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Three CDI-Brokered Simo Signals Return to Nevada

An impasse whose origin dates back more than two years that has prevented Nevada race books from taking betting on three simulcasting signals controlled by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), was reportedly resolved on Wednesday, although it remains unclear which side budged or what changed in the negotiations.

Mike Brunker of the Las Vegas Review-Journal broke the story Dec. 1.

Three signed contracts for the Fair Grounds, Turfway Park and Oaklawn Park that were suddenly offered by CDI were inked into agreement on Wednesday by the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association, which represents the state's race books. The documents then got forwarded to the state Gaming Control Board for approval, an expected formality.

“The dispute, which arose when Churchill Downs sought to charge more for its simulcast signal, has prevented fans in Nevada from wagering on races from the home of the [GI] Kentucky Derby since Oct. 27, 2019,” Brunker reported.

Brunker also wrote that the other tracks' signals had been withheld as part of an escalation of that initial dispute over the Churchill signal. CDI owns both the Fair Grounds and Turfway, while Oaklawn contracts with CDI for its signal distribution.

“The contracts received Wednesday do not resolve the underlying dispute over the Churchill Downs signal,” Brunker wrote. “But Patty Jones, executive director of the pari-mutuel association, described the development as 'positive movement' toward a long-term simulcasting agreement with the company.”

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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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Kentucky Racing Shifts To Turfway Park; Four $100,000 Stakes During 2021 Holiday Meet

Thoroughbred racing on the Kentucky circuit shifts from Churchill Downs in Louisville to its sister track Turfway Park Racing & Gaming, 94 miles to the northeast in Florence, on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 6:15 p.m. (all times Eastern) for the 16-day Holiday Meet.

The Holiday Meet covers a five-week stretch every Thursday-Sunday through Friday, Dec. 31 with the exception of no racing on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) or Christmas Day (Dec. 25). The first of eight races every Thursday-Saturday is 6:15 p.m. Sunday's eight-race programs will start at 1 p.m. Only seven races will be staged on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31).

Following the Holiday Meet, Turfway will commence its 38-day Winter Meet on Jan. 1, which will continue for 14 weeks through Saturday, April 2 – the new date for its marquee race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Jeff Ruby Steaks (Grade 3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles now worth $600,000, a $350,000 boost from the 2021 renewal.

The Jeff Ruby Steaks, which offers 170 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (Top 4 Points: 100-40-20-10), is the centerpiece of a revitalized stakes program thanks to increased interest by Kentucky horsemen and Churchill Downs Incorporated's investment and redevelopment of Turfway Park, which is scheduled for completion and to reopen next summer.

Turfway Park will present 24 stakes events – four during the Holiday Meet and 20 during the Winter Meet – that total $3.55 million. Four stakes are scheduled for the Holiday Meet and another 20 will be run during the Winter Meet. Each is worth a minimum $100,000 and there will be at least one stakes race carded weekly. Fourteen of the stakes have been brought back from an extended hiatus.

In addition to the Jeff Ruby Steaks, the $125,000 John Battaglia Memorial at 1 1/16 miles on March 5 will offer 17 “Prep Season” points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (Top 4 Points: 10-4-2-1). The $250,000 Bourbonette (Listed) on April 2, now 1 1/16 miles, and $125,000 Cincinnati Trophy, now one mile, on March 5 will offer qualifying points for 3-year-old fillies on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (Top 4 Points: 100-40-20-10 and 10-4-2-1, respectively).

A total of six stakes cumulatively worth $1.7 million highlights the Jeff Ruby Steaks Day card on closing day, which falls five weeks in advance of the Kentucky Derby.

Horsemen will compete for $4.974 million (all purses include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) offered in Director of Racing Tyler Picklesimer's 127-race Holiday Meet condition book. Maiden special weight races are worth $62,000 and allowance races range from $63,000 to $68,000.

The average starters per race during last year's Holiday Meet was a strong 10.5, which produced highly competitive racing over the track's Tapeta synthetic surface. Installed during the summer of 2020, the Tapeta surface has received positive reviews from horsemen and jockeys alike and has proven to be a fair and rewarding surface for horseplayers.

Gerardo Corrales, who has ridden in the U.S. since 2015 after graduating from the Laffit Pincay Jockey Training Academy in his native Panama, is back to defend his Holiday Meet and Winter Meet riding titles from a year ago. He won 15 races during the Holiday Meet and another 40 at the Winter Meet.

There will be several new additions to the jockey colony including journeyman riders Joe Rocco Jr. and Joe Talamo.

“I'm excited to stay home this winter,” said Talamo, who shifted his tack from California to Kentucky in 2020. “I've been trying out different winter gloves and scarves to get ready for the winter in Kentucky. With the purse money that keeps going up at Turfway, I think it was a good decision to stay home.”

