National Thoroughbred League | Horse Racing Free Tips

With First Event Approaching, National Thoroughbred League Regroups

The National Thoroughbred League (NTL), a racing start-up meant to bring the league concept to Thoroughbred racing, will debut Sept. 3 at Kentucky Downs, but the first few events on the schedule will be run under a format different than what was envisioned when the formation of the league was announced.

Under the original concept, all horses performing in NTL races were to be owned by the League itself and would be portioned off to six teams representing different cities. Each team was to have six horses and the team that accrued the most points during the series was to earn a $1-million bonus.

But NTL President of Horse Operations Tom Ludt said that no horses have been bought and there are no immediate plans to do so. Instead, Kentucky Downs will run the $500,000 National Thoroughbred League H. on Sunday, Sept. 3. Though the race is meant to bring attention to the NTL, it will be open to all horses. Despite being owned by outside interests, the jockeys riding in the race will wear NTL silks.

“This is not going to fail,” Ludt said. “We have made some changes to make it better for the long term. It's all about building up the League. We have pivoted into a different scenario for 2023 so that we are bigger, stronger and better organized. We're going to learn a lot for 2024.”

The second event on the NTL schedule is set to take place at the Meadowlands on the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14. Ludt said the plan for the Meadowlands event is to also have a race recognizing the NTL but, again, one open to all horses. Under the original schedule, the NTL was to go from the Meadowlands to Los Alamitos to Tampa Bay Downs. Ludt said plans for the Los Alamitos and Tampa Bay Downs races are still in flux.

Ludt said he advised the League's founders that buying horses at this time was not economically feasible.

“I talked them out of buying horses right now,” Ludt said. “I told them that when you look at what we're trying to accomplish this is a major task and when you look at the amount of money that needed to be spent on these horses it was tough. It's a start-up and we've run into some issues.”

Ludt said that one of the problems was that the races held at Kentucky Downs and the Meadowlands were scheduled for the grass, while the Los Alamitos and Tampa Bay Downs races were to be run on the dirt. That meant that any League horse who was a grass specialist would have nowhere to run for several months. Horses in the League are not permitted to run in outside races.

“We were going to run three or four events and then these horses were going to sit and the expense to keep them in training was going to be huge,” Ludt said. “So why buy them now? I talked them into not buying the horses. Some people are going to jump on that and say we failed. No, we have a plan.”

Ludt said he approached NTL organizers and suggested there are other ways to fill the teams' rosters other than buying dozens of horses. He also said he suggested that horses in the League be allowed to run in non-League races, but was told that is not in the League's plans.

“I told them, don't own the horses,” he said. “Instead, get creative. Look into partnerships. But they believe the League needs to own horses long term. That's fine, but you have to look at the numbers. Just the day rate alone for all these horses is going to be huge.”

Ludt said that even though the Kentucky Downs race will look different from what was originally planned, it will benefit the League. The NTL envisioned all of its races turning into events and is linking each one to such things as wine and food festivals and entertainment. On the night before the Kentucky Downs race, there will be a live performance by DJ Pee .Wee (aka Anderson .Paak) at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon.

“The way this thing set up, it is an event business with horse racing,” he said. “The truth of the matter is it needs to start off with more events and less horse racing. The goal is to grow the game. We don't need the Tom Ludts of the world to become a fan of the League. They already are racing fans. We need to get people like our neighbors and turn them into racing fans by exposing them to the League.

“At Kentucky Downs, let's have a an opening blowout event, a launch party. The people at Kentucky Downs are super behind this. Kentucky Downs is maybe the only track in America that has more money than they know what to do with and they were willing to put up a big race. Horses will run in our silks, but it's just that we won't own the horses. It's going to be great. It's just not the way we wanted to do it a year ago.”

So far as 2024 goes, Ludt said the plan is for the NTL to operate under the original plan and that he will begin the process of buying horses sometime early next year. He said there may be as many as eight teams in the League in 2024 and that the racing schedule will expand beyond the four racing dates scheduled for this year.

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Kentucky Downs Adds $500,000 Stakes to Schedule

Kentucky Downs is adding the $500,000 National Thoroughbred League H. to its already lucrative stakes schedule, the track announced on Monday. The one-mile event for 3-year-olds and up will be worth $300,000 with an additional $200,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund up for grabs. It will be contested on Sunday Sept. 3.

The newest stakes race is named after the Kentucky Downs Day sponsor, which is a new concept based on teams of horses representing different owners and markets. The jockeys in the race will wear NTL team silks, regardless of ownership.

