Bill Mudd | Horse Racing Free Tips

Churchill Brings on SAP as an Official Signature Partner for Derby

Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) has entered a multi-year agreement naming SAP America, Inc. (SAP), a global market leader in enterprise application software, an official signature partner of Churchill Downs Racetrack, CDI said in a release Thursday. SAP is the first official technology partner of Churchill, as well as of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. The agreement includes naming rights within Churchill and use of SAP technology solutions.

“We are thrilled to welcome SAP as a signature partner of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby,” said Bill Mudd, President and Chief Operating Officer of CDI. “SAP is a tremendous global brand that supports our vision to innovate and fuel growth across our businesses. We are excited to have SAP join our iconic brand at the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.”

The partnership also includes naming rights for the SAP Starting Gate Suites and designation as the presenting partner of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs mobile applications.

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White Abarrio Removed From Saffie Joseph’s Barn by C2 Racing; Heads to Dutrow

White Abarrio (Race Day) has been taken away from trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after his suspension by Churchill Downs during a week when two of his horses died from unexplained causes at the Louisville track, according to a Tweet posted by White Abarrio's owners, C2 Racing Stable. He was scheduled to arrive at his new trainer Rick Dutrow's barn at Belmont on Tuesday.

Parents Pride (Maclean's Music) and Chasing Artie (We Miss Artie), both owned by Ken Ramsey and trained by Joseph, collapsed and died April 29 and May 2, respectively. Parents Pride was pulled up at the five-sixteenths pole during his race before collapsing, while Chasing Artie collapsed after returning to the unsaddling area after his race.

“Twenty days ago, the primary trainer for C2 Racing Stable, Saffie Joseph Jr., was indefinitely suspended by a racetrack operator and since this suspension, we have not been successful in obtaining the necessary answers from several racing jurisdictions or racetrack operators regarding future race nominations and race entries by Saffie Joseph, Jr.,” the statement posted on Twitter reads.

“Due to the lack of answers by jurisdictions and operators, they have made it very difficult to manage the remainder of White Abarrio's four-year-old campaign, thus requiring us to make a trainer change for the remainder of the year. This is definitely not our preference; however, we had two choices, remain with Saffie not knowing if our race nominations or entries would be accepted or make a trainer change so we can nominate White Abarrio to the Metropolitain Mile on June 10, 2023 and future races.

“The decision to make a trainer change is solely based on the ability to manage White Abarrio. We have the utmost confidence and trust in Saffie Joseph, Jr. and his team. We know from first-hand experience and being at the barn on almost a daily basis for the past year that he and his team deeply care for th e welfare and condition of the horses. In fact, we remain fully committed to Saffie and our twelve horses currently under his care will remain as we are very confident Saffie will be reinstated and fully vindicated in the near future.

“White Abarrio will arrive at Belmont Park this morning to his new trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr. to being preparing for the Metropolitan Mile on June 10, 2023.”

White Abarrio won a Gulfstream allowance/optional claiming race in his last start at Gulfstream on March 4, after running eighth in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., presented by Baccarat. The allowance win was his first since taking the GI Florida Derby in April, 2022.

C2 Racing Stable is owned by Clint and Mark Cornett.

Joseph was suspended indefinitely by Churchill on May 4, two days before the Kentucky Derby, and his entrant, Lord Miles (Curlin) was scratched. “Given the unexplained sudden deaths, we have reasonable concerns about the condition of his horses, and decided to suspend him indefinitely until details are analyzed and understood,” said Bill Mudd, President and Chief Operating Officer of CDI. “The safety of our equine and human athletes and integrity of our sport is our highest priority. We feel these measures are our duty and responsibility.”

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Illinois Racing Board Nixes Arlington’s OTB Licenses But Approves TwinSpires ADW

You win some, you lose some.

That's how it went for Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) and its dormant track, Arlington Park, during Thursday's regularly scheduled meeting of the Illinois Racing Board when the 10 commissioners deadlocked on a motion to permit Arlington to continue to operate off-track betting faclities, effectively killing the measure. CDI won a second vote by a 9-1 margin permitting TwinSpires, the company's advance deposit wagering platform, to maintain its license and operate in the state in 2022.

The meeting was contentious at times, with Arlington's Tony Petrillo and Hawthorne's Tim Carey shouting over each other during discussions about ADW revenue.

