are willing to support the horse industry in Frankfort.

Finally, there is the issue of how long this industry can maintain a year-round circuit without the economic necessity of slot machines at the tracks. Racing in Kentucky experienced significant growth during the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s when tracks capitalized on in-state and out-of-state simulcasting, but it’s been stagnant in recent years as other states have improved their purse structure thanks to slots.

Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, has said 2009 would be the Western Kentucky track’s final year, but he’s apparently reconsidered that stand after hearing an appeal from local government officials. It’s a good thing that Turfway Park, which sits on land more valuable for development than for racing, is owned in part by Keeneland. Racing will not thrive at either track until the legislature recognizes the need for help, but perhaps it will survive another year or two.

In the meantime, channel the emotions that came out of this special session in a positive way by supporting those individuals in state government that support our industry. And let’s work to replace those who aren’t willing to give racing the tools it needs to compete. Know who your friends are…and aren’t.

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SNEAK PREVIEW OF LIKELY BREEDERS’ CUP BOARD CANDIDATES

Ray Paulick — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:46:57 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Voting begins tomorrow (July 1) on the six open board seats for the 13-member Breeders’ Cup board of Directors. Candidates must be currently serving on the 48-person board of Members and Trustees to be eligible to run. Individuals from that group wishing to put their name up for election have until 5 p.m. today to notify Jim Philpott of their intention. The Paulick Report has learned who is expected to be on the ballot for that election.

Voting takes place electronically July 1-8 and is being handled by the same company, TrueBallot, Inc., that conducted the recent election of Members and Trustees by Breeders’ Cup nominators. Eligible to vote are elected Members and Trustees, Founding Members, Breeders’ Cup president Greg Avioli and past presidents James E. Bassett III and D.G. Van Clief Jr., according to the Breeders’ Cup election website.

Eligible voters also have the option to cast their vote at the annual meeting of Members and Trustees in Lexington on July 9. Curiously, the election rules approved by the board of Directors allow someone who may have voted electronically to change his or her vote if he or she attends the July 9 meeting and wishes to vote in person.

A final method of voting is the proxy, but for the first time any Breeders’ Cup Member of Trustee who is holding a proxy vote for someone else must declare who that individual is. Transparency of proxies is a good rule so that nominators in future elections can weed out individuals who are simply running for the board of Members and Trustees as “rubber stamp” candidates. If an individual doesn’t feel well enough informed about voting for the board of Directors, then that person shouldn’t be elected in the first place. In past elections for the board of Directors (before electronic voting was in place) there was a large number of proxy votes, but they were never identified.

The six open seats include four individuals who are expected to run for re-election: Reynolds Bell Jr, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Robert T. Manfuso, and Don Robinson (appointed earlier this year to the seat vacated by B. Wayne Hughes, who resigned). The two-year board of Director terms for Don Dizney and Tracy Farmer are expiring, but neither is eligible to run because they did not get re-elected to the board of Members and Trustees.

The other seven Directors whose terms expire in July 2010 are: Helen Alexander, Antony R. Beck, William Farish Jr., Terry Finley, R.D. Hubbard, Roy Jackson and Satish Sanan.

The board tilts heavily to what I have referred to in the past as “status quo” or “old guard” members that has kept the power in the hands of the father and son duo of Will and Bill Farish. For years before Breeders’ Cup elections were held, the Breeders’ Cup Executive Committee was run by Will Farish and also included G. Watts Humphrey Jr., a longtime partner in the horse business, and Jim Philpott, an equine attorney closely associated with Farish’s Lane’s End Farm. When elections began in 2006, the “old guard” was well organized and maintained control of the board of Members and Trustees that elected the board of Directors. The latter board, in a series of meetings before its first meeting, “decided” that Bill Farish would be the Breeders’ Cup chairman, keeping power in the family.

Opposition has gradually mounted since then, through a series of controversial decisions like the one made (and quickly reversed) last December to eliminate the Breeders’ Cup stakes supplement program. The recent vote by nominators for the board of Members and Trustees, in which current Directors Don Dizney and Tracy Farmer, were voted out, could help shake up the board of Directors and bring on different points of view.

Let’s hope so.