“We want to encourage new ideas and innovation, especially concepts created with the goal of bringing more people into horse racing,” Ron Winchell, the co-managing partner in Kentucky Downs, said. “The way you get better is to try something different or see if there is a way to tinker with with an old idea to bring it back. We also like the idea of having a handicap race, allowing horses of slightly different levels of ability to compete against each other for a lot of money.”

Horses must be nominated by Aug. 21 so they can be weighted, though there will be no fees, including entry and starter. Weights will be announced Aug. 24.

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NTL Kickoff Event at Hudson Yards Promises Change for Racing

An event to announce the team owners, names, colors and logos for the six National Thoroughbred League teams promised the assembled crowd at Hudson Yards in Manhattan to do racing in a new and different way, and at least on this night, they delivered.

The evening featured a fashion show—not of the racing silks or owners—but for the horses. Two horses brought into the city from Long Island showed off the six team colors and logos in compression suits, compression hoods and paddock blankets, parading up and down in the Public Square and Gardens of Hudson Yards.

But while the horses were the stars of the evening, there were human celebrities as well, including New York Giants outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, one of the owners of the New York Knights, one of the six NTL teams. Trainer Jena Antonucci, fresh off her history-making Belmont Stakes win, was also on hand to greet well-wishers.

“I think it's super exciting, one, being a player, two, now being a part of a league,” said Thibodeaux, explaining his involvement in the NTL. “My little sister has been riding horses for a while, so I told her I did this for her. And being able to bring a different look, bring some new ideas and just a whole new perspective, one, to horse racing and, two, to my own life and the people that follow me. So I'm super excited. I think it'll be amazing.”

The NTL concept was introduced May 23, the brainchild of Randall Lane, the chief content officer for Forbes, and Bob Daugherty, an investor and educator. Set to launch on Sept. 2, the league will consist of six teams representing six cities. League races will take place on five weekends, points will be accrued in the races and the team that has the most points when the season ends on Dec. 31 at Tampa Bay Downs will win $1 million.

Horses in compression suits peaked the curiosity of onlookers in Manhattan Tuesday night at the NTL launch event | Sue Finley photo

Each of the six teams were represented Tuesday night in Manhattan by all or part of their ownership groups.

The New York Knights will be owned by Thibodeaux and Lane, who were both on hand. The California Shamrocks will be owned by Daugherty and partners. Other teams revealed were the Nashville Dreams, the Philadelphia Stallions, the New Jersey Royals, and the Seattle Gems.

The emcee for the night, longtime racing t.v. executive Billy Rapaport, a member of the NTL's advisory group, said that the NTL was designed to promote fan loyalty.

“It's about building not only awareness, but building rooting interest,” he said. “So you're going to root for your team from your hometown, you're going to root for your team from your home state. And we're going to build this around not only the fan loyalty, but about the fan experience because the NTL is not just about racing. It will be great racing and team racing, but it will be all about the festive, fun, great events that surround the NTL. So it's a weekend of concerts, music, fashion, fun, food, all the things that you would expect from high-level top-shelf entertainment, but we also have a little horse racing going on, too. And that's exciting for us, especially for people like myself who've been around the sport for so long to see new ideas come to the fore, but also to know that we're going to get some new people to come try this sport out for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.”

NTL Co-founder Randall Lane | Sue Finley photo

Said Lane of his involvement, “This is a big night. My father and my grandfather were horsemen. My grandfather spent 50 years going to the track, and the reason he went is because he loved he loved the animals, he loved the horses, he loved the athletes, and he cared about them. That's very, very important to us. So safety and protecting our athletes is paramount to everything we do at the National Thoroughbred League.

“We have an independent chief safety officer who will be in charge of the horses' wellbeing,” he continued. “And it is their job to make sure the horses are ready to race, so it's not the owners' decision for the team, it's not the trainer's decision, it's the central league's. The chief safety officer will have a whole panel of veterinarians to decide which horses are fit. So we think that adds an extra layer because the thing that's most paramount to this league is that we celebrate our stars, we celebrate our teams, and that starts with keeping our stars safe and healthy. So that's what we're here announcing today.”

Lane said the NTL would also partner with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to ensure that all of the NTL horses had post-racing homes, and with the Jockeys Guild.

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New Venture to Bring Team Concept to Horse Racing, Launch Labor Day Weekend

Some two years ago, Randall Lane, the chief content officer for Forbes, and Bob Daugherty, an investor and educator, met for dinner and the conversation turned to horse racing. Both are fans of racing and they started to talk about why the sport isn't nearly as popular as the four major sports. The answer, they concluded, is that in baseball, basketball, football and hockey, the sports center around teams, leagues and standings. People fall in love with their teams, they root for them, they pay to see them play, they live and die with every victory and defeat.

