November, 2020 | Horse Racing Free Tips

British Broadcaster Calls For More Diversity In Racing, Experiences Pushback From The Industry

As discussions about diversity in sport continue to grow, the Racing Post reports that British broadcaster Rishi Persad has found himself the target of criticism for encouraging racing to do more. Persad gave an interview to friend and fellow broadcaster Josh Apiafi on Sky Sports Racing where he suggested diversity in British racing could be improved.

Persad, who came to England as a teenager from Trinidad, recounted experiences both positive and less positive from his time in racing. He told the Racing Post he felt his interview on Sky Sports wasn't particularly controversial, nor was it intended to be so. Persad is a member of the Diversity in Racing Steering Group, which was formed in 2017. In the Sky Sports interview, Persad characterized racing as “behind the times,” pointing out that while the majority of stable staff in Britain are people of color, “99.9 percent of trainers” are white.

Persad told the Post this week he subsequently experienced pushback from people in the racing industry who seemed to misunderstand his point.

“What I was really trying to say was, if we eliminate all discrimination and make the sport more accessible, we're going to provide two things,” he said. “The moral case is for our own wellbeing, in that we can all benefit from being kinder to each other, and the business case is pretty obvious – the more people we can attract to the sport the more money we can bring into the sport and the more people in the sport will benefit from it. What's bad about that?”

He also emphasized that his interest is not only in improving racial equality in the sport, but also discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.

California COVID-19 Update

News last week that more than 200 people living or working on-site at Golden Gate Fields had tested positive for COVID-19, and that the facility would have to close its doors to live racing through November, arrived against a state-wide backdrop of rising cases, hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths.

As with Golden Gate, these trends have landed with subsidiary impacts. Over the weekend, L.A. County public health officials suspended outdoor restaurant dining. Before that, the county announced other restrictions, including curfews and capacity limitations at certain stores and other public places.

This has prompted some within the industry to wonder whether other California tracks might fall foul of the reimposition of business restrictions–as happened at Santa Anita earlier in the year, for example, when the facility was temporarily closed as the pandemic first took grip.

TDN reached out to representatives of Golden Gate for information on the status of the positive cases, along with the chances of live racing resuming in December. David Duggan, Golden Gate general manager and vice president, responded in a message Tuesday that an update would be arriving soon.

Los Alamitos has thus far avoided being shuttered as a result of the pandemic, though the facility did cause a stir earlier this year, with an outbreak among the SoCal jockey colony was blamed by some on lax protocols at the track’s jock’s room–an accusation track management hotly denied.

Los Alamitos is in Orange County, another region where COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise. The facility is scheduled to conduct a live daytime Thoroughbred meet running Friday Dec. 4 through Sunday Dec. 20.

According to Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association, there are “at this moment” no confirmed COVID cases among people living or working on-site at the track, “that we know of.”

As a result, the anticipated December meet at Los Alamitos is expected to proceed as scheduled, said Liebau–though he emphasized the unpredictable nature of the pandemic.

“It could change within the hour,” he said, pointing to the vagaries surrounding testing and accuracy of results. At Golden Gate, for example, 95% of the cases were reportedly asymptomatic. “It’s a bad situation–I worry about myself getting it. It’s personal.”

Horses currently shipped from Golden Gate to other facilities, including Los Alamitos, are being sent without their usual grooms to be housed at the barn of a local trainer. As a consequence, the Los Alamitos program book will list the substitute trainer alongside that of the official trainer, Liebau explained.

The current 15-day Del Mar fall season is scheduled to end this Sunday. All jockeys flying in from out-of-state to ride at Del Mar this weekend tested negative 72 hours prior to arriving, “and they’re all getting tested again once they’re in San Diego,” said Josh Rubinstein, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club president. “They’ll also reside in the auxiliary jock’s room for the duration that they’re here.”

Unlike the recent Del Mar summer meet, comprising some 1800 horses and 1000 backstretch staff, the current fall meet is being conducted on a smaller scale–some 400 horses and 250 staff, said Rubinstein.

One backstretch worker tested positive for COVID at the start of the current meet, said Rubinstein. None since, he added. “We’ve been very diligent, reminding people of how serious this is,” Rubinstein said.

Further afield is the start of the next Santa Anita meet, penciled in for Dec. 26. According to Nate Newby, Santa Anita senior vice president, the facility hasn’t recently received communication from the LA County public health department “for a couple reasons.”

For one, “since they’ve implemented those new rules, and we’re not open for simulcasting, it wouldn’t really apply to us,” he said. “But with the meet being a month away, I’m sure they’ll be checking in.”

