Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023.

“I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town,” said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor, horseplayer and the managing partner of Ten Strike Stable. “Now, I think we are feeling the real competition from sports betting. It's proliferated everywhere and at such a cheaper price point. Then we have small field sizes and the quality of the product is deteriorating. A lot of things have come together. The game is getting ever tougher for the real hardcore weekend warriors who would handle a couple hundred thousand to a million a year. They're finding this market to be a lot tougher. It's shark eats shark out there.”

In a surprising development, U.S. purses fell from $1,309,888,791 to $1,305,772,102, for a decline of .31 percent. With so much money being funneled into purses accounts from alternative forms of gambling, purses rose by 35.8% in 2021, the year after COVID. They were up 10.9 percent in 2022. With the casino market pretty saturated in this country, massive year-over-year increases in purses may be a thing of the past.

There was a reduction of 5.48% in the category of U.S. Race Days and a dip of 3.34 percent in U.S. starts.

In a somewhat encouraging development, the average field size actually showed a slight increase from 7.3 to 7.43.

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The check was presented after the tenth race at Delaware Park Saturday. Over the course of the live racing season, each jockey donates a dollar from each mount fee and Delaware Park Casino & Racing, the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the Delaware Jockeys Health and Welfare Benefit Fund each match the dollar. The total is then donated to the PDJF at the end of the season.

“Delaware Park has been fortunate to have an exceptional jockey colony for years, not only as riders, but as leaders,” said Ed Stegemeier, the Chairman of the Delaware Jockeys Health and Welfare Fund Board and Secretary of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission. “We could not be happier today to come together for this presentation.  I am particularly honored with the method of having all the groups coming together to make this important contribution possible.”

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According to stories first reported by the Pennsylvania news outlet the Times Leader and the gaming industry site Casino.org, security officials at the Mohegan Pennsylvania casino in Wilkes-Barre began more closely monitoring a dealer there Dec. 30 after detecting a “sudden large win rate” at his table.

Citing court records filed by the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Gaming Enforcement, the Times Leader reported that “Jason Richard Kutney, 52, was a dealer for the craps electronic table game responsible for pushing a button at the end of a 30 second clock allowing patrons to place bets. Kutney pushed the button early, allowing casino patron Louis Attilio Grasso, 66, to see the numbers prior to placing his bet.”

The Times Leader's reporting continued: “State police in court records said the scheme occurred on Dec. 30, when Grasso won $17,521, and again [Jan. 5], when Grasso won $4,125. Kutney admitted to pushing the button on the machine earlier, giving Grasso the benefit of seeing the numbers.”

Casino.org added that “Surveillance video captured Kutney allegedly hitting the dice button early at least nine times. During the incidents, police say bettors were given as much as 20 seconds to place their bets even though the dice had been rolled and the winning numbers were displayed on the electronic [table].”

“Police said in an affidavit that Kutney admitted to law officers that he was assisting Grasso through a difficult time. Grasso declined to speak with police and instead requested an attorney,” Casino.org reported.

Casino.org reported that Kutney was arrested and charged with three felony charges for receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking, and conspiring to trick, fraud, or manipulate a casino, plus a first-degree misdemeanor for knowingly tricking and/or defrauding a business.

The Luzerne County court docket noted that Grasso's charges are similar, reporting them in court shorthand as “Knowingly by trick/fraud/manipulation win or reduce loss” without designating them as felonies or misdemeanors.

Although the Times Union additionally reported on Friday that both defendants “were jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $25,000 unsecured bail,” neither was listed on the inmate roster as of Saturday afternoon.

In May 2022, when Grasso entered a guilty plea in the racehorse doping conspiracy case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District Court issued a press release in which U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “In peddling illegal drugs and selling prescriptions to corrupt trainers, Louis Grasso abdicated his responsibilities as a medical professional to ensure the safety and health of the racehorses he 'treated.'”

The website Sports Litigation Alert reported on Dec. 16,. 2022, that Grasso's doping conspiracy conviction was hardly his first brush with the law or state racing regulators.

“In 1992, Grasso was previously convicted in federal court of selling anabolic steroids and his license to practice equine medicine was suspended by the State of New York. In 1993, based on Grasso's guilty plea in New York to three counts of possession and distribution of anabolic steroids, his New Jersey license to practice veterinary medicine in New Jersey was also suspended for five years.

“[In 2000] Delaware authorities suspected Grasso of practicing without a license and when police tried to arrest him Grasso led the police on a wild car chase. When the police finally stopped Grasso they found needles, syringes and banned drugs in his car. In 2005, New York State Racing and Wagering Board upheld a refusal to license Grasso to participate in pari-mutuel harness racing as a veterinarian,” Sports Litigation Alert reported.

Beyond his upcoming federal prison sentence in the doping conviction, the court has also mandated that Grasso pay restitution in the amount of $47,656,576 and a forfeiture of $412,442.

Just prior to his Nov. 15 sentencing, Grasso wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency because of health issues and his modest financial means.

“I am a physical wreck,” Grasso wrote. “I am not a rich man. I don't have much in the way of money or possessions. I have no savings, I have little cash available… While I don't live hand to mouth, I don't have the ability to withstand any catastrophic events in my life.”

Grasso is due to appear in Luzerne County Court next on Jan. 17 for a preliminary hearing on the casino charges.

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“This is kind of a very historic moment today in the history of Nebraska racing,” Dennis Lee, chairman of the Nebraska commission, said at Friday's meeting.

The Journal-Star reports that all six of the state's racetracks—located in Lincoln, Omaha, South Sioux City, Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings—will seek to add casinos.

Nebraskan voters first approved a constitutional amendment allowing casinos at the racetracks in November of 2020. No decision has been made about sports betting in the state.