That doesn't exist in horse racing, a sport where your rooting interest changes from race to race with each bet you make.

So what if racing could adopt the team concept? Will that help grow the sport?

Lane and Daugherty believe that it will, and that's why they have created the National Thoroughbred League (NTL). Ready to launch on Sept. 2, the league will consist of six teams representing six cities. League races will take place on five weekends, points will be accrued in the races and the team that has the most points when the season ends on Dec. 31 at Tampa Bay Downs will win $1 million.

“The idea is to take what works in pretty much every other sport,” Lane said. “Why not take that and bring it to this great sport, horse racing? It is America's original spectator sport. We're going to create team affinities. There are Yankees fans, Cowboys fans. You love your team and you love the players, the new ones and the returning players. People love those teams because they represent their cities. We want to do the same for horse racing.”

Rick Ross and Nelly will be team owners | Getty Images

The NTL has already attracted an impressive list of investors. Team owners will include rappers Nelly and Rick Ross, NFL star Kayvan Thibodeux, the NBA's Danny Green and retired basketball player Baron Davis. Steve Asmussen, Chad Brown, Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland have also signed on to be part of the project. Tom Ludt, the former chairman of the Breeders' Cup, has been hired as the league's President of Horse Operations.

The six teams will represent New York, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Seattle, Nashville and Philadelphia. Each team will have a name, a logo and specific silks that will be their uniform. The teams will each consist of six horses. All horses will be owned by the league. They will be assigned to their teams based on a draft, not unlike the ones that take place in other sports.

It will be up to Ludt to find the horses. He said that he will soon start the process of buying 36 horses and will be talking to bloodstock agents to see what is available. Each team will consist of six horses. He said he will use various avenues to find the horses and will aim to make sure they are relatively evenly matched so that the races are competitive.

“I'm going to try to buy 36 horses that would be in that high allowance, small stakes level,” he said. “We're using tools and parameters, like Ragozin and Beyer numbers, to make sure the horses are evenly matched. We want to create competitive fields. We'll try our best to make sure the horses are at the same level.”

The NTL horses will not be allowed to run in non-NTL races.

If more horses are needed due to attrition, they can be acquired through a supplemental draft. The horses will remain members of their team as long as they stay sound and are able to be competitive in the NTL races. Ludt said that for the first year, most of the races will be sprints.

The series will start on Sept. 2 at Kentucky Downs, which will represent the Nashville market. It will then travel to Emerald Downs (Seattle), the Meadowlands (New York and New Jersey) and Los Angeles (Los Alamitos) with the final races held at Tampa Bay Downs. There will be three NTL races held at each venue and they will be spread out over two days. Each race will consist of six horses, one from each team. Points will be awarded to the teams based on where their horses finish.

Randall believes that one of the most appealing aspects of the league concept is that no horse will be retired prematurely to cash in on their value as a sire or broodmare prospect.

“We want to create stars,” he said. “In every other sport, when you become a star, you don't retire. You go on to have an even-higher profile. In racing, when horses become famous, they are generally retired because it is in owner's economic interest to do that. Because our horses are going to be owned by the league, you won't be able to do that. If we are ever fortunate enough to have a Flightline or an American Pharoah, those horses will race year after year and that will go a long way toward creating a fan base.”

Ludt said the plan is to expand and he expects more teams to come on board for 2024. He envisions having two divisions, eastern and western conferences.

The NTL is also looking to expand and simplify the wagering menu, where bettors can wager on their team, whether that means in a head-to-head competition with another team, or winning the overall championship.

The NTL team also hopes to bring the type of atmosphere found at racing's biggest events, like the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Derby, to their racing weekends. They see each racing day as part of a larger festival that will feature food, fashion, parties and concerts. The New York/New Jersey races will include a trackside celebrity chef competition and will partner with the New York City Wine and Food Festival.

“We want to have the same type of atmosphere they have with Formula 1,” Lane said. “The Preakness, the Kentucky Derby, those are incredible weekends. In the case of the Derby, more than 150,000 people enjoyed it. That's because it's not just a race, it is weekend-long celebration. Once a month, somewhere in America, we want to have an incredible lifestyle weekend centered around the great sport of thoroughbred racing.”

It will be a large undertaking and might need time to get established and grow, but Ludt said he believed the NTL will achieve the goals first set forth when Lane and Daugherty met for dinner.

“We're going to create competitive racing fields, wrapped around a great weekend of entertainment in the city and at the facility,” he said. “This is a concept that is really exciting for an industry that needs that bolt of energy.”

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