Secondly, the Arcadia facility hasn’t had a positive COVID case in 14 days, said Newby. “The threshold they’re looking at is if you have three in the last 14 days, then they start looking at your facility, the employees and anybody on site,” he said. “Knock on wood, we’re on a bit of a good stretch.”

The scheduled winter-spring meet will be conducted under similar conditions and restrictions as the recently concluded autumn meet, said Newby, not that the facility has loosened protocols in the interim. “We still have the backstretch really locked down to essential workers only,” he said.

“We’re just going to keep doing everything we’re doing, and hope,” Newby added, before pointing to the Moderna and Pfizer developed vaccines that are reportedly 90% effective. “I think, along with everybody, we’re rooting for the vaccine and other things to be in a better situation in a couple months.”

In a recently released draft interim plan for a vaccine rollout in California, such an effort will be done in three phases, beginning with health care and other essential workers, followed by other targeted groups including vulnerable populations and underserved communities. The third phase will encompass remaining populations.

According to California Horse Racing Board executive director, Scott Chaney, the board hasn’t yet opened a dialogue with the governor’s office about how rollout of a vaccine might overlap the racing industry.

“I know that’s a national conversation right now, and it seems like in the next month or two a vaccine might come online,” Chaney said. “But as far as I’m aware, the CHRB hasn’t had any discussions based on who gets them and so on and so forth.”

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Card Counting in Blackjack!

Where in other casino games such as roulette, craps there is no absolute effect of result of one play on any future deal, the blackjack always remain some risks regarding that. That means in blackjack it is possible that some events of any future play can be affected by its previous performance. Whenever if it is found that the remaining cards of the player have a high proportion than normal, in that case it is quite obvious that it goes to player’s benefits but in adverse the player will dealt a bad hand of cards. But in many cases it has been found that it is very tough for the player to remember exactly which cards have already been dealt in the previous play. Especially it becomes difficult when it comes from a multiple deck shoe. For that reason card counting always denotes some positive, negative or zero point value to the each and every remaining card in the deck.

Generally it is seen that the cards carrying low value such as 2, 3 are of positive value and the cards carrying higher value are at the negative value. But the different card counting method assigns different value of each card to be dealt. The card counter can make a tally of the point values in his mind although it is better to make a count on counter’s own estimation regarding dealt cards and undealt cards as well. That will definitely present an accurate value or proportion or percentage of the cards which have been left in the deck shoe. Keep in mind that a larger range of point values always make the counting process complicated. Counting process of the card valued the smaller value such as 1, -1, 0 is level one count that denote the most easiest task of performance while multilevel count is what assign the higher point values, increase much difficulty.

In the process of card counting in blackjack the main complication remain in the treatment of aces which is much valuable when it comes for having a blackjack. Generally aces are not advantageous for the card players but it is beneficial when it is in the field of blackjack and remains in the deck. It should have a positive count.

The main advantage that a player can get through this card counting formality is that the player can make more betting of larger portion when his deck of card allows him and in adverse the deck itself give signal to make smaller amount in betting and accordingly can modify its situation by taking other various strategies. The player can also get information relating to value of each and every card to be dealt in or any type of composition that will help to make a better result.

The very main thing about this card counting is that the method of card counting will be performed very genuinely and accurately so that it cannot make any negative effect and with this the counting process must be taken to avoid the casino countermeasures. Otherwise many can make errors in this process and lose huge amount of money as well.

Hall Of Fame Veterinarian Swanstrom Dies At 80

Veterinarian Dr. Oscar Swanstrom has died at the age of 80 after a lifetime devoted to veterinary medicine. Swanstrom grew up on a family farm in Arrowsith, Ill., and attended veterinary school at the University of Illinois.

Swanstrom enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was commissioned a captain and served as base veterinarian at Moody Air Force Base. He then received a master's degree in veterinary medicine with a focus on radiology and orthopedic surgery before practicing in Illinois, largely at Chicago area Thoroughbred tracks. He eventually moved to Kentucky, where he became a well-known practitioner at Churchill Downs and surrounding facilities.

Swanstrom is the author of several academic studies and is known for his work studying therapeutic swimming, as well as intra-articular therapies.

Swanstrom was inducted into the International Veterinary Hall of Fame in 2005 at Churchill Downs.

He is survived by his wife Theresa, son Justin, daughter Kasi Cox (Jeremy) of Westport; his grandsons, Colton S. Cox and Ryan L. Cox of Westport; his granddaughter, Ruby Elizabeth Swanstrom of Simpsonville and several nieces and nephews.

Read a complete obituary here.

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