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Wyoming Downs To Offer Record Purses For 2021 Meet

With purses at an historic high of $1.1 million, Wyoming Downs, the only private racetrack in Wyoming, will host its 18-day live racing season every Saturday and Sunday beginning Saturday, June 12, and running through Aug. 8.

Horsemen from approximately six states competing for the winnings. The $1.1 million is the highest ever purse in the track's history.

Owner Eric Nelson said: “We are excited to offer the highest purses in our history and look forward to another great season with big crowds and great times.”

Wyoming Downs will once again be welcoming live crowds. During the 2020 pandemic Wyoming Downs was one of the few tracks in the United States to continue live racing with fans and did so by complying with state and local health mandated guidelines. This year masks will be recommended, though not required, sneeze guards will remain in place and cleanliness and sanitation will remain the focus.

Gates open at 11:30 AM with the first post at 1:05 PM. General admission is $10.00 with children under 12 free in the general admission stands. Clockers corner seats are $20.00 per person.

Each race day features 10 races.

Wyoming Downs will host special events throughout the season. Among the popular events are the Sixth Annual Brew Fest, Native American Heritage Day, Special Olympics-Wyoming Day and Pink Out Day which celebrates cancer survivors with the annual “Raysha's Race.”

2021 marks the ninth consecutive race season since owner Eric Nelson repurchased Wyoming Downs and began racing in 2013. Live racing has marked a resurgence of area industries related to racing.

After the races, Wyoming Downs invites those over the age of 18 to its off-track betting facility at 1925 Harrison Drive, Evanston, 92930.

Wyoming Downs is located 15 minutes north of Evanston, Wyoming at 10180 Highway 89 North, 82930, an approximate 75-minute drive from Salt Lake City, Utah. For tickets and more information, go to Wydowns.com or call 307-789-7223.

The post Wyoming Downs To Offer Record Purses For 2021 Meet appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Midnight Storm Filly Fastest At OBS June Under Tack Opener

Hip No. 107, a daughter of Midnight Storm consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales, Agent, worked an eighth in :9 4/5 to post the fastest work at the distance at the opening session of the Under Tack Show for Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 June Sale of 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age.

The bay filly is a half sister to stakes winner Miss My Rose out of Ava G, by Afternoon Deelites, from the family of Grade 1-placed stakes winner Winter Treasure.

A pair of youngsters shared honors for the session's fastest quarter, stopping the timer in :21 1/5.

Hip No. 5, a chestnut filly by Uncaptured consigned by Ocala Stud, is a half sister to stakes winning OBS graduate Seismic Jolt out of Valid Concorde, by Concorde's Tune, a full sister to stakes winning OBS graduate Rocky River.
Hip No. 18, a bay colt by Candy Ride (ARG) consigned by Wavertree Stables, Inc, (Ciaran Dunne), Agent, is out of Viva Malala, by Malibu Moon, a half sister to Grade 1-placed stakes-winning OBS graduate Icabad Crane.

Two horses worked quarters in :21 2/5.

Hip No. 98, I'm a Cutie, consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds, is a gray or roan filly by Cupid out of Arc Angel, by Bodemeister, from the family of Grade 1 winner Shared Account.
Hip No. 155, a bay filly by Practical Joke consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, is out of Bustle, by More Than Ready, a half sister to graded stakes winner Takeover Target.
Hip No. 162, a dark bay or brown colt by Into Mischief consigned by White Lilac, Agent, is a half brother to stakes winner Little Nick V. out of Campionessa, by A.P. Indy, a daughter of grade one stakes winner Pacific Squall.

Eight horses breezed eighths in :10 flat.

Hip No. 22, Treasured Glory, consigned by Hidden Brook, Agent for Patricia Generazio, is a bay colt by Treasure Beach (GB) out of stakes placed Wave of Glory, by Midshipman, a half sister to stakes placed Pomeroy's Package.
Hip No. 30, a bay filly by Gone Astray consigned by AVP Training and Sales, Agent, is out of White Hands, by Exchange Rate, from the family of graded stakes winner Control System.
Hip No. 46, Midnight in Alaska, a bay filly by Almasty consigned by Dark Star Thoroughbreds (Stori Atchison), is out of stakes placed Working At Night, by Tiznow, a daughter of stakes winner No Reason.
Hip No. 82, Little Afrodite, consigned by Silvestre Chavez Thoroughbreds, Agent, is a chestnut filly by Shackleford out of Aly Pie, by Gold Case, a half sister to graded stakes winner Spelling Again.
Hip No. 122, a chestnut filly by Gormley consigned by Hemingway Racing and Training Stables, LLC, Agent, is out of graded stakes winner Beat the Blues, by Great Pyramid (IRE), from the family of stakes winner Dedicated Queen.
Hip No. 135, a dark bay or brown filly by Anchor Down consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, is a half sister to stakes placed Desanctus out of Bint Elusive, by Elusive Quality.
Hip No. 170, a chestnut filly by Central Banker consigned by Envision Equine, Agent, is out of Casablanca Babe, by Horse Chestnut (SAF), a half sister to graded stakes winner Musket Man.
Hip No. 185, consigned by Goldencents Thoroughbreds, is a chestnut filly by Flat Out out of Chasida, by North Light (IRE), a half sister to champion Private Zone, from the family of champion Chief Bearhart.