In addition to the four incumbents listed earlier, it’s expected that the following individuals will run for the board of Directors: Tom Ludt of Vinery; Clem Murphy of Coolmore/Ashford; Richard Santulli of Jayeff “B” Stables, John Sikura of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, Olly Tait of Darley USA, and Duncan Taylor of Taylor Made Farm and Sales Agency.

Those are six very strong candidates who bring a diverse set of skills and industry and/or outside business experience. Santulli and Sikura were rebuffed in last year’s election, which outraged many breeders who recognize both men for their intellect and commitment to this industry. Santulli has an extraordinary reputation in the business world, and Sikura is widely respected as a man with, as the saying goes, "skin in the game," and a no-nonsense approach to getting things done. Murphy and Tait represent the two largest farms with the greatest global vision and would be a great asset to the board of Directors as the Breeders’ Cup seeks to expand internationally. Ludt has demonstrated independence and a common-sense approach to analysis and problem solving in various board positions, and Taylor is one of the brightest marketing people in the Thoroughbred industry today who has a compassion and drive to see the industry reconnect with the public.

If those six declare their candidacy, as expected, and are elected to the board of Directors, the Breeders’ Cup will be in very good hands.

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DON’T BELIEVE THE LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER

Ray Paulick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:13:50 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Kentucky’s special legislative session may seem like ancient history now, but I’m going back to revisit a misleading article published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on June 14, one day before members of the state House and Senate met in the capital in Frankfort.

Under the headline, “100,000 Horse Industry Workers?” the article written by John Cheves called into question the number of jobs attributed to Kentucky’s horse industry. It accompanied another piece by Cheves, entitled “Horse Industry Has Problems,” that suggested things in Kentucky aren’t really as bad as people in the horse industry are making them out to be.

The intent of the two articles, I assume, was to convince state legislators, who may have been on the fence about whether or not to vote “yes” on racetrack video lottery terminals (VLTs) or slot machines during the special session, that Kentucky’s horse industry a) isn’t really as big as people have been saying it is and b) no other state is ever going to challenge Kentucky as the national leader in foal production, so its tracks don’t need to offer the same expanded wagering menu that so many other states have.

The article about the number of people who are employed as a result of Kentucky’s horse industry was borderline outrageous. The author seemed to dismiss the 2005 economic impact study commissioned by the American Horse Council and its conclusions that there are approximately 96,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Bluegrass State resulting from the horse industry (all breeds and disciplines). Kentucky was one of 15 states for which detailed information was provided as part of a national study conducted by Deloitte Consulting. The study concluded there were 51,900 people directly employed in the horse industry in Kentucky. It also said that as a result of the horse industry’s spending power, there were another 44,100 “induced” or indirect jobs. Those jobs are not in the horse industry (they represent all kinds of jobs that horse industry people are responsible for supporting), but they wouldn’t exist if the horse industry wasn’t here. It’s a safe bet that if we lose some of those 51,900 direct jobs, the “induced” employment will fall as well.

The writer seemed to be saying the number was somehow “fudged,” that smoke and mirrors were used by Deloitte to get to 96,000 jobs. Jay Hickey, the president of the American Horse Council, said to his knowledge every industry that conducts an economic impact study does exactly the same thing. “I can tell you, they didn’t come up with this methodology just for the horse industry,” he said.

The article says the Kentucky Equine Education Project uses the 100,000 employment figure in its advertisements and that it is somehow misleading. But if the writer had gone to KEEP’s website (www.horseswork.com), he would have seen a fact sheet about the industry that claims between 80,000 and 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. If anything was misleading, it was the conclusions of the Herald-Leader article.

From a monetary standpoint, the direct economic impact of the horse industry in Kentucky is $2.3 billion, according to the same study. The total impact on the state (direct and indirect) is $3.5 billion.

Incidentally, Deloitte concluded that the total number of direct jobs in the horse industry across the United States is 453,612, and there are nearly one million “induced” jobs, bringing the total direct and indirect employment to 1,411,333. Nationally, the direct economic impact is $39 billion, and it increases to a total of $102 billion when the indirect impact is factored in.

But let’s go back to Kentucky for a minute and the Herald-Leader story, which concluded there are only 51,000 horse industry jobs in the state—not 96,000 or 100,000.