Rocco, who's been a fixture on the Kentucky circuit since 2012, typically spent his winter at Oaklawn but will stay “home” for the Turfway meet.

“As your kids start to get older, it gets harder leaving each winter,” Rocco said. “I think it'll be a good change staying at Turfway.”

Other Kentucky riders that are scheduled to be in the Turfway jocks room include Rafael Bejarano and Chris Landeros.

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Bill Morey was the 2020 Holiday Meet leading trainer with six wins, while Wesley Ward dominated the 2021 Winter Meet trainer standings with 21 wins, nine more than Morey. In addition to Morey and Ward, trainers Brad Cox, Tommy Drury Jr., Mike Maker, Michael McCarthy and Mike Tomlinson are slated to have Turfway divisions this year.

“We'll mainly be based at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn this winter but we'll have a few horses that we keep in Kentucky to run at Turfway,” Cox said.

Turfway Park's wagering menu will feature a 15-percent takeout, 50-cent Pick 5 that starts in Race 1 each night as well as the 15-percent takeout 20-cent Single 6 Jackpot on Races 3-8. Also, there are two 14-percent takeout, 50-cent Pick 4 sequences on each card with the first offered on Races 2-5 and the second on Races 5-8.

The Single 6 jackpot will be paid only if there is a single winning wager with six winners placed at the required minimum bet value. If there are multiple winning wagers with six winners in the six-race sequence, 90 percent of the net money wagering into the pool will be paid, and the remaining 10 percent will carry to the Single 6 jackpot. If there are no tickets will all six winners, 100 percent of the pool will carry to the Single 6 jackpot.

Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Daily Double and Pick 3 wagers will be offered every race (on all races that qualify under Kentucky statutes for minimum field size) and the $1 Super Hi-5 will once again be offered in the last race.

Racing fans can wager on racing from Churchill Downs via www.TwinSpires.com, the official advance-deposit wagering service for Churchill Downs Incorporated and its family of racetracks. Also, fans of Turfway Park racing are encouraged to download the Churchill Downs LIVE app. The Churchill Downs LIVE app is available free of charge on streaming services such as Amazon, Apple TV and Roku. Fans can download the Churchill Downs LIVE app for full access to a free HD live stream of the simulcast signal for all Churchill Downs Incorporated-owned racetracks, including Turfway Park.

Jimmy McNerney will describe the racing action throughout the Holiday and Winter Meet.

For more information, visit www.turfway.com.

2021 TURFWAY PARK HOLIDAY MEET STAKES SCHEDULE

4 stakes cumulatively worth $400,000

Date	Running (Last)	Grade	Purse	Race	Conditions	Distance	Surface
Saturday, Dec. 4	35^th	Black Type	$100,000	Holiday Inaugural	3&up, f&m	6 F	Tapeta
Saturday, Dec. 11	33^rd (2011)	Black Type	$100,000	My Charmer	3&up, f&m	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, Dec. 18	26^th (2019)	Black Type	$100,000	Prairie Bayou	3&up	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Sunday, Dec. 26	28^th (2011)	Black Type	$100,000	Gowell	2yo f	6 F	Tapeta

