nyra | Horse Racing Free Tips

New Bonus Programs Offered for ’23 Belmont Spring/Summer Meet

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) plans to rollout a pair of new bonus programs for juvenile horses competing at the 2023 spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, which will run from Thursday, May 4 through Sunday, July 9. The newly-launched starter bonus will apply to scheduled juvenile dirt races and awards $2,000 [$1,000 to the owner, $1,000 to the trainer] to each official starter in the race. The starter bonus program, available to open-company and state-bred company, also applies to a pair of 5 1/2-furlong juvenile stakes on Sunday, June 11 in the $150,000 Tremont S. and its filly counterpart, the $150,000 Astoria S.

Additionally, trainers who start a horse in any 2-year-old race [dirt or turf] at the spring/summer meet that are not stabled at a NYRA racetrack, a shipping bonus of $1,000 will be credited to their owner's account. Requirements for both bonuses include that the horse must be declared an official starter. Horses that are placed on a poor performance and/or veterinarian list will not be eligible for the bonus. The 40-day Belmont spring/summer meet will include 54 stakes worth $15.57 million in total purses. Click here, for the full schedule.

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Pletchers To Be Honored By NYRTC

The New York Race Track Chaplaincy (NYRTC) will honor Tracy and Todd Pletcher for their generous and continued support of the New York backstretch community at its 16th Annual Fundraising Brunch, which will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, New York.

“This honor means the world to Tracy and to me,” said Todd Pletcher. “Our record reflects a team effort and the members of the backstretch are key members of our team. The New York Chaplaincy does great work serving those who care for our horses and we are humbled to join their list of honorees.”

“The Pletchers have demonstrated a deep commitment to the backstretch community, and their support has come in many forms over the years,” said Ramón Dominguez, President of the Board of the NYRTC. “We are thrilled to honor them in this way for all they have done and all they continue to do.”

Previous recipients have included Anne Campbell, Edgar Prado, Michael Dubb, Fay and David Donk, Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, Letty and Kiaran McLaughlin, Lisa and Kenny Troutt, Debbie and Terry Finley, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Irad Ortiz Jr. and Andy Serling.

Additional information, including tickets and sponsorships for the event, may be found at www.rtcany.org.

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New Ruling on Changes Leaves NYRA, Trainers Puzzled

The notice began appearing on the overnight in early January. “By order of the stewards. Pursuant to NYSGC RULE 4033.8. Effective February 1^st, only equipment specifically approved by the stewards shall be worn or carried by a jockey or a horse in a race. No equipment change (including shoes) will be allowed once the overnight is published.”

“There is no new rule,” wrote Brad Maoine, Director of Communications for the New York State Gaming Commission in response to TDN's request for information about the new posting on the overnight. “The intent of the message is (to) ensure that the betting public has access to accurate information regarding equipment changes in a timely fashion.”

But a reading of the NYSGC's rule 4033.8 reveals no mention of a horse's equipment, and reads only, “Only equipment specifically approved by the stewards shall be worn or carried by a jockey or a horse in a race.” There is no mention of equipment changes for horses after the publishing of the overnight in the ruling as stated on the Gaming Commission's website.

Trainers, horsemen's representatives and the NYRA expressed confusion over what the impetus for the rule was, and concern over the repercussions.

Right now, NYRA races are drawn either five, three or two days in advance of the race, with any late changes announced on the t.v. and general address system at the track, and off.

“NYRA has mechanisms in place to inform the betting public in the event of a late equipment change,” said NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna. “This new rule does nothing to further protect horseplayers and will likely penalize owners for administrative errors that can easily be corrected in real time.”

“I think there are several issues with it,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “My first concern would be over an occasional shoe situation. We've had scenarios where a horse sheds a frog and we train the horse in an aluminum pad, and we try to keep it on to complete their training, which is usually right up to the day of the race. If you want to make that shoe change you sometimes literally don't know until game day. Entries in most jurisdictions are becoming further and further out, so that's one concern.”

Secondly, he said, “everyone makes mistakes occasionally, and maybe you made an honest mistake and didn't enter with blinkers, and caught it after the overnight came out, or maybe the racing office made a mistake and didn't note blinkers on. It seems as if there should be a 24-hour grace period.”

Trainer David Donk conceded that in a perfect world, trainers would and should indicate changes of equipment at entry time, but that the current system of taking entries by phone, rather than by computer with mandatory fields filled out, made it more likely for errors to be made.

“Why can't I enter online?” said Donk. “Listen, it is the trainer's responsibility. I probably don't have a real problem with it, but is it the commission overstepping? I don't see where it's coming from, and why there can't be a grace period? Common sense says there should be some compromise.”

Donk said that he imagined that the equipment changes hinted at would be blinker changes or the addition of a bar shoe. Attorney Drew Mollica—who has represented numerous clients in conflicts with the Gaming Commission, including two currently–said that he envisioned that the rule would not only make it more likely to cause unnecessary scratches, but could be subject to legal challenges.

“No shoe changes after entry puts the horse in jeopardy and hurts the track,” said Mollica. “Say a horse pops a small quarter crack and needs a bar shoe. If that is announced, does that not protect the owner, the public, the horse and the track? But under this rule, he must scratch. Why?”