That’s still an awful lot of jobs. How many other industries in Kentucky employ that many people? One thing’s for certain: the number of jobs in the horse industry will be lower the next time the legislature meets. Horses and the jobs that go with them are leaving the state to race where purses are higher and breeders’ incentives more lucrative.

That’s no myth.

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RACHEL ALEXANDRA, ZENYATTA DUST OVERMATCHED FOES

Ray Paulick — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:20:11 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Twenty-eight hundred miles and about 20 minutes is all that separated the filly stars Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta on Saturday afternoon. After two fillies were scratched, Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra had just a pair of 3-year-old foes in the Grade 1 Mother Goose at Belmont (one an allowance winner and the other a Grade 3 winner this year). Zenyatta, winner of 10 straight lifetime and 1-for-1 in her only start this year, had five opponents in the Grade 1 Vanity Invitational Handicap (in which she carried high weight of 129 pounds, spotting between 13 and 18 pounds to the others. Her opposition had won only six of 23 starts in 2009, with one of them a non-graded stakes winner and the others optional-claiming winners. Both races were at 1 1/8 miles, the Belmont on dirt and the Vanity on Hollywood Park’s synthetic surface.

Rachel Alexandra made short work of the $300,000 Mother Goose, settling into last place early in the long run down the backstretch, then vaulting to the lead on the turn, and drawing off to win with ridiculous ease, by 19 1/4 lengths (just one length shy of her winning margin in the Kentucky Oaks). Jockey Calvin Borel spent most of the stretch run taking in the sights behind him and apparently blowing kisses to the fans in the grandstand, still managing to set a new stakes record of 1:46.33 for the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track. (The track was playing very fast Saturday; maidens went six furlongs in 1:08.53 earlier in the card.)

That final time was made possible by the sizzling early fractions set by Malibu Prayer and John Velazquez, who went the opening quarter-mile in :22.57, the half in 44.66 and six furlongs in 1:08.86. Malibu Prayer didn’t want to load into the gate, and when Rachel Alexandra ranged up next to her on the turn, we all found out why. The winner, a daughter of Medaglila d’Oro went into a different gear under Borel, leaving her two foes in a cloud of dust while scoring her seventh consecutive stakes victory and ninth win from lifetime starts, the last two carrying the colors of Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables. Harold McCormick is the minority partner in the filly, who was bred in Kentucky by Dolphus Morrison. She has been trained to her last two victories by Steve Asmussen, who took over from Hal Wiggins when Stonestreet and Morrison purchased her following the Kentucky Oaks.

“Steve (Asmussen) told me ‘Ride your race,’" Borel said after the Mother Goose. "’You know her as good as me and I think she’s a kind of a grinder,’ and I said ‘Yes sir, that’s what she is." I think she’s just a wonderful animal, she grinds fast, you don’t have to be in front, you know, you can take her back. She’s a racehorse, this is a racehorse. Believe me, she’s not normal, I’m telling you, she’s unbelievable. I nudged (her) on the turn for home around the quarter pole but that was it. To make sure she’d get something out of it and do something for me. She set a new track record (note: it was a stakes record, not a track record), believe me, she’s not normal I’m telling you, she’s unbelievable. … She’s, I don’t know–like a Secretariat or a Seattle Slew–whatever you want to call it, I’ve never been on one like that in my life.

What’s next for Rachel Alexandra? “She is going to Saratoga from here," said Asmussen. "We will train her there and that’s where Scott (Blasi) and our stable move this time of year. Curlin did the exact same thing. It’s gotten plenty warm back home (in Louisville) and we are very much looking forward to the cool mornings this time of year. The plans are for me to take to care of her. Just to have her in the best health possible and then sit down and try and decide what’s best for her.”

Mother Goose chart.

Zenyatta had to work a bit harder, but she also got the job done under Mike Smith, rallying from fifth position early to win drawing away by about 2 1/2 lengths for her 11th victory without a loss.

Briecat set the pace under Martin Garcia, going :24.46, :48.02 and 1:11.28 for the opening six furlongs. Zenyatta was kept wide and in the clear and was asked by Smith to pick it up going into the far turn, and she reached contention with just over a quarter mile to go. Briecat proved to be stubborn until the final eighth, when Zenyatta lumbered to the lead under the steadying 129 pounds and crossed the wire geared down by Smith. Final time was 1:48.15 after a mile split in 1:35.54. Briecat finished second, just ahead of Dawn After Dawn, with Hot n’ Dusty fourth.

