June, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

June 3 Insights: Following Sea Goes First Out for Pletcher at Belmont

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

3rd-BEL, $92K, Alw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 4:09 p.m. ET

Spendthrift Farm made waves when it announced, following the failed drug test of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico), that it would be moving some horses out of trainer Bob Baffert's barn. One of the most intriguing of those horses, 'TDN Rising Star' FOLLOWING SEA (Runhappy), will make his first start for the Todd Pletcher barn in this first-level allowance sprint early on Thursday's card. Unveiled at 9-10 Mar. 6 at Santa Anita, the homebred finished second and was later demoted to third for causing crowding early in the race. Shipped to Oaklawn for his next engagement Apr. 10, the bay dueled through a sizzling opening quarter, shook clear on the turn and never looked back, winning geared down by 5 3/4 lengths with a 97 Beyer. Since being sent to Pletcher, Following Sea shows a pair of sharp local works, including a half-mile bullet in :48 flat (1/78) over the training track May 28. His main competition on paper comes from another 'Rising Star' in Klaravich Stables' returning Reinvestment Risk (Upstart). Debuting with an impressive 7 3/4-length romp against a live-looking Saratoga maiden group last August, the $280,000 OBS March buy was runner-up to Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in both the GI Runhappy Hopeful S. and GI Champagne S. before closing his juvenile campaign with a disappointing 10th-place run in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The Chad Brown trainee also breezed sharply here May 28, going a half-mile on the main track in :48 1/5 (4/86). TJCIS PPs

5th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 5:13 p.m. ET

Courtlandt Farms went to $975,000 to secure AMERICAN PARADE (American Pharoah) at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale and the sophomore filly will make her career debut in this promising maiden heat Thursday at Belmont. The first foal out of her dam, a half-sister to Stage Magic (Ghostzapper), the dam of Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), she displays six Belmont breezes for trainer Shug McGaughey, punctuated by a four-furlong bullet in :47 1/5 (1/7) May 18. Made a narrow favorite on the morning line is another firster, My Racehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Lady Valentine (Into Mischief), who will break from the rail for Todd Pletcher following a sharp Saratoga worktab. Bought for $385,000 at KEESEP, she recorded a pair of :47 3/5 half-mile bullets at the Spa–a best-of-35 move May 7 and a best-of-20 move from the gate 13 days later. Her second dam is a half-sister to the late GISW and influential sire Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker). Also opening her account is Klaravich Stables' Equal Pay (Qualty Road). Herself a $475,000 KEESEP pickup, the Chad Brown pupil breezed a half-mile from the gate over this track in :48 3/5 (6/45) May 16. Of the horses with experience, After the Party (Into Mischief) stands a big chance. Yet another pricey KEESEP buy at $750,000, the Jeremiah Englehart charge was a solid third in her debut after dueling with next-out 'TDN Rising Star' Always Carina (Malibu Moon) debuting in the Aqueduct mud Apr. 11. The runner-up in that spot, Amendment Nineteen (Constitution), also returned towin impressively here Sunday. TJCIS PPs

6th-CD, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 7:25 p.m. ET

Blue-blooded Juddmonte homebred MAXIMUS AURELIUS (Tapit) will make his career bow in this elongated sprint on Thursday's twilight card at Churchill. The Bill Mott trainee is the second foal to race out of the brilliant MGISW Close Hatches (First Defence), following his multimillionaire full-brother Tacitus, and he got acquainted with this surface in a trio of local works, the swiftest of which was a half-mile spin in :48 2/5 (9/57) May 16. TJCIS PPs —@JBiancaTDN

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Golf Tournament to Benefit Belterra Park Chaplaincy

The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy is hosting a golf tournament Monday, July 12, at the California Golf Course in Cincinnati, Ohio, to benefit the Chaplaincy at Belterra Park Race Track.

The format is a four-person scramble, which will start at 12:30 p.m. with a shotgun start. The entry fee is $100 per player. Hole sponsorships are available for $250 apiece and include signage on the hole and recognition for the sponsor in the program. Each sponsored hole for long drive, closest to the pin and long putt will feature a $100 prize to the winning golfer.

The form for entries and sponsorships can be downloaded at the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy website.

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Married NY Jockeys on Way to Mutuel Uncoupling

Two months after costing New York an estimated $4.2 million in lost handle revenue during the first quarter of 2021, a bill to eliminate an antiquated state requirement that same-race mounts of married jockeys be coupled in pari-mutuel wagering has passed both the Assembly and Senate.

The New York Senate unanimously passed Bill No. A7024 June 1 by a 63-0 margin. The Assembly had passed it 147-0 on May 5.

The measure, if signed into law by the governor, would take effect immediately. It now charges racetrack operators with the responsibility for “adequately” informing the public about jockey and trainer family relations that could be perceived as conflicts of interest.

The decades-old rule was a focal point of intense scrutiny earlier this year because it affected recently married jockeys Trevor McCarthy and Katie Davis. Together, they had moved their tack from Maryland to New York after being married in December.

But when they began competing in common races at Aqueduct, it triggered the application of little-used state rule 4025.10 (f), which states, “All horses trained or ridden by a spouse, parent, issue or member of a jockey's household shall be coupled in the betting with any horse ridden by such jockey.” That meant on 41 occasions between Jan. 1 and Mar. 21, McCarthy and Davis's mounts in common races at Aqueduct necessitated a 1 and 1A coupling.