“And how about blinkers?” he continued. “Say a horse breezes on the day after entry and the trainer thinks blinkers would help, but now has to scratch or run without equipment that could benefit his performance because the new rule says he must scratch or not wear them? Who does this help? In a game that has enough natural landmines, do we have to plant more?”

Will Alempijevic, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, replied in an email, “NYTHA is currently engaged in discussions with both the NYSGC and NYRA to understand the issues that precipitated the change. We will continue to play an active role to see if we can collectively come up with proposed solutions to everyone's mutual benefit.”

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Thoro-Graph Sues NYRA Over Disputed $333K in ADW Partnership

A business partnership between performance-figure provider Thoro-Graph, Inc., and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) that had been billed as a “win-win-win” deal for the two parties and advance-deposit wagering (ADW) customers when it first launched in 2017 has gone sour, resulting in a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court.

According to the civil complaint, Thoro-Graph is suing both NYRA and its NYRA Bets ADW platform over the alleged non-payment of at least $333,000 that Thoro-Graph believes is its rightful cut for incentivizing horseplayers to become NYRA Bets customers via a free, membership-based portal called Thoro-Graph Player Services (TGPS).

Thoro-Graph claimed in its complaint that its portal grew NYRA's betting handle by $100 million over a roughly five-year span, “solely through the joint venture resulting in $3 million in revenue” for NYRA.

When the alignment between the two entities was first announced in 2017, the deal was billed as giving Thoro-Graph an ADW partner, while NYRA Bets got a valuable pipeline of new customers.

Horseplayers would benefit too, a TGPS executive explained at the time of the launch, because they would get access to “concierge-level support,” volume-based wagering rebates, on-track visitation amenities and discounts on Thoro-Graph handicapping products.

But according to the lawsuit, “Defendant NYRA failed to perform its part of the bargain [by allegedly not paying] Plaintiff its full 50% share of its Net Revenue,” wrote Karen Murphy, the attorney for Thoro-Graph, in the Dec. 19, 2022, filing.

“That breach has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to date and has impacted the value of Plaintiff's corporation resulting in additional lost profits to Plaintiff,” the complaint stated.

The filing stated that the dispute involves how net revenues are calculated: “Plaintiff is entitled to its full 50% share of defendant NYRA's revenue that is generated from the handle wagered on NYRA races by non-New York residents and paid to defendant NYRA. In failing to do so, defendant NYRA is in material breach of its core financial obligation to pay Plaintiff its full revenue share under the terms of the joint venture.”

The complaint contended that Thoro-Graph attempted “good faith settlement efforts” to square up the purportedly mounting non-payments, including making a written demand for the money on June 13, 2022, and a meeting with NYRA representatives to discuss the issue.

“[NYRA's] response was to intimidate Plaintiff with the threat of termination of the joint venture and not to address the failure to pay Plaintiff its full 50/50 share,” the complaint stated.

NYRA then followed through with a letter Dec. 12 giving a 180-day notice of termination of the partnership. That action, in turn, led to Thoro-Graph's lawsuit one week later seeking “compensatory damages which are no less than $500,000 [and] estimated additional damages for the remainder of the term of the existing Agreement.”

The court has set a Feb. 10 date for the defendants to file a reply. TDN asked a NYRA spokesperson if the racing association or NYRA Bets wished to comment prior to that filing, and also asked how the termination of TGPS might affect horseplayers who use the portal.

“NYRA will honor the terms of confidentiality agreed to by the parties involved and reply to the court by Feb. 10. This contractual dispute does not and will not impact NYRA customers,” Patrick McKenna, NYRA's vice president for communications, wrote in an email.

The “Termination for Convenience” letter that NYRA served Thoro-Graph is scheduled to become effective June 10.

“That notice of termination has now been issued solely because Plaintiff made it clear it would proceed with legal efforts to protect its rights under the Agreements to receive its full share of compensation,” Thoro-Graph's complaint stated.

“Plaintiff performed its obligations under [the contracted terms] by maintaining its website as 'best in class' and offering free and reduced priced Thoro-Graph data which has resulted in NYRA Bets signing up over 1,700 horseplayers. This was accomplished by Plaintiff without any marketing assistance from the NYRA Parties…” the complaint stated.

“In 2017, Plaintiff grew the handle of defendant NYRA Bets by $3.1 million,” Thoro-Graph's court filing stated. “In 2018 Plaintiff's contribution was $10.7 million; in 2019 the contribution went to $15.3 million; in 2020 the contribution was $22.7; in 2021 the contribution reached $24 million; [At the time the Dec. 19 lawsuit was filed] Plaintiff's contribution [was] on track to reach $25 million making the total added handle over $100 million.”

Drilling the alleged non-payment issue down further, the complaint stated that NYRA's deduction of an “import host fee” from the net revenue calculation is a chief bone of contention.

The complaint put it this way: “To be clear, what defendant NYRA is claiming is an “import host fee” is simply money RECEIVED by NYRA Bets solely as a result of “Qualifying Wagers” by non-New York residents on NYRA CONTENT and then passed on to and RECEIVED BY DEFENDANT NYRA AS REVENUE.”

Attorney Murphy, when reached by the TDN, said, “For now, we will let the complaint speak for itself. We will have more to say after NYRA's response.”

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