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Letter To The Editor: Racing In Crisis – Thoughts From A Passionate Fan

I have been obsessed with horse racing for decades. Racing combines beauty, adventure, triumph, and (occasionally) the sophistication of a Hollywood movie. Throw in the excitement of gambling and “You had me at hello.”

I have bred my own horses, have invested in 30 horse racing partnerships (don't tell my wife), and have written The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told – the best-selling horse racing book since Seabiscuit. In short: I'm all in.

I believe horse racing is the greatest game in the world, and I am desperately fighting to remain engaged in the sport I love. It is from this desperation, written solely as a racing fan and horse player, that I write this letter. I have listed my issues with horse racing's current realities while acknowledging I don't have many solutions. Perhaps my next “Letter to the Editor” will include a few of my 'half-baked' ideas of controversial fixes for racing's demons.

When simulcasting was first introduced in the late 1980s I thought it the greatest invention since vodka. I could go to my local track, or stay home, while watching and gambling on live racing at the nation's greatest tracks. When other fans complained that onsite attendance was dwindling, I told them, “The track is still open in person. It's just not as crowded.” In retrospect I believe that simulcasting is simultaneously the best thing that ever happened to racing (it would be extinct without it) and the worst thing that ever happened to our sport.

Technology is transformative. The concept that I can download my Daily Racing Form “Formulator” past performances, watch and wager on top stakes races daily, all from the convenience of my home office, is incredibly convenient. My wife says she likes me at home—but I have my doubts. Unfortunately, being a solo racing fan is like gambling in solitary confinement.

No one likes to eat at an empty restaurant. Walking through the nearly empty, cavernous Santa Anita stands—on all but a few big Saturdays—is depressing to me. I loved buying horses in public partnerships, sharing with fellow owners in celebrating our wins, and convening in the bar after our numerous defeats. I enjoy bringing my wife and friends to the races, especially the excitement new attendees show when seeing a powerful, sleek, stunningly beautiful thoroughbred up close enough to touch, in the paddock, barn, or winner's circle. Now the track usually resembles that empty restaurant and when I ask friends to join me for a day at the races, they mention the racing deaths they read about, while looking at me like I'm an axe murderer.

My personal opinions of racing's future:

Legal sports gambling will not save horse racing, but instead will be a fierce competitor. Why will gamblers pay takeout of 16 percent on a win bet (21 percent blended racing takeout rate on exactas, trifectas) on horse racing, but only pay 5 percent vigorish on a sports team bet (8.6 percent on a two-team parlay).
Simulcasting will not create racing fans. If it did where are they?
CAWs (computer assisted wagering groups) are driving out serious horse players like me! I don't mind competition. Hell, I don't even mind losing—but give me a fair shot. Let me get this right: I am supposed to pay takeout of 21 percent, and compete against a computer with better data and the knowledge of pools that I am not allowed to access, and then the CAWs are getting a rebate of 10 percent for consideration of their huge bets? And the CAW site is owned by the racetrack? I think I'll grab a beer, pay $5 takeout on a $100 dollar football bet, and call it an afternoon.
Continue with all the great recent improvements for horse safety. Racing fans and owners love our horses. The fatalities numbers are way down. Bravo. Keep it up and add new technology like scans, etc. to get even better. But don't try to appease PETA and don't give unrealistic horse safety expectations to the public. What would happen if we took all the racehorses and let them go free in the wild? Do everything reasonable to make racing as safe as possible—but is it better to not breed horses at all, or to lose less than a small fraction of 1 percent while racing?
Having played Hollywood Park and Santa Anita synthetic racetracks for a decade, I personally will not watch racing on synthetic surfaces. It is not just racing I enjoy wagering on or watching; if running on a track made of oatmeal is safer than dirt, then as they say on Shark Tank: “I'm out.”
Racinos and slot machines will not save racing. Eventually economic reality will lead to the elimination of these subsidies and racing's umbilical cord will be cut.
Racing is funded by gambling dollars and well-bankrolled horse players who do not want to view or wager on small five- and six-horse fields. The number of thoroughbreds bred has been reduced nearly 60 percent from a few decades ago. I believe that racing is headed the way of a few big “super tracks” racing year-round, plus the summer “spa” meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar, and the spring and fall Keeneland meets. I am sympathetic to those hard-working backstretch workers at small and mid-level tracks, but I don't see a future there. Respected podcaster Chuck Simon tells me that big tracks cannot exist without smaller satellite tracks feeding into them. How does Sha Tin racetrack in Hong Kong continue to thrive with huge fields and huge wagering pools?