There was no place or show wagering in the Mother Goose, with Rachel Alexandra paying $2.10 to win. There was no show wagering in Zenyatta’s second straight Vanity win; she paid $2.60 to win and $2.10 to place. The 5-year-old daughter of Street Cry carries the silks of Jerome and Ann Moss and is trained by John Shirreffs.

Chart of the Vanity.

The big question is whether the appearances of Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra brought enough fans to the track to at least crack the 10,000 attendance mark. The New York Racing Association promoted the Mother Goose heavily, with free admission for females and a pink Rachel Alexandra bracelet giveaway to the first 10,000 fans in conjunction with Jackson and Banke’s donation of a portion of the winner’s purse to the Susan G. Komen race for the cure for breast cancer. (UPDATE: NYRA reported 13,352 on hand for the Mother Goose; Zenyatta drew only 6,907 to Hollywood Park.)

But the biggest question is whether or not these two superfillies will ever meet, which according to their connections is not likely to happen this year. Before the Vanity, the Mosses and Shirreffs have indicated that Zenyatta will remain in California for the remainder of her career and defend her title in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic on the Santa Anita Pro Ride synthetic track. Jackson has said he will not run Rachel Alexandra on "plastic," despite her impressive victory on Keeneland’s Polytrack synthetic surface last fall when she was two.

Both sets of owners are independently wealthy and neither are commercial breeders. They are also sportsmen–an all-too-rare commodity in the modern era of racing. Jackson kept Curlin in training for his 4-year-old campaign last year when he could have retired the Horse of the Year to stud. The Mosses kept Zenyatta in training this year after she won an Eclipse Award and was runner-up to Curlin in Horse of the Year voting. The only thing either owner has to lose is their pride.

But the most significant loss will be what this sport misses out on if Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta do not meet later this year. Some way, some how, somewhere, it must happen.

But where and when…what do you think?

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GOOD NEWS FRIDAY sponsored by Liberation Farm - THOROUGHBRED RACING ASSOCIATIONS ENCOURAGE FUTURE JOURNALISTS

Ray Paulick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:06:19 +0000

By Ray Paulick
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game."

Grantland Rice, one of the great sportswriters from the golden age of newspapers, wrote those words. He also was the fellow who came up with the term "the four horsemen of Notre Dame." He was just as much a poet as he was a sportswriter.

Rice was a native of Tennessee who attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He worked for a time in his home state, but was recruited by bigger papers in the Northeast and wound up in New York, where he spent most of his career. It’s been estimated that Rice wrote some 22,000 columns and 67 million words during his career.

Another well known sportswriter from Tennessee, Fred Russell, also attended Vanderbilt. Unlike his friend, Rice, however, he stayed put for his entire career, serving as editor of the Nashville Banner for 68 years.

Both men received numerous awards and honors. Rice died in 1954 at the age of 73. Russell was 96 years old at the time of his death in 2003.

They are also memorialized in a scholarship that Oaklawn Park owner Charles Cella started in 1956 and is awarded annually through the Thoroughbred Racing Associations to aspiring sportswriters wishing to attend Vanderbilt. It covers four years of tuition. The scholarship originally honored only Rice, but Russell’s name was added some years later. Russell, in fact, mentored many of the scholarship winners.

The roster of scholarship recipients is impressive and includes such well known writers and broadcasters as Roy Blount Jr., Skip Bayless, Tyler Kepner, and David Sheinin. An old colleague of mine from the Thoroughbred Times and Blood-Horse, Chuck Manson, was another Fred Russell-Grantland Rice scholar, as was Daniel Wolken, a one-time intern at Blood-Horse who is now a sportswriter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

The TRA just announced this year’s recipient, Eric Single, a graduate of George Walton Comprehensive High School in Marietta, Ga. Single was one of 72 individuals who applied for the scholarship. Cella works with Vanderbilt officials to sort through the applicants and select the winner each year.