Read more at the Lincoln Journal-Star.

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“We are thrilled for this opportunity and honored for the trust that the Indiana Gaming Commission has placed in CDI and our plan to bring a true destination casino resort to West Central Indiana,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI.

CDI's plan includes a $240 million investment that will feature 1,000 slot machines, 50 table games, a 125-room luxury hotel, a state-of-the-art TwinSpires Sportsbook and several food & beverage offerings. The concepts and design features for the approximately 400,000-square-foot Queen of Terre Haute development will reflect the unique heritage of Vigo County and the surrounding region.

“In the days ahead, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with local officials in Vigo County and the Indiana Gaming Commission as we work to turn our vision for the Queen of Terre Haute into a reality,” said Jason Sauer, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for CDI.

The IGC will officially award CDITH the casino owner's license to operate an inland casino in Vigo County upon the final affirmation of the pending nonrenewal of the prior license holder. The Certificate of Suitability and future issuance of the license is subject to all Commission regulations, resolutions and orders.

About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event, the Kentucky Derby. We own and operate three pari-mutuel gaming entertainment venues with approximately 3,050 historical racing machines in Kentucky. We also own and operate TwinSpires, one of the largest and most profitable online wagering platforms for horse racing, sports and iGaming in the U.S. and we have seven retail sportsbooks. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming in eight states with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games. www.churchilldownsincorporated.com

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Specifically, the NHBPA argued that proposals to add tracks in Bellevue and York would dilute the market and weaken existing tracks.

The five new tracks proposed would be located in Bellevue, York, Norfolk, North Platte, and Scottsbluff.

No decisions were made at Friday's meeting, but Commission Chairman Dennis Lee promised separate hearings for each of the five new racetrack proposals.

Read more at the Omaha World Herald.

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Indiana Grand, located in Shelbyville, will add approximately 25,000 square feet to the north end of the casino making room for 100 brand-new slot machines and 25 more table games. Inside the new gaming floor and across the property, guests will enjoy significant updates to design and architectural features.

Additionally, the expanded gaming floor will feature the WSOP Poker Room, a live Poker Room named for and carrying the spirit of the legendary World Series of Poker, the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world. The new WSOP Poker Room will include 20 tables and offer a premium experience with ways to qualify for WSOP land-based tournaments including the Main Event in Las Vegas.

Wilhelm Construction of Indianapolis will begin work on April 1, 2021, with renovations set to be completed by the end of 2021.

Preliminary plans include:

• A 5,000 square foot WSOP Poker Room featuring 20 tables
• A 20-seat video poker bar with 65” LCD overhead screens
• New table games, slots and gaming chairs
• New design elements throughout the gaming floor
• New surface parking
• More than 100 new jobs added to the work force
• Millions in local and state gaming tax revenue

“This investment at Indiana Grand is a testament to our continued commitment to Indiana,” said Anthony Carano, President and Chief Operating Officer of Caesars Entertainment. “We are dedicated to enhancing and upgrading our operations at all of our locations, and we're excited to start on several new phases of renovation and expansion in Shelbyville.”

“Since the implementation of table games in early 2020, we have looked forward to expanding our gaming operations,” said Mike Rich, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Indiana Grand. “This growth will allow us to accommodate more guests and add more talented Team Members to the Indiana Grand family, and with the addition of a state-of-the-art Poker Room, we will expand our casino offerings to include some of the most notable programs in the United States, including World Series of Poker.”

Additional details on new hospitality, entertainment, and culinary offerings are anticipated in the coming months, subject to City and Indiana Gaming Commission approval. For more information, please visit www.caesars.com/indiana-grand.

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Horse racing at Sunland Park remains on hold, however.

Last week, state regulators officially cancelled the remainder of the 2021 race meet, including the Sunland Derby. The track's signature race was not held in 2020, either.

Read more at ABC-7.

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Governor Tom Wolf announced Dec. 30 that because COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been working to tamp down the spread of the pandemic, he will allow more stringent safety restrictions that went into effect Dec. 12 to expire as planned.

But that doesn’t mean a full-blown opening for the 13 casinos in the state: Mitigation efforts will roll back to what they were on Dec. 11, which still caps casinos at 50% of occupancy. Similar restrictions were also eased for other social activities, like indoor dining, gyms, theaters and high school sports.

Parx and Penn National are the only two Thoroughbred tracks operating in Pennsylvania at this time of year.

“I think that’s really good news. We can go back to getting monies from the casinos, and that’s very important to us,” said Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Sal DeBunda in a video message posted to the organization’s website Dec.31.

DeBunda noted owners will still not be able to enter the winner’s circle to pose with their horses, “so it’s not a total open situation, but it’s back to the old rules before the mitigation rules were put in.”

Earlier this week, Penn National had announced a contingency plan to stay open through the month of January based on maintaining a nightly handle benchmark of $1.4 million in the event that Wolf had decided to extend the casino shutdown.

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WarHorse Gaming, LLC will be responsible for overall gaming operations and the Nebraska HBPA will continue to oversee all horse racing at the tracks. The two organizations are in the beginning stages of creating a timeline for the expansion and are expecting full casino operations to be up and running during 2022.

The Nebraska HBPA hopes this expansion will mean more involvement from the general public in horse racing in Nebraska, as well as more jobs and a general growth in the state's Thoroughbred industry.

“We are thrilled to partner with a world-class organization like Ho-Chunk, Inc.,” said Nebraska HBPA Executive Vice President Lynne McNally to KNOP News. “It's been a very long process getting to this point, with a lot more yet to do, but we're very much looking forward to what this will do for Nebraska.”

Read more at knopnews2.com.

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