I attended horseplayer heaven at both Saratoga and Del Mar this summer, loving the energy of packed stands, the roar of the crowd, and full fields to lose my money on. I left hopeful, re-energized, and headed straight to the ATM. I don't regret a single day I have spent at the racetrack.

How do I reconcile my adoration for this game with the realities of today's racetrack experience?

My personal solution may unfortunately be to attend and simulcast only on racing's few big Saturdays per year.
The only experience that rivals cheering home your own winning horse is watching your children compete at sports and I enjoyed that gift when my family was young. I love being as close to the game as possible, yet I have decided there is no reason to own additional horses to race in front of empty stands.

Several days this coming this year I will put on a sports coat and invite my wife to take out her “track hat” for a big-stakes day at the races. I will spend three hours of excited anticipation handicapping full fields of magnificent horses and will push my bankroll through the windows with happy abandon—all to enjoy the greatest game in the world.

Mark Paul – Beverly Hills, Calif.

Author of “The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told”

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Santa Anita Derby Winner Practical Move Returns In Friday Allowance At Santa Anita

Practical Move, sidelined since winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, is set to return to the races on Friday in a competitive one-mile classified allowance at Santa Anita Park.

Trained by Tim Yakteen, Practical Move is listed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite for his comeback. Regular rider Ramon Vazquez will be in the irons. Also entered in the field of seven is the comebacking Grade 2 winner Newgrange (3-1), who has been off since a seventh-place effort in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap March 4 for trainer Phil D'Amato. Yakteen will also start American Admiral, most recently second in the Sept. 17 Los Alamitos Special.

Practical Move won the Santa Anita Derby by a nose, making him a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs a month later. However, while in Louisville, Practical Move spiked a temperature the week of the race and had to be scratched.

Practical Move returned to the work tab Aug. 13 at Del Mar. He has had nine drills for his comeback. In September had two six-furlong works followed by a pair of quick five furlong moves with the most recent completed in 59.60 seconds on Saturday.

“Everything has been straightforward,” Yakteen said of Practical Move's preparation.

While it's going on six months since Practical Move's last start, Yakteen said he appears to be much the same colt physically as in the spring.

“I haven't really seen any change. He's a big horse as it is, 1,250 pounds, so I wouldn't want him to put any more weight on anyway,” Yakteen said. “I'm very happy with what I've seen and how he's coming in.”

Ideally, Yakteen is hoping a good effort Friday could propel Practical Move to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile here on Nov. 4.

“We'll take it one race at a time. The main thing is we want him to come back how he left off,” Yakteen said. “If he does, we'll put our heads together and think about the Breeders' Cup. It would be nice if we could entertain that.”

By Practical Joke, Practical Move is owned by Leslie A. Amestoy, Pierre J. Amestoy and Roger Beasley. Prior to his win in the Santa Anita Derby, Practical Move won the G2 San Felipe on March 4 at Santa Anita and G2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December. His career mark is 4-1-2 in seven starts with earnings of $884,200.

Also in the field Friday is Grade 1 winner Tripoli (8-1) for trainer John Sadler and a pair of colts trained by Bob Baffert, Mr Fisk (4-1) and Tahoe Sunrise (4-1). Mr. Fisk and Tahoe Sunrise most recently dead-heated for the win in the restricted Shared Belief for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar July 17.

Practical Move's comeback goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card set for Friday. It is a second-level allowance that's also open to horses who have not won a race since June 18. Post time is scheduled for 4:42 p.m. Pacific.

The field in post position order: Tahoe Sunrise, Victor Espinoza (4-1); American Admiral, J.G. Torrealba (6-1); Mr Fisk, Juan Hernandez (4-1); Newgrange, Edwin Maldonado (3-1); Practical Move, Ramon Vazquez (8-1); Tripoli, Tiago Pereira (8-1); Divine Armor, Antonio Fresu (9-1).

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Leading Breeders’ Cup Classic Hopeful Arcangelo Has First Work At Santa Anita Park

Leading Breeders' Cup Classic contender Arcangelo had his first work at Santa Anita Thursday. With trainer Jena Antonucci on hand from New York to observe, Arcangelo was officially credited with a five furlong move in 1:02.20.