Commissioner Alan Henry, a fierce critic of CDI over its decision to not race at Arlington in 2022 and sell the track property to the NFL's Chicago Bears to build a football stadium, referred to the closing as a “flagrant obscenity,” saying that, “It's now time for this board and this state to move on from Churchill Downs.”

This came after Chris Block, newly elected president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, said the move to close Arlington has put the state's Thoroughbred industry “on the brink of collapse.”

But the board apparently has a number of CDI loyalists who felt it was in the best interest of racing to permit Arlington Park to maintain its OTB network despite not operating a live race meetingin 2022 – in what the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association said was contrary to law.

Petrillo told the IRB that CDI remained committed to live racing in Illinois, saying the company was continuing to search for a property to build a new track to replace Arlington. When pressed by the board, he couldn't offer any specifics. Two senior CDI officials, Bill Mudd and Brad Blackwell, joined the call, but they offered no specifics, either, saying they hoped to find a place to build a track and then get a casino license.

To several commissioners, that made no sense, inasmuch as CDI turned down an opportunity to add casino gambling to Arlington after enabling legislation was passed in 2019. Horsemen and CDI worked hand in hand for many years to get the legislation approved.

When it came time to vote on Arlington's OTBs, five commissioners were in favor and five against; thus, the motion did not pass. The yes votes came from Leslie Breuer, Marcus Davis, Lydia Gray, Charles MacKelvie and Leslye Sandberg. Voting against the Arlington OTB licenses were board chairman Daniel Beiser, Beth Doria, Alan Henry, Benjamin Reyes and John Stephan.

Hawthorne is expected to pick up the slack from the Arlington OTBs that will not reopen, although under current law it is one OTB short of the maximum it can operate. Hawthorne is expected to seek legislative help that will permit them to expand their network.

For an advance deposit wagering company to be licensed in Illinois, it must have a contract with a state racetrack and the consent of the representative horsemen's group.

TwinSpires had previously reached an agreement with Fanduel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, the downstate track formerly known as Fairmount Park. The Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association that represents horsemen at Fanduel/Fairmount withheld consent until just before Thursday's meeting. The board could have approved the license without consent, if the commissioners felt the horsemen were being unreasonable, but the agreement made that a moot point after the Illinois HBPA gave their consent.

However, there was one last chance for the IRB to block TwinSpires' operations in Illinois by denying the company an ADW license. After much debate, that license was approved by a 9-1 vote. Henry was the lone dissenter.

As commissioner Henry explained, the approval will hurt horsemen at Hawthorne because the bulk of purse revenue will remain at Fanduel/Fairmount although 75% of the ADW customers live in the Chicago area.

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Report: CDI Exploring Selling Off Twinspires

Churchill Downs Inc. is reportedly exploring selling off TwinSpires Racing, which the gaming corporation describes as the “premier online horse racing wagering platform in the United States.”

The financial news site Bloomberg first broke the CDI scoop at 3:40 p.m. Eastern Dec. 2, citing several sources who requested anonymity because they were sharing information that hadn't yet been divulged by the publicly traded company. A CDI official declined comment.

Bloomberg reported that CDI “is working with an adviser to solicit potential interest in the wagering platform.”

One of the sources estimated “TwinSpires could fetch $1.5 billion in any transaction.”

Bloomberg reported CDI itself has a market value of $8.8 billion.

But one of the sources quoted in that story also cautioned that “no final decision has been made,” noting that CDI could continue to own the platform.

During an Oct. 28 third-quarter earnings conference call, CDI's president and chief operating officer, Bill Mudd, gave no hint of a sale of the advance-deposit wagering platform when he answered an investor's question about what to expect regarding TwinSpires in the near future.

“I'd say, first of all, on the fourth quarter [of 2021], we're kind of entering now a very stable period for TwinSpires,” Mudd said.

At a different point in that earnings call, Bill Carstanjen, CDI's chief executive officer, noted that the TwinSpires racing handle was up 31% in the third quarter, driven by a 23% increase in active users compared to 2019, resulting in an increase of $113 million.

And Carstanjen said CDI would be devoting resources to making TwinSpires better.

“The majority of our fourth quarter maintenance capital [for 2021] is related to finishing the new turf course of Churchill Downs Racetrack, new slot purchases, and ongoing improvements to our TwinSpires horse racing platform,” Carstanjen said on that call five weeks ago.

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