May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Economic Indicators: April Oaks Card Provides Major Wagering Boost

Equibase, LLC released its fourth monthly report of 2021 on Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing on Wednesday, May 5. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Equibase has been providing monthly economic indicators advisories. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year.

The April 30 Kentucky Oaks card provided a big boost to total wagering in the month of April, especially when compared to the same period in 2020, when the pandemic first took hold and tracks across the country were shutting down. Compared to 2019, however, when the Oaks was held in May, total wagering showed an increase of over 30 percent, while average daily wagering was up over 45 percent.

The more representative year-to-date numbers, from the first four months of 2019 to the first four months of 2021, still show total wagering up 14.44 percent while average daily wagering is up over 25 percent. With the return of the Kentucky Derby to the first Saturday in May, rather than Sept. 5, next month's wagering numbers should also show significant increases over the same dates in 2020.

April 2021 vs. April 2020
Indicator	April 2021	April 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$1,103,109,455	$639,331,643	+72.54%
U.S. Purses	$89,560,290	$17,500,400	+411.76%
U.S. Race Days	279	85	+228.24%
U.S. Races	2,425	746	+225.07%
U.S. Starts	18,039	6,810	+164.89%
Average Field Size	7.44	9.13	-18.51%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,953,797	$7,521,549	-47.43%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$321,005	$205,887	+55.91%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2020
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$3,869,205,732	$3,147,861,049	+22.92%
U.S. Purses	$304,560,597	$222,728,051	+36.74%
U.S. Race Days	1,045	878	+19.02%
U.S. Races	9,127	7,362	+23.97%
U.S. Starts	70,250	58,783	+19.51%
Average Field Size	7.70	7.98	-3.60%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,702,589	$3,585,263	+3.27%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$291,446	$253,677	+14.89%

2019 Comparisons:

April 2021 vs. April 2019
Indicator	April 2021	April 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races	$1,103,109,455	$845,958,246	+30.40%
U.S. Purses	$89,560,290	$85,910,830	+4.25%
U.S. Race Days	279	311	-10.29%
U.S. Races	2,425	2,612	-7.16%
U.S. Starts	18,039	19,728	-8.56%
Average Field Size	7.44	7.55	-1.51%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,953,797	$2,720,123	+45.35%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$321,005	$276,241	+16.20%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2019
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$3,869,205,732	$3,380,927,018	+14.44%
U.S. Purses	$304,560,597	$313,030,470	-2.71%
U.S. Race Days	1,045	1,155	-9.52%
U.S. Races	9,127	9,902	-7.83%
U.S. Starts	70,250	76,558	-8.24%
Average Field Size	7.70	7.73	-0.45%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,702,589	$2,927,210	+26.49%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$291,446	$271,022	+7.54%

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

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Faith’s House Child Care Center At Saratoga Will Provide Backstretch Workers ‘Peace of Mind’

The Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) today offered a first look at Faith's House, the new child care center at Saratoga Race Course, which is set to begin serving families and children of the backstretch community in summer 2021.

Located on the Oklahoma side of the Saratoga backstretch, the 4,300-square-foot facility will provide child care and early education programs for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children. The center will be open seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate the schedules of backstretch workers and horsemen.

The building was funded by Michael and Lee Dubb and is named in honor of Faith Dubb, the late mother of BCCA founder and board chairman Michael Dubb.

“We are very excited to open the doors of Faith's House to the backstretch community this summer,” said Dubb, who is a prominent Thoroughbred owner in addition to his work with the BCCA. “This important program will provide the hardworking families of the Saratoga backstretch with the peace of mind that comes with knowing their children are being cared for in a fun and enriching environment with a focus on early education.”

Faith's House will feature dedicated rooms to serve infants, toddlers and preschool aged children. Upon entering the new child care center, visitors are greeted by an oversized black and white mural of a Thoroughbred racehorse.

The facility is designed to accommodate up to 35 children and includes numerous cribs for newborn infants. Two rooms within Faith's House are dedicated to serving preschool aged children with an array of educational resources, including books, dictionaries and writing and drawing materials.

A fenced-in play area is located outside the rear of the building with eco-friendly, rubber tiles and flooring to provide a safe and forgiving playground surface.

