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Countdown Is On for Inaugural Horse Racing Women’s Summit

The inaugural edition of the Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) is just three weeks away and the planning committee behind the buzzed-about event is so enthusiastic about spreading the word that they say down with the TDN to share how the multi-day summit is gaining national attention and discuss why it is important that the event will be bringing in women from all facets of the industry.

“The Horse Racing Women's Summit is designed to empower, connect and remove barriers in leadership in racing,” said Jodie Vella-Gregory, a member of the planning committee and the Director of the Office of Innovation at 1/ST Racing. “It's really for anyone who is interested in pushing the industry forward and is ready to discuss not only how to overcome challenges, but also how we can identify growth opportunities. We see it as a place for leaders, future leaders and any industry participants and we see it as a catalyst to start a conversation and bring people together.”

The summit will be held September 28-30 at Santa Anita Park. Susan Packard, the first woman to join the Churchill Downs Inc. Board of Directors and a key player in the launch and development of CNBC, HGTV and HBO, will be the keynote speaker. Thursday's session will include three panels called Thriving Through Challenges, Looking Ahead–Opportunities for the Industry and Industry Integrity–A Brighter Future. Each panel will feature notable industry participants from various aspects of the sport and will end with a Q and A session.

The event will conclude on Friday, which is also opening day of Santa Anita's fall meet, with a handicapping seminar from TVG's Christina Blacker. HRWS attendees will have access to reserved box seats throughout the weekend of racing at Santa Anita, which will be highlighted by two Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' races.

Committee Chair Stephanie Hronis of Hronis Racing was the visionary behind the event. She explained how the idea formed last summer after a Thoroughbred Owners of California women's luncheon at Del Mar was a smashing success.

“Seeing women come together with the opportunity to network there was such a good energy,” Hronis said.

From there, Hronis formed a team and started putting out feelers on how a national summit would be received by the industry.

“It was kind of like tapping into a sleeping giant,” Hronis explained. “The wave of interest was huge. What started out as a vision for bringing women together has really grown into this movement of a summit and bringing people both from within the industry and outside of the industry, which you will see with our panelists and our keynote speaker Susan Packard.”

HRWS committee member Jordyn Egan, who is also the Executive Director for the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said that they received immediate interest from a vast array of women in the industry.

“The feedback was very diverse,” she said. “It was everything from, 'I want to become an owner but I'm intimidated' to 'I've been working in this industry for 20 years and I don't know what to do next.' We had to really think about what we are going to do with this event that will help address, connect and empower all women in racing so that regardless of where you are, this is a great professional and personal development opportunity.”

The HRWS planning team laid out the five core pillars that they hope will be accomplished through the event: to remove barriers, to empower, to build inclusivity and leadership, to mentor, and to develop and grow the sport.

Committee member Kellie Hill, who is involved in the industry as the CEO of Stay Classy Horse Racing and who also works outside of the sport as the Sr. Vice President of MedWest Realty, talked about how the concept of removing barriers will benefit horse racing as a whole.

“What they have found with so many different studies, from Harvard Business Review to the London Business School, is that the more you have gender equality, the profits go up, the innovation goes up and the efficiency goes up,” Hill explained. “So when we're saying that we want to remove barriers, it's so that we can get equal representation across the board in order to propel the whole industry up.”

1/ST Racing and FanDuel TV will be the presenting sponsors for the event with over a dozen other organizations also backing the summit. Hill said the support they have received from the industry through sponsorship has been overwhelming.

“I can't tell you how shocked I have been by the level of sponsorship that has come in and embraced this event,” she explained. “Most of our sponsors pretty much immediately said, 'Yes, no problem' and they have made a bigger leap than we anticipated. I think that put the wind in our sails when we first started this so that we knew that we were headed in the right direction and that this is absolutely needed.”

Shona Rotondo, the Head of Marketing at MyRacehorse, serves as the unofficial East Coast representative of the HRWS committee. She said their team does not shy from the fact that they must receive support from organizations outside of California in order to properly represent women in racing from all across the country.

“This is not just a West Coast Thing,” she said. “We understand that the travel and investment in getting people from the East Coast to the West Coast is a little tricky, but it's also an opportunity to challenge your company to invest in women.”

“I would not take the location as an excuse not to go out there or not to push your company to give the opportunity,” Rotondo continued. “I have said to a lot of businesses, including my own, to invest in your women, send leaders in your organization who are smart and capable and passionate, and let's all get together and come up with some really actionable ideas.”

To learn more about the Horse Racing Women's Summit and to purchase tickets, visit womeninracingsummit.com.

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Multiple Moving Parts in Monarch, AZ Simulcasting Morass

For over two years, the simulcasting signal from 1/ST-operated racetracks, along with several others around the country, has been missing in Arizona–the residual fall-out from a long-simmering dispute between the owners of Arizona Downs and the arm of The Stronach Group (TSG) tasked with distributing the company's signal.

In both California and Arizona, stakeholders argue that this simulcasting blackout has hit both the bettors and the industry–by how much appears open to debate.

A recent analysis by the Arizona Horseman's Benevolent & Protective Association (AZHBPA) of the projected lost revenue to California purses between 2020 and 2021 pinned the number at more than $1,1 million, and another nearly $900,000 in lost track commissions.

The estimated loss to Turf Paradise alone between the years 2021 and 2022 amounts to more than $1 million, said Vince Francia, general manager of Turf Paradise. For Arizona Downs, however, the impact has been “negligible,” say track operators.

