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Gordon Ramsey, Who Helped Launch Massachusetts Breeding Progam, Dies

Gordon P. Ramsey, a breeder and owner in Massachusetts and Georgia who was instrumental in lobbying to secure legislation and funding to create and support the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association (MTBA) program in the early 1980s, died peacefully at his home in Georgia Apr. 21 after having suffered a stroke last month. He was 84.

Ramsey, a Boston attorney, had served as the MTBA's first executive director. He and his wife of 40 years, Linda, operated Chabboquasset Farm in Massachusetts and Georgia, racing their homebreds at Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park and at tracks along the East Coast and in the Midwest for many years.

During the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, the Ramseys hosted equestrian teams at their farm in Palmetto, Georgia, from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Gordon is survived by his wife and four children, including the former Suffolk Downs marketing director John Ramsey. He also leaves four step-children and 14 grandchildren.

A funeral and celebration of his well-lived life will be held Saturday, April 29, at 1 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Newnan, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Sacred Journey Hospice Foundation, 138 Peach Drive, McDonough, GA 30253.

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Racing in Massachusetts May Be Nearing Return

A group hoping to revitalize horse racing in Massachusetts is in the process of finalizing an application to the Massachusetts Racing Commission for a license to operate a track in the town of Hardwick. The project, which has been named Commonwealth Equine and Agricultural Center, is far enough along that there could be a limited amount of racing offered at the new track as soon as next year.

Hardwick is located in the central part of the state, about 75 miles west of Boston. The track will be located at the site of the Great Meadowbrook Farm, a 360-acre spread which began as a dairy farm and has been used as an equestrian training center.

“We have to apply for a license by Sept. 30,” said Lou Raffetto, the former vice president of racing at Suffolk Downs and an advisor to the Commonwealth Group. “Quite honestly, as crazy as it sounds, I am hopeful we can race next year. The plan for next year would be to run two festival-style weekends in the fall, if we can pull everything together. This is very real.”

Suffolk Downs' days were numbered when track owners lost out on their bid to get a casino license. Because it needed to hold some form of live racing in order to maintain a simulcasting license, the track held short meets every year from 2015 to 2019. But with plans to develop the property ready to come to fruition, racing was halted after the 2019 mini-meet.

There have since been a number of efforts to find a new location to open a new racetrack in the state, but all were met with what were insurmountable road blocks. A proposed racetrack to be built in the town of Sturbridge was shot down by that town's voters. Plans to rebuild and re-open the Great Barrington Fair also couldn't get off the ground.

According to Raffetto, the Hardwick proposal will not have to go before the town's voters and that all that will be needed is a permit that can be issued by the town.

“We're very confident that is going to happen,” he said. “The principals and the architects had an excellent meeting with the planning board and the selectmen on Tuesday. What was really wonderful about it was that everybody was really supportive. In other towns in the past you'd go in there on the defensive. These people were asking the right questions and are very supportive of the program.”

The efforts to revitalize racing in Massachusetts got a much-needed shot in the arm when sports betting was legalized in the state earlier this year. Under the law, anyone holding a racing permit will be allowed to have a sports betting license. Commonwealth Equine, whose principals are former Suffolk owner Richard Fields and the husband-wife team of Armand and Robin Kalaidjian, do not plan to have on-site sports betting at the proposed track but can offer it online. The belief is that enough money can be made from sports betting to support a a new racetrack.

Another factor working in Commonwealth's favor is that there is an abundance of purse money sitting in abeyance waiting to be doled out. Even though it has been dormant for more than three years, the Thoroughbred industry in the state is still entitled to a share of the slot machine revenue generated at the Plainridge harness track. That pool has grown to about $22 million.

Raffetto estimated the purses will be about $750,000 a day and that maiden special weight races will for $75,000. With Kentucky Downs serving as a model, there will be turf racing only and it will be conducted over a track that will be one-mile in circumference with movable rails.

The tentative plan would be for the track to run four days in 2023, twice over the weekend of Sept. 9 and 10 and twice more over the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1. The long-term goal will be to extend the meet, possibly to eight days a year, with a focus on fall dates. Raffetto said the plan is to build a small grandstand that can accommodate about 2,000 people and that an area on the apron will be cleared for additional fans.

“Our goal is to get 4,000, 5,000 people to come out and experience this,” Raffetto said. “I think that's realistic. We'll try to have some fun and give horsemen the opportunity to make some money. I think the horsemen will be very supportive of this.”

Plans for the facility extend beyond a race meet.

“When it comes to the horse, there will be a little bit of everything, racing, breeding and retirement” Raffetto said. “There will be areas dedicated to horse retirement. We're going to look into bringing in some mares and buying or leasing a stallion.”

With Suffolk's demise, the breeding industry in the state has all but disappeared. According to The Jockey Club, only two mares were bred in Massachusetts in 2021.

Other plans include opening a high-end restaurant at the facility and well as a bed-and-breakfast.

Raffetto said a name for the new track has not yet been chosen.