Hip No. 61, Cupids Dream, a daughter of Cupid consigned by Dynasty Thoroughbreds, Agent, turned in the day's fastest three eighths, stopping the timer in :33 2/5. The bay filly is out of About a Dream, by Bodemeister, a half sister to graded stakes winning OBS graduate Leah's Secret.

The Under Tack Show continues Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. with Hip No.'s 186 – 370 scheduled to breeze.

To view the day's full results, click here.

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HISA Board Chair: We Will Be Tough

Addressing the media Wednesday through a Zoom call, Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority Chair Charles Scheeler said that the authority will go to great lengths to clean up the sport and its efforts will include increased out-of-competition testing and investigative work that goes beyond the standard methods of drug testing.

When asked whether or not rules and penalties under the authority may be stricter than they are currently with state racing commissions, Scheeler replied: “It's certainly a possibility in some areas.”

He continued: “We need to make it so there is a sufficient deterrent so that the people who would violate these rules will think twice or three times and ultimately won't do it. My firm belief is that no matter how robust the drug testing system is it's not going to be sufficient in and of itself to deter the sort of doping that we want to deter. What we want to add in a very powerful way is an investigative unit to enforce the anti-doping rules. You see in sports that the greatest deterrents all came out of non-test cases, like Balco and Biogenesis and the recent work of Five Stones in horse racing. We intend to have a vigorous component to follow up on the rumors or the syringe that is found in the stall. What you have to come up with is comprehensive package that will significantly decrease usage. Some folks just look at it as, not if I should play fair or not, but through a very cold blooded cost-benefit situation. The costs have to be greater than the rewards.”

To achieve those goals, out-of-competition testing will be increased under the authority.

“There is definitely going to be more emphasis on out-of-competition testing,” Scheeler said. “I would not necessarily assume that it will happen at the expense of after-competition testing, which will remain in a fully robust form.”

During the 30-minute session with the media, Scheeler touched on a number of subjects:

(*) He said that racing will become more popular with the general public once the sport has been cleaned up.

“A cleaner and fairer sport is also going to be a more popular sport,” he said. “Quite frankly, one of the reasons horse racing has lost popularity is that many have been turned off by the fact that you have so many horses breaking down during the course of a racing season. It is our job to make racing safer for the horses and for the jockeys. It is our premise that if we do so then horse racing will have chance to regain some of the popularity it used to enjoy. It is essential for the long term viability and popularity of the sport that we show we are doing whatever we can to make this sports safer for the participants.”

(*) Lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of HISA are pending and could delay the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. Scheeler said those lawsuits have not kept the authority from moving forward. HISA is supposed to go into effect July 1, 2022.

“The lawsuits are not stopping the work from going forward,” Scheeler said. “We have started our work and we fully intend to meet the deadlines that are set forth in the act. Not only do we need to be up and running by July, 2022 but also we have to get a whole slew of proposed rules to the Federal Trade Commission so they can provide the public with an opportunity for review and for comment. We have every intention of being up and running in July, 2022 and meeting the deadlines in the act.”

(*) Scheeler cited the ongoing story with Medina Spirit (Protonico) as an example of what's wrong with the current system of policing the sport and enforcing the rules.

“I do think that the situation with Medina Spirit is instructive in a couple of areas,” he said. “One of the problems is that you have different types of penalties in different states for betamethasone and we really need to have a uniform system. It is very confusing to the public that certain levels of different medications are allowed in some jurisdictions and not in others. In this era, horses travel and compete in any number of jurisdictions. What we will bring to the table that will be very helpful in this type of situation is a system whereby the public is going to know what the rules are and that they are going to be the same in every Triple Crown race. The tolerances will be the same, the permitted substances will be the same and that there will also be testing in the same fashion. If there is a sanction it will be applicable across the board and not at some racetracks and not others. What this particular situation really speaks to is importance of having a uniform results management and enforcement structure.”

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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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