The Saratoga facility will complement BCCA's sister child care center Anna House, which serves families of the Belmont Park backstretch. More than 1,000 students have participated in Anna House's programs since its opening in 2003.

“On behalf of the New York Racing Association, I would like to thank Michael and Lee Dubb for their generosity and dedication to the backstretch community,” said NYRA President & CEO Dave O'Rourke. “We have been fortunate to witness the benefits of child care and early education through their initial vision of Anna House at Belmont Park and are indebted to Michael and Lee for funding and spearheading this companion facility at Saratoga Race Course. We are thrilled to welcome this beautiful new facility to Saratoga and extend our appreciation to the entire BCCA team and our own facilities staff for bringing this project to life.”

The summer 2021 opening coincides with the annual summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which brings approximately 950 backstretch workers and their families to the Spa.

Faith's House will be operated by Bright Horizons, an organization known for excellence in the child care industry which manages early childhood education programs at more than 1,000 child care centers.

“On behalf of the BCCA Board of Directors, I would like to thank Mike and Lee Dubb for their incredible generosity in building Faith's House which fulfills a 10-year dream for the BCCA,” said BCCA President Libby Imperio.

Local officials shared their support and enthusiasm for the new child care center, which will open in July.

“I would like to congratulate the Belmont Child Care Association, along with Michael and Lee Dubb, on the opening of Faith's House,” said Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (113th AD). “The backstretch workers who are integral to the sport of racing have long needed the child care services and support that will be provided by Faith's House so that their families can join them in Saratoga for the summer meet.”

“The past year has informed us more than ever of the importance of quality child care for working families in our community,” said City of Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly. “This new center will undoubtedly be an outstanding addition to Saratoga Race Course and to our city. We are thrilled to welcome Faith's House to Saratoga Springs and thank Michael and Lee, the BCCA and NYRA for making this project possible.”

For more information about Faith's House, including details on registration and enrollment, contact BCCA Executive Director Joanne K. Adams by phone at (516) 488-2103 or via email at jadams@belmontchildcare.org.

The Belmont Child Care Association works to provide a safe, supportive, and academically inspiring environment for the children of parents working in the thoroughbred racing backstretch area located at New York's historic Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course. For more information, visit BelmontChildCare.org.

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Jackpocket Official Mobile Lottery Partner of NYRA

Jackpocket, the only licensed third-party lottery app in the United States, will become the official mobile lottery partner of the New York Racing Association and will become the title sponsor of the $400,000 GI Jackpocket Jaipur S. June 5, a six-furlong turf event that serves as a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The announcement of the partnership comes on the heels of the company's New York launch this past January and more recently on the Google Play Store.

Jackpocket allows New York residence to order official state lottery tickets (Mega Millions, Powerball, Win 4) from their smartphones in an easy and secure fashion. In 2019, the New York Gaming Commission approved new regulations allowing digital lottery courier services to operate in New York. Jackpocket is the first and only officially-licensed New York courier service under the new regulatory framework.

“We're proud to partner with the New York Racing Association in what we believe will be the start of a long and fruitful relationship,” said Jackpocket CEO Peter Sullivan. “NYRA is a true New York institution, thanks in part to storied tracks like Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Aqueduct Racetrack, where the best in the sport have competed for decades.”

Jackpocket becomes a preferred partner of the Belmont S. and racing at Belmont and Saratoga as part of the agreement.

The company will also sponsor the Jackpocket Handicapping Challenges, a series of one-day handicapping contests at NYRA tracks with a $3,000 buy-in for the following programs:

The Stars & Stripes Challenge, presented by Jackpocket at Belmont July 3;

The Whitney Challenge, presented by Jackpocket at Saratoga Aug. 7;

The Jockey Club Gold Cup Challenge, presented by Jackpocket at Saratoga Sept. 4; and

The Cigar Mile Challenge, presented by Jackpocket at Aqueduct Dec. 4.

“NYRA is pleased to partner with Jackpocket, and we thank them for their support of thoroughbred racing at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course,” said Tony Allevato, NYRA Chief Revenue Officer & President of NYRA Bets. “Horseplayers should look forward to an exciting slate of one-day handicapping contests this spring and summer made possible by Jackpocket.”

Fans downloading the Jackpocket app can use the code 'PONIES' at checkout to receive a free lottery ticket.