Single is an avid sports fan whose dream is to work in sports journalism and eventually wind up at ESPN. Many of the scholarship recipients are exposed to horse racing through internships, and the hope is that some of them will cover horse racing. That’s not all that likely now, however, with very few papers staffing turf writers and the trade publications struggling and laying off writers.

Still, the Fred Russell-Grantland Rice scholarship is a terrific program and Cella is to be commended for establishing the endowment that keeps it going. Below is the complete list of recipients since its inception in 1956.

Year                Recipient
1956                Charles D. Nord
1957                Thomas E. Templin
1958                Larry G. Daughtrey
1959                Roy Blount Jr.
1960                Saxon Kim Chapin
1961                Thomas D. Quinn
1962                Robert E. Theil
1963                Richard S. Osborne
1964                Leonard Goldstein
1965                Michael Kiernan
1966                William Livingston
1967                Barry M. Morris
1968                Dennis P. McAuliffe
1969                David R. Rapp
1970                Skip Bayless
1971                John I. Bloom
1972                Irving Muchnik
1973                Kevin E. Cuneo
1974                Kevin McDonald
1975                David Brooks
1976                Michael L. Jackson
1977                Edward O. Wilson
1978                Charles C. Euchner
1979                Kenneth C. Ray
1980                Zachary V. Wenger
1980                Andrew Byer
1981                Charles R. Bush
1982                Mike Cornwell
1983                Tena Bozicevic Herlihy
1984                Thomas J. Wilson
1984                Chuck Manson
1985                Paul J. Richman
1986                Michael Holmes
1987                David Sheinin
1988                Andrew Maraniss
1989                Mitchell Light
1990                Clay Hensley
1991                Matthew O’Keefe
1992                Andrew M. Derr
1993                Tyler Kepner
1994                Allan L. Owen
1995                Lee Jenkins
1996                Not Awarded
1997                Daniel J. Wolken
1998                Samuel H. Heide
1999                Jeffrey D. Lowe
2000                Matthew James Mee
2001                Robert Craig Murray III
2002                Byron Patrick Dubow
2003                Matthew Collins McDavid
2004                Christopher F. Callaway
2005                Not Awarded
2006                Not Awarded
2007                David A. Namm
2008                Meghan Rose
2009                Eric Single

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.

DISABLED JOCKEYS GET $1M FROM FARISH FUND

Ray Paulick — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:51:50 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Permanently disabled jockeys got a huge boost today with the announcement that the Williams Stamps Farish Fund has pledged $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the organization currently assisting 60 former riders who have been seriously injured in racing accidents.

The president of the Farish Fund is William S. Farish, the owner of Lane’s Farm and vice chairman of the Jockey Club. His pledge, to be annualized with equal payments over four years beginning in 2009, was accompanied by a message of hope that others in the industry will also step up on this issue.

“I’ve made a lot of friends over the last 30 years who are riders,” Farish told the Paulick Report. “They are in a position that if something happens to them, they don’t have the support financially to move forward. There’s a void. I think this is something that everybody connected to our sport ought to be contributing to: owners, breeders, everyone who is involved in some way or another with racing. These are independent contractors, they’re not protected once they go down, and there’s nothing for them to fall back on.”

The PDJF was formed in 2006 with the assistance of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA Charities) and several racetracks, including those owned by Magna Entertainment and Churchill Downs Inc. A number of racetracks, owners, corporate sponsors and organizations have supported the PDJF.

It was necessitated after the former Disabled Jockeys Fund administered by the Jockeys’ Guild ran out of money during the disastrous administration of Wayne Gertmenian, who was ousted in November 2005 after virtually sending the organization into bankruptcy over the previous four years. The PDJF now stands alone as a 501(c)3 charity. Nancy LaSala is executive director of the Fund, overseeing its annual operating budget of approximately $800,000.

For more on the PDJF, click here to see the May 29 feature on the organization that was part of the Paulick Report series, Good News Friday Sponsored by Liberation Farm.

Farish said the PDJF has “been on my radar for a while.” There is a separate endowment, created by the Guild, that Farish hopes can be built up to $10-million to $12-million. It currently has about $2 million, but the money cannot be used until it reaches a certain level.

The Williams Stamps Farish Fund has actively supported numerous community and racing organizations, including Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the Kentucky Derby Museum, among others.