“We're just getting him used to the track,” Antonucci said after the drill. “There's plenty of time go fast.”

Winner of this year's Belmont Stakes and Travers, both in New York, Arcangelo is the No. 1 ranked contender in this year's official Breeders' Cup Classic rankings. The $6 million Classic at 1 ¼ miles will be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

For Thursday's work, which came under exercise rider Robert Mallari, Arcangelo was outfitted in the low-cut blinkers he has worn in recent races. Antonucci said he will remain in the equipment for the Classic.

“I think they've worked out well to this point,” Antonucci added with a grin.

Highly respected private clocker Gary Young timed Arcangelo's work a bit quicker than the official time. Young had the son of Arrogate going five furlongs in 1:01.60 with a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:16.20. Fractions clocked by Young were 13.20 seconds for the opening furlong, 25.4 for a quarter mile, 37.60 for three furlongs and 49.80 for a half mile.

Antonucci is scheduled to return to New York Friday morning. She'll be back at Santa Anita later this month and will stay here through the Breeders' Cup.

In other Breeders' Cup news, three contenders trained by Steve Asmussen – Echo Zulu, Society and Private Creed – are scheduled to work on Friday, assistant Scott Blasi said. Stablemates Clairiere and Gunite will work Saturday.

Echo Zulu, a perfect 3-for-3 this year, is possible to take on males in the Breeders' Cup Sprint going six furlongs. Society, winner of the G3 Chicago at Ellis Park and Misty Bennet Pink Ribbon Stakes at Charles Town in her two most recent starts, is targeting the Breeders' Cup Distaff. Private Creed, a 3-year-old Jimmy Creed colt, is eyeing the five-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint after earning his first graded-stakes win in the G2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs Sept. 9.

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Assistants to Convicted Harness Trainers Avoid Prison in 2020 Doping Conspiracy Sentencings

Two assistants to a pair of already-convicted Standardbred trainers in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal avoided prison terms beyond their time already served on Wednesday when a judge in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) sentenced them each to two years of supervised release and joint responsibility for monetary penalties. Both had cooperated with authorities in obtaining the convictions of others in the network, according to court documents.

Conor Flynn, who worked for the former trainer Richard Banca, pleaded guilty to one felony count of drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy, with two similar felony charges against him dropped, according to the court docket.

Brandon Simpson, who worked for the former trainer Renee Allard, pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. via drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy, the docket stated.

According to a pre-sentencing report filed by his counsel, Flynn “timely accepted full responsibility for his ill-advised actions in a horse doping scheme organized by his then-employer and direct supervisor, Richard Banca [and] Dr. Louis Grasso, a licensed veterinarian who treated horses trained by Banca.

“Although Conor participated in the scheme, he played a minor role. Conor did not devise the scheme. Conor did not profit from the scheme, did not expect to profit from the scheme, and did not receive a raise or bonus in exchange for his participation in the scheme,” Flynn's court filing continued. “Squarely put, Conor, an unsophisticated young man with only a high school diploma, who desperately wanted to move up into Banca and Dr. Grasso's prominent horse racing circle, simply got caught up in Banca and Dr. Grasso's culture of misdeeds, ill-gotten power, and greed.”

According to a pre-sentence report filed by his counsel, Simpson admitted that he “assisted Mr. Allard in administering performance-enhancing drugs on a day of a race to enhance a horses race performance. In addition, Mr. Simpson also assisted in obtaining prescription drugs that were obtained without valid prescriptions, and those drugs were administered to racehorses in violation of the applicable racing rules and regulations.

“Significantly, Mr. Simpson does not hide from his illegal conduct. In fact, it is quite the opposite,” Simpson's court filing continued. “Mr. Simpson, after being contacted by authorities, agreed to cooperate with federal agents and prosecutors in an attempt to assist them in their efforts against other individuals and he did so knowing that it was the right thing to do in order to help in some way to right his wrongful behavior.”

The judgment on the court docket stated that Flynn must pay $16,220,794 in restitution that is “joint and several” with Bianca and a $129,975 forfeiture that is “joint and several” with Grasso.

Simpson's judgment stated that he must pay $31,435,782 restitution that is “joint and several” with Grasso and a $628,553 forfeiture that is “joint and several” with Allard.

Grasso in 2022 got sentenced to 50 months in federal prison. Banca was sentenced to 30 months. Allard got 27 months.

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