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With Legalization of Sports Wagering, Renewed Hope That Racing Will Return to Massachusetts

A compromise agreement on a bill authorizing sports betting in Massachusetts was reached Monday, which could be the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to horse racing returning to the Bay State. Behind the scenes, a group of investors has been working to open a new track in the state ever since Suffolk Downs closed its doors in 2019, but understood that their plans would not be practical without there being a source of revenue beyond what can be made off of selling bets. With sports betting about to become a reality in the state and with the bill granting sports betting licenses to anyone operating a racetrack, the group is prepared to move forward and plans to apply to the Massachusetts Racing Commission for a racing license some time this fall.

“When it comes to the project, sports betting has been the catalyst all along because there has to be some sort or of revenue source,” said Lou Raffetto, the former vice president of racing at Suffolk Downs who is advising the group, which calls itself Commonwealth Racing. “We all understand it's not going to come from just racing itself. They are very serious about this and the intent will be that by October we need to apply for a racing license.”

Suffolk Downs' days were numbered in 2014 when the track lost out on a bid to get a casino license. It remained open over the next five years, running short meets that were a requirement to retain its simulcast license. In 2017, the property was sold to HYM Investment Group, which is in the process of converting the land into a mixed-use neighborhood that will include 10,000 housing units.

Without any realistic hope that a Massachusetts Thoroughbred track could cash in on a casino, the sport appeared to be dead in the state, where racing dates back to 1935 when Suffolk first ran. But the principals behind Commonwealth Racing, Armand Janjigian, his wife Robin, and former Suffolk Downs owner Richard Fields, believed they could make this work. While having a sports betting license may not be as a lucrative as operating a casino, it could prove to be enough to make operating a track in the state feasible.

Raffetto said the investors are well beyond the kicking-the-tires stage.

“I've been working for them for well over a year and this is nothing new,” he said. “If you had any idea how much money they have already spent on architects and engineers you'd shake your head and you'd see that they are very serious. They wouldn't be going down this road if they didn't think it was a good business decision. They understand there will be a lot of competition in the sports betting market but they've already spent a lot of money. That's how I know this isn't pie in the sky. They are a lot of smarter than I am and they know what they are doling when it comes to a running a business.”

Their task has been made easier by the fact that the state is holding on to about $22 million that is earmarked for Thoroughbred purses, meaning track owners, at least initially, may not have to contribute much to the purse account. Even though there has not been Thoroughbred racing in the state for more than three years, the industry still receives a cut from slot revenues from Plainridge Park, a Standardbred track. The money keeps piling up.

“The money is there to at least get things going,” Raffetto said. “I am imagining a meet where purses will be similar to what we had at Suffolk toward the end for the festivals. I think we could easily be giving out a half-million dollars each racing day.”

Massachusetts has not had Thoroughbred racing for more than three years | Horsephotos

Raffetto said the group has yet to decide where to build a track, but said two locations are under consideration, both in the western part of the state. Finding a municipality that will allow a racetrack to be built within its borders has been an issue. Commonwealth Racing thought it had found its home when putting forth a proposal to build a track in Sturbridge. Zoning changes were needed to approve an agriculture and zoning overlay district to move the project forward, but, last October, Sturbridge voters rejected a proposal that called for the building of a track and a community center.

“A month from now we will be ready to release the site,” Raffetto said. “We have found two places. Now it's matter of seeing what makes most sense. There are pros and cons to each one.”

The plan is to build a small facility that can comfortably hold 3,000 to 4,000 fans. Raffetto said building the track may cost about $60 million.

“A lot depends on the nature of the facility,” he said. “How big and ornate do you want the facility to be? Are you building permanent barns, are you bringing in barns that would be temporary structures set up just for the meet? If you are going to build a track from scratch, the building, the barns and everything else that goes with it, it probably would end up costing you $60 million for a simple structure. Does it mean that's what we will spend? It could be. Some of the estimates we've gotten have been greater than that. It really depends on the location. It could be $50 million, it could be $90 million. We want a first-class facility, don't get me wrong. But we want something that makes sense in this day and age.”

There is a glut of racing already operating in the Northeast and the horse population shrinks every year, which could make it hard for a new Massachusetts track to find enough horses to put on a show. With that in mind, Raffetto said the plan is to run a short meet, most likely in the fall. In addition, there will be just one racing surface–a grass course.

“Racing the way we knew it, with a track running for 100 or more days, well, the horse flesh is just not there to do that,” he said. “You have to keep it special. Those festival meets we did at Suffolk worked. We're trying to make this more of a festival-type thing rather than an everyday humdrum-type operation. We will have one course–a wide turf course where we can have two or three positions for the rail. Trainers want to run on the grass.”

As far as when the proposed track, which does not yet have a name, might open, Raffetto said it will happen “sooner than a lot of people might expect.” One possibility, he said, is that racing could get underway before the stands are built.

“It wouldn't be something like three years out,” he said. “Who knows? It could wind up being next year.”