“I’m hopeful and feel like by putting our name behind this very, very important organization, we can help financially and draw attention to the need,” he said.

“We are deeply grateful to Mr. Farish for his commitment to the PDJF and the disabled athletes it supports,” said executive director LaSala said in a press release. “Thanks to his generosity and leadership the PDJF can now focus more attention on building the endowment that will ensure that financial assistance for our disabled riders will always be available.”

Contributions to the PDJF may be directed to: PDJF, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. All contributions are tax-deductible. For inquires contact Nancy LaSala at (630) 595-7660. For more information visit www.pdjf.org.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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KY INDUSTRY RALLY: ‘THE REVOLUTION STARTS HERE TONIGHT’

Ray Paulick — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:58:05 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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JACKSON: NO ‘PLASTIC’ MEANS NO BREEDERS’ CUP FOR RACHEL

Ray Paulick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:11:27 +0000

By Ray Paulick
Jess Jackson, the principal owner of star filly Rachel Alexandra, said during a New York Racing Association media teleconference on Wednesday afternoon he has no intention of ever running the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner on “plastic,” or synthetic racetracks, and ruled out any chance she would compete in this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

However, Jackson did say that if the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro remained healthy there was a very good chance she would remain in training in 2010 as a 4-year-old, with the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs a year-end goal.

Jackson and Rachel Alexandra’s jockey, Calvin Borel, answered a wide range of questions from the media in advance of Saturday’s Mother Goose at Belmont Park, in which Rachel Alexandra will be heavily favored. NYRA is offering free admission for women and giving away 10,000 pink bracelets embossed with Rachel Alexandra’s name in conjunction with the announcement by Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, to give a portion of any prize money won by the filly to the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure for breast cancer.

While he gave no indication where Rachel Alexandra would surface following this weekend’s race against fellow 3-year-old fillies, Jackson said he wanted to run her against colts again, and included the nine-furlong Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park Aug. 2 and 10-furlong Travers at Saratoga Aug. 29 among the possibilities for her this summer. Each race for 3-year-olds carries a $1-million purse. He also listed as possible starts the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 10 furlongs at Belmont Park July 25; the $1-million Delaware Handicap , a 10-furlong event for fillies and mares, 3 and up at Delaware Park July 19; and the $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies going 10 furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 22. The spacing of her races was important, Jackson said, along with her physical condition.

Jackson said he would love to meet reigning filly and mare champion Zenyatta, but that it would have to happen outside of California. “I would hope we’d meet, but if it’s not in the stars, it’s not going to happen,” he said. “They’re going to have to come east or to some neutral track,” he said. “I’m not going to run on plastic (all of California’s major tracks have a synthetic surface instead of dirt). We don’t need to risk her that way.” Jackson said synthetic tracks tend to favor turf horses and that Rachel Alexandra has proven herself on the dirt. “You can’t predict the outcome of a race on plastic,” he said. “You see horses all finishing in a bunch.” Also, Jackson said the various synthetic manufacturers (Pro Ride, Cushion Track, Polytrack, Tapeta) each produce varying surfaces. “Man is interfering with nature,” he added.

Borel said he is confident the drop back to a one-turn nine-furlong race for Rachel Alexandra will not be a problem after going around two turns in her recent races. “She’s very versatile,” he said. “I’m going to ride that filly with confidence. For me to go out there and not ride her with confidence would be stupid.”

In other news, Jackson, a Californian who is a major contributor to both the Democratic and Republican parties in Kentucky, said he supported recently defeated legislation in Kentucky to bring video lottery terminals or slot machines to the state’s racetracks, though he admitted he “didn’t work hard for the bill because I was back working in California on the wine business. When I support a party or candidate, I do it so they can vote their own conscience. I look at the slots and gambling as an interim or short-term solution. The long term is best served if we can get together and voluntarily form a major league office with a commissioner.”

Jackson also said he “has been approached and am involved in trying to save Santa Anita Park,” which is scheduled to be sold as part of the Magna Entertainment bankruptcy proceedings. The Thoroughbred Owners of California recently confirmed it is planning to bid on the track in a bankruptcy auction. Jackson added that he is considering sending both mares and stallions to his home state in order to improve California’s breeding industry.