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Bloodlines: Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit’s Pedigree Not As Obscure As It Might Seem

The lyrics of Dan Fogleberg's song Run for the Roses, “the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance,” are well understood in assessing Medina Spirit, the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. By measures of pedigree fashion, economic success, or marquee appeal, the dark brown son of Protonico and Mongolian Changa (by Brilliant Speed) was not a star.

But in the Grade 1 classic at Churchill Downs, the colt who cost $1,000 as a short yearling, by an under-appreciated sire and out of a mare who was given away, bucked the odds, flattened the probabilities, and looked like several million dollars as he led from early 'till late and won the Kentucky Derby by a half-length from Mandaloun (Into Mischief).

On pedigree, Medina Spirit is not poorly or even quite obscurely bred. Neither could it be said that his parents are trend setters in bloodstock, at least not until the first Saturday in May.

The colt's sire is the beautifully pedigreed Protonico, a dark bay son of leading sire Giant's Causeway out of the A.P. Indy mare Alpha Spirit, a daughter of Chilean champion and U.S. G1 winner Wild Spirit (Hussonet). The latter won a trio of G1s in her homeland for owner-breeder Haras Sumaya, which also bred Alpha Spirit and Protonico, and in the U.S., Wild Spirit won the G1 Ruffian, was second in the G1 Apple Blossom and Personal Ensign.

Protonico's race record likewise was nothing to sneer at. A three-time winner at the Grade 3 level, the son of Giant's Causeway stepped to win the G2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs in 2015 as a 4-year-old. In addition, he also ran second in the G1 Clark Handicap at Churchill at three and was third in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont at five.

Perhaps the prejudice against “turf horses” put Protonico in the wrong category, even though he could make a good claim as one of his sire's best dirt performers.

The colt represents the Storm Cat branch of Northern Dancer through the former's best stallion son Giant's Causeway, and this is the second year in a row that a descendant of Storm Cat won the Kentucky Derby after Authentic last year, who comes from Storm Cat through Harlan, Harlan's Holiday, and Into Mischief.

Whereas agent Gary Young was charged with finding his client a Protonico, and Medina Spirit was the result, the dam's side of the Derby winner's pedigree wasn't a commercial model either until her son began racing.

From the first crop of the Dynaformer stallion Brilliant Speed, Mongolian Changa was a big, scopey yearling who appealed to trainer Wayne Rice, and he purchased the filly for $9,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale in 2015. Racing only at two, Mongolian Changa won a maiden special at Presque Isle in August of her juvenile season and earned $25,970 in six starts.

A reported bowed tendon having ended the filly's career at that point, Mongolian Changa was sent to Protonico at Taylor Made Farm in 2017, and Gail Rice bred the Kentucky Derby winner from the mare in 2018. Then as part of a divorce, Rice sold the colt as a short yearling for $1,000 to Christy Whitman, who brought the colt back as a 2-year-old in the June sale of horses in training last year that was postponed to July due to the pandemic.

At that sale, Medina Spirit rocked his three-furlong breeze in :33 flat and earned the highest BreezeFig at the distance last year for his performance at the sale. Neither the time nor the fig brought a rush of buyers to Whitman's barn, but the dark brown colt is a study in how a horse should look when breezing. The breeze video can be seen here.

Gary Young, as agent, acquired the colt for Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stables. Zedan had wanted to buy a juvenile by Protonico because he's good friend to the owner-breeder of Protonico, Oussama Aboughazale.

Aboughazale owns Haras Sumaya near Santiago, Chile, and is a primary player in the drama that brought Medina Spirit into being and to prominence. In addition to urging his friend to purchase a Protonico 2-year-old, Aboughazale bred and raced the sire, as well as the dam and second dam.

Although at least one Grade 1 victory is nearly a requirement for a term at stud in Kentucky, the owner of Sumaya Stud wanted his horse to stand in Kentucky and backed him each year with mares. That is a difficult push commercially, however, and the horse stood his first season at Taylor Made Farm, where Medina Spirit was conceived, then stood his second season in 2018 at Darby Dan, and has since been resident at Castleton Lyons on Iron Works Pike north of Lexington.

Castleton's farm manager, Pat Hayes, said that the farm had received more than two dozen requests for seasons in the two days after the Kentucky Derby, and breeders are clearly not having trouble identifying Protonico now that Medina Spirit is a household name.

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