Racing isn't expanding. It is contracting. Just last year alone the sport lost Arlington Park and Calder and several tracks are being kept alive only so that their owners can keep their casinos. Can a new track, far removed from a major city, one where the owners have no expectations of profiting from a casino, make it? It won't be easy, but in Massachusetts they appear ready to give it a try.

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The Election May Be Over, but Steve Kornacki Not Done Analyzing Races

This Saturday, Steve Kornacki, a national political correspondent for NBC News, will compile and study reams of data and make informed decisions. But he won't be trying to figure out if the numbers say that Joe Biden Jr. will beat Donald Trump in Pennsylvania or anything else politically related. His main concern will be who is going to win the feature at Gulfstream Park.

Kornacki is well known to NBC and MSNBC viewers and political junkies. For hours before and after each election, stationed in front of an electoral map, he's the one making sense of the numbers, trends and voting patterns. Able to continue on for days at a time without sleep, Kornacki has been called a national treasure. That doesn't leave Kornacki with a lot of free time, but he still manages to carve out a few hours every weekend to enjoy one of his favorite hobbies, betting the races. He normally has Saturdays off, so that's when he takes a deep dive into the past performances and bets on the major tracks running that day.

Like many, Kornacki, 41, was introduced to racing by a relative. He had an uncle who owned a business in Maine and would take his young nephew to the harness races at Scarborough Downs.

“I was pretty young when I got into it,” he said. “My uncle owns a beach store in Southern Maine and when I was six or seven years old, he took me one night during the summer to Scarborough Downs. This was the late eighties, so there was no simulcasting or anything. It was just the trotters. I picked five straight winners that night. He still talks about that and he didn't bet any of them. I don't think I've had a night like that since.”

It was that same uncle who taught him a system, the 13 system. Kornacki acknowledges that it may be a silly way to play the races, but he still incorporates it into his handicapping.

“It might be the stupidest system you've ever heard of, but we swear by it,” he said. “It's called the 13 system. My uncle got it from a guy who was a jockey agent back at Suffolk Downs in the sixties. It's very simple. The last three finishes, if they add up to a 13 you bet the horse. It's the first thing I look for now when I get a program. I go through every race and circle them. Last Saturday at Aqueduct, in the second to last race, the winner was 19-1 and he was a 13 horse. It forces you to take a horse you otherwise would never take. When they come in, you can hit a big payout.”

Kornacki grew up in Groton, Massachusetts, a short distance from Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park, and would spend many a day or night at those tracks while in high school or later at college at Boston University. Starting with Alysheba in 1987, he began following the Triple Crown races closely every year.

Someone with an analytical mind, he's moved on from picking names and numbers and relying solely on the 13 system. Kornacki enjoys trying to solve the handicapping puzzle and though he says he's not very good at it, there have been some memorable hits along the way.

“The biggest payout I ever got when I really handicapped a race would have been the 2002 Pacific Classic,” he said. “My horse was Came Home. War Emblem was running and all the money was on War Emblem. I believed in Came Home, loaded up on him, and he won.”

Politics and horse racing don't exactly go together, but Kornacki finds that he often uses racing terms when analyzing an election. With 90% of the precincts reporting, Kornacki might say that election is coming “down the stretch.” On the night of the New Hampshire primary, he mentioned Rockingham Park when going over the vote totals for Rockingham County.

“What everybody seems to notice is when I use the terminology,” he said. “Unconsciously, I use so much of the language of horse racing because it applies to a political race and to election returns. I've definitely done that a lot on the air.”

From time to time, he gets to talk actual racing. A few years ago, he was hosting a show on MSNBC on the night before the GI Kentucky Derby and the subject turned to the race.

“I was sitting in for Brian Williams and we did a Kentucky Derby preview,” Kornacki said. “I told them at the outset that my track record was not that impressive. They ran a banner at the bottom of the screen that said 'Steve is really bad at picking horses.' I definitely didn't have the winner.”

After the 2020 election, NBC decided to let Kornacki branch out and he was used on NFL broadcasts. Using the same style he uses for political races, Kornacki broke down the NFL playoff picture.

“I loved doing that,” he said. “I was so psyched to get that opportunity. I am an NFL fan, so I didn't think, in terms of the subject that it would be a reach for me. My concern when they first reached out to me was that I didn't want it to become gimmicky. We did playoff probabilities, which was the perfect way in. The minute we put the graphics together I could see that it was a logical extension of what I've been doing. I hope it didn't come across as a gimmick at all because it was real information and the spotting of trends.”

With NBC having the rights to the Triple Crown races and the Breeders' Cup, perhaps there is a way to include Kornacki and what he does on racing broadcasts. He's not quite sure how that would work, but says if it ever came up he would be interested., even if he's not the best handicapper out there.

“From my standpoint, I'd love to see if there is something possible with the racing shows,” he said. “They have Eddie O (Olczyk) to do the handicapping. My friends and family have said don't let them talk you into doing the handicapping because you'll embarrass yourself. That's probably right. So we probably will have to come up with something else for me to do.”

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