* All purses include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund

2022 TURFWAY PARK WINTER MEET STAKES SCHEDULE

20 stakes cumulatively worth $3.15 million

Date	Running (Last)	Grade	Purse	Race	Conditions	Distance	Surface
Saturday, Jan. 1	24^th (2012)	Black Type	$100,000	Holiday Cheer	3&up	6 F	Tapeta
Saturday, Jan. 8	29^th (2013)	Black Type	$100,000	Turfway Prevue	3yo	6 ½ F	Tapeta
Saturday, Jan. 15	23^rd (2013)	Black Type	$100,000	Likely Exchange	4&up, f&m	1 M	Tapeta
Saturday, Jan. 22	31^st (2013)	Black Type	$100,000	Leonatus (formerly the Presidents)	3yo	1 M	Tapeta
Saturday, Jan. 29	28^th (2012)	Black Type	$100,000	Wishing Well	4&up, f&m	6 ½ F	Tapeta
Saturday, Feb. 5	38^th	Black Type	$100,000	Forego	4&up	6 ½ F	Tapeta
Saturday, Feb. 12	35^th (2012)	Black Type	$100,000	Valdale	3yo f	6 ½ F	Tapeta
Saturday, Feb. 19	31^st (2012)	Black Type	$100,000	Dust Commander	4&up	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, Feb. 26	38^th (2011)	Black Type	$100,000	Wintergreen (formerly the Fairway Fun)	4&up, f&m	1 M	Tapeta
Saturday, March 5	41^st	Black Type	$125,000	John Battaglia Memorial Road to the Kentucky Derby Points: 10-4-2-1	3yo	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, March 5	36^th	Black Type	$125,000	Cincinnati Trophy Road to the Kentucky Oaks Points: 10-4-2-1	3yo f	1 M	Tapeta
Friday, March 12	3^rd (1990)	Black Type	$100,000	Big Daddy (formerly the Daniel Boone)	4&up	6 F	Tapeta
Saturday, March 19	26^th (2011)	Black Type	$100,000	Queen	4&up, f&m	6 F	Tapeta
Saturday, March 26	2^nd (1988)	Black Type	$100,000	Serena's Song (formerly the Tea House)	3yo f	6 F	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	51^st	III	$600,000	Jeff Ruby Steaks Road to Kentucky Derby Points: 100-40-20-10	3yo	1 1/8 M	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	40^th	Listed	$250,000	Bourbonette Oaks Road to Kentucky Oaks Points: 50-20-10-5	3yo f	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	21^st	Listed	$250,000	TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic	4&up	1 1/8 M	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	35^th	Black Type	$200,000	Latonia	4&up, f&m	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	35^th	Black Type	$200,000	Rushaway	3yo	1 1/16 M	Tapeta
Saturday, April 2	8^th	Black Type	$200,000	Animal Kingdom	3yo	6 F	Tapeta

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IL HBPA Withholds Consent for TwinSpires to be in State

Edited Press Release

The organization representing owners and trainers at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (formerly known as Fairmount Park) is withholding consent for the TwinSpires betting platform to accept wagers from Illinois residents.

The board of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association cites the closure of suburban Chicago's industry icon Arlington Park by Churchill Downs Inc., TwinSpires' parent corporation, as a prime motivation for withholding consent. With CDI not owning a functioning racetrack in Illinois in 2022, TwinSpires must under state law have a contract with another duly licensed track to conduct business in the state starting Jan. 1. The only remaining Prairie State horse tracks are FanDuel and Chicagoland's Hawthorne Race Course, with CDI seeking approval through the FanDuel track.

Illinois law also gives horsemen consent rights before an advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform can enter into a relationship with an Illinois track to conduct business in the state.

Illinois HBPA president Jim Watkins said his organization's board believes the issue is of the magnitude that it should go before the Illinois Racing Board. The IRB has scheduled a hearing Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. Central via WebEx. The racing regulators have the power to overrule the horsemen's veto if they believe the horsemen's action was unreasonable, he said.

“That's where we're at now,” Watkins said. “We just felt this was an issue the racing board should be able to weigh in on, whether TwinSpires continues to be allowed to operate in Illinois. That's a big reason we withheld our consent.”

Watkins said the horsemen are upset not just that CDI shut down Arlington Park but then would not sell to ownership wishing to maintain racing at the 94-year-old track. CDI is the majority owner of Rivers Casino Des Plaines, located 10 miles from Arlington Park. The company has an agreement to sell the Arlington Park property to pro football's Chicago Bears for a reported $197 million.

“CDI wants their cake and to eat it, too: 'We're not willing to be involved in the racing, but we want to still utilize our ADW powers in Illinois,'” Watkins said.

Watkins said the Illinois HBPA also “wants to bring light to a flawed system” under which online betting platforms operate. Watkins said that the ADWs make the lion's share of the net proceeds at the expense of horsemen's purse accounts and brick-and-mortar tracks and simulcasting facilities, even as the online technology siphons off the majority of bettors.

“This is where the system is really flawed,” he said. “It's an agreement between three parties. In Illinois, the track and the ADW provider negotiate the contract, and the third–the horsemen–is just the consenter. There are so many questions left unanswered. Obviously with the increased numbers of people using ADWs, the horsemen and the tracks get so much less of that it could spell doom for us. The framers of these ADWs intended for it to basically be a third to the provider, a third to the track and a third to the horsemen. But they take out fees up front, and those fees are unspecified in purpose and amount. What is an ADW fee? What does that mean? The racetracks don't ask the ADW to pay their security payroll and the electric bill. And the horsemen don't ask the ADW company to pay the feed bill and hay bill and straw bill.”

The Illinois HBPA signed a one-year contract with TVG to operate in Illinois, Watkins said. FanDuel, part of the corporate enterprise that operates the TVG racing channel and betting platform, is the southern Illinois track's equity partner to operate the sports book. While the company is not a partner in the racetrack, it received branding and naming rights as part of a contract that includes the long-term sponsorship of the St. Louis Derby, worth $250,000 in 2021.

Click here for previous TDN story on CDI's request for IRB approval.

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