Although it's impossible to project the precise amount of handle that evaporates when a track loses a betting interest by forcing two independently owned and trained horses into a single mutuel coupling, a rough estimate of lost betting handle can be derived by multiplying Aqueduct's winter/spring per-entrant rounded handle of $103,000 by 41 to get the $4.2 million estimate.

The rule was widely criticized as being outdated and sexist, and during the first three months of 2021 it caused confusion among bettors, plus reams of bad press for Aqueduct (whose officials stated there was nothing they could do to change the law) and the New York State Gaming Commission (which did not address the controversy during any open, public meetings).

By February, Davis was claiming that Aqueduct racing office workers were pressuring trainers into not naming her on mounts, an allegation that a track spokesperson denied. She switched to accepting mounts in Maryland Apr. 8 while McCarthy continued to ride in New York.

On May 9, Davis announced on Twitter that she and McCarthy are expecting a child and she has not ridden in a race since that date. Shortly thereafter, the couple relocated to California, and McCarthy began riding at Santa Anita as of May 28.

The bill amends the state's racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law by adding a new section that reads:

“Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, all horses trained or ridden by a spouse, parent, issue or member of a jockey's household shall not be coupled in the betting with any horse ridden by such jockey. The racetrack operator shall take such actions as are necessary to inform the public adequately with regard to the relationship between any such jockey or trainer.”

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McIngvale: Where You Bet Matters

Jim McIngvale, also known as Mattress Mack, is an entrepreneur, furniture mogul, philanthropist and horse owner based in Houston. McIngvale campaigned 2015 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse Award champion male sprinter Runhappy and has become a major racing sponsor while promoting his horse as a stallion at Claiborne Farm. McIngvale can be reached at 281-844-1963 or mack@galleryfurniture.com.

As handicappers and racing enthusiasts across America prepare to dive into this week's sensational Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, keep this in mind: Where you bet matters.

It took 25-plus years of horse ownership and a $2.4 million wager for me to fully appreciate the huge difference it makes where a bet is placed. It was a wake-up call for me, and it should be for you. Everyone in horse racing whenever possible should put their money through the windows or self-bet machines at the racetrack.

If you're like I was, you've never really thought about how each dollar gets chopped up. A bet is a bet, you probably think. You get the same payoff if you bet on-track, through simulcasting or online. Even at a casino that is booking the bets, you get track odds, albeit with caps.

But the return to the industry — for the owners whose horses put on the show and for the track that provides the venue — wildly varies depending on where a bet is made. For the long-term viability of the sport, those who work in and/or love horse racing should learn where the money goes and take seriously betting where it maximizes purses.

I was committed to placing at least $2 million on Essential Quality in the Kentucky Derby in order to cover my Gallery Furniture promotion where customers would get their money back if the Derby favorite won. The casinos worked hard to get my action, which they had received for promotions tied to the outcome of the World Series and Super Bowl. It was an eye-opener to learn what it meant in additional dollars to horse owners if I made the largest Kentucky Derby bet in history at the home of the Derby instead of a casino or online.

I lost my $2.4 million total in win bets when Essential Quality finished fourth but sold a boatload of mattresses and had a lot of customers snapping their fingers during the Run for the Roses. But a big winner was Churchill Downs' purse account for horsemen, which accrued $240,000 from my bets alone.

Purses are the lifeblood of American racing — it's what makes our racing unique and is vital to its sustainability. There's a substantial difference in the money that goes to horse owners if a bet is placed onsite at the track or if it's bet through an online platform, simulcasting, a casino or off-shore. It also makes a big difference to the track staging the races, with the significant costs entailed in building, maintaining and staffing the facility.

Had I made my wager in Las Vegas, where the casinos do not have a contract with Churchill Downs and therefore could not bet into the parimutuel pools, no money would have flowed back to Kentucky horsemen. If bet anywhere but on track, at best the funding to purses would have been would have about half. At worse, zero.

If we care about the industry, the last place we should bet is offshore or with casinos that book the bets and don't contribute anything to our mutuel pools or purse account. Offshore sites might offer lucrative rebates – but they can do that because they have no outlay for the cost of putting on the product.

I'm not bashing reputable online betting operations or simulcasting. The pandemic proved how vital ADW operations are to racing, how we were able to stay in business with spectator-less racing while other sports were shut down.

Millennials and Generation Z's office is their phone, so ADWs are expanding our reach but at the same time should pay an equitable rate to racetracks and horsemen. Kudos to ADWs that have worked with various tracks and horsemen's groups in California, Kentucky and elsewhere to make sure ADW betting on-site returns the same amount to purses as if the bet were placed with a mutuel clerk or self-bet machine.

Of course, if we're asking horseplayers and racing participants to bet at the track where possible, tracks likewise must make their facilities and the experience inviting for fans. Every day, and not just on select days.

Horse racing has a great opportunity to step up our game and attract new fans. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness ratings showed people are interested in horse racing. Heck, my Gallery Furniture promotion shows that the Kentucky Derby and racing resonate with the guy and gal on the street.

We've got to attract younger people. We need to attract the followers of Barstool Sports, Bleacher Report, Action Network. We need to embrace sports-betting content.

There is no easy fix. It takes commitment, effort and ingenuity. But our sport and industry are worth it. Excluding football games, the Kentucky Derby was the third-most watched sporting event since the pandemic hit in March 2020, trailing only the NCAA men's basketball championship game won by Baylor and Gonzaga's semifinal victory over UCLA, according to Sports Media Watch. That's impressive.

The Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown and horse racing are still relevant. But you've got to flame the fire — and also be smart about where we bet. Cumulatively, it makes a huge difference.

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