Scott Daruty, president of TSG's Monarch Content Management, also downplays the impact of the hamstrung signal to Monarch's bottom-line, saying that the resulting lost fees is only a fraction of Monarch's total business. He also disputes the AZHBPA's projected losses to the California purse account.

Monarch's umbrella extends over several California tracks–including Santa Anita Park, Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields and Sonoma County Fair–as well as Turf Paradise, Lone Star Park, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Pimlico, Rosecroft Raceway, Monmouth Park, and Meadowlands.

Against the backdrop of this ongoing dispute, there are indications that 1/ST is eyeing potential inroads into the Arizona marketplace.

Within recent months, representatives of 1/ST have visited Turf Paradise with the intention of possibly purchasing the facility, said Francia. AZHBPA executive director, Leroy Gessman, said that 1/ST recently did the same at Arizona Downs.

According to two sources familiar with the situation, 1/ST has made a thus far unsuccessful bid to purchase Arizona Downs.

Daruty declined to comment whether 1/ST has indeed made any formal bid to purchase Arizona Downs but called the Arizona marketplace “one that appears to have potential.”

“At that point, you're negotiating with a terrorist, right?”

The genesis of this rather convoluted simulcasting dispute goes back years.

In summary, when Arizona Downs reopened for live racing in 2019, Monarch sent its signal to the track itself but not to the track's network of Off-Track Betting parlors (OTB), and at a higher rate than its Arizonan neighbor, Turf Paradise.

In contrast, Monarch distributed its signal to Turf Paradise and its network of some 60 OTB's.

When asked about the contracting disparities between both Arizonan tracks, Daruty said at the time that Arizona Downs had been “consistently delinquent in its payments to our racetracks.”

In an effort to resolve industry stakeholder disgruntlement, the state passed in 2019 a law requiring all simulcast providers that send their races into Arizona to offer the products uniformly among all tracks and all their OTBs.

The following January, the Arizona Racing Commission passed a motion requiring the three racetracks in the state–Turf Paradise, Arizona Downs and Rillito Park–to comply with that law.

The commission also sent a letter to Monarch to “stop sending any simulcast signals to Arizona permittees racetracks and/or their additional wagering facilities.”

To all intents and purposes and despite various legal maneuverings in the interim, that state of affairs has remained, and Monarch has not beamed its signal into Arizona since.

At the start of Santa Anita's most recent winter meet, Monarch approached the operators of Arizona Downs with an offer of all Monarch content to the entire Arizona marketplace, including to Arizona Downs' network of OTBs, said Daruty.

According to Daruty, the operators of Arizona Downs made several unilateral modifications to the contract which were unacceptable. They included reducing the fees paid to Monarch tracks below the previously contracted rate between them, and a requirement for Monarch to “pre-approve” new simulcast locations without the ability to conduct legal and regulatory due diligence, said Daruty.

“At that point, you're negotiating with a terrorist, right?” said Daruty, once again raising Arizona Downs' reported history of delinquent payments.

“We can't abandon our principles and abandon our reasoned business approach to distributing our signals,” Daruty added.

Detailing a back-and-forth process of negotiations, Tom Auther, an Arizona Downs owner and partner, said that Monarch initially offered Arizona Downs a contract with non co-mingled pools–what he described as an immediate non-starter–and then an offer charging the track overall as much as twice what Turf Paradise was paying.

Monarch subsequently declined Arizona Downs' counter-offer, which was to pay Monarch 20% more in fees than Turf Paradise, said Auther.

“Twenty percent's still a lot of money,” Auther said. “If we paid what they want us to pay, the horsemen would not approve it because there'd be no money left–only three percent left in horse purses.”

When asked about Arizona Downs' reported history of defaults, Auther said that they had offered Monarch to escrow an adequate amount of money to offset the anticipated costs. “They refused it,” said Auther.

In an effort to understand the impact from the nixed signal into Arizona on California's horsemen, the Arizona HBPA contracted the firm Global Racing Solutions–founded and operated by Pat Cummings–to run the numbers.

According to GRS' calculations, California horsemen lost $1,115,000 in purse contributions between 2020 and 2021, and California track operators missed more than $877,000 in commissions during that same period.

To put that into perspective, California's purse total in 2021 was some $118 million.

TDN reached out to Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), who declined to comment.

As for Monarch, when they last ran the numbers, “the host fees that the Monarch tracks received out of the state of Arizona were less than one percent of the total host fees received by the Monarch tracks,” Daruty said. “It just doesn't move the needle for us.”

Daruty also said that the AZHBPA's projected California purse loss numbers were over-estimated, though added that Monarch hadn't run their own calculations.

And what of the potential impacts on the Arizona tracks? Again, there are mixed-signals.

Between 2021 and 2022, Turf Paradise lost an estimated $1,011,317 due to the missing Monarch signal, the estimated loss to the purse account was $944,915, and the estimated loss to the Regulatory Wagering Assessment (RWA)–a wagering tax used to fund the state racing department–was $61,139, according to Francia's calculations.

Auther, however, shared handle numbers with the TDN–taken, he said, from the state commission's website–comparing the year 2021 with 2018, when Turf Paradise received the Monarch signal.

According to Author's numbers, Turf Paradise lost in 2021 more than $8 million in overall handle compared to 2018. Turf Paradise operated in 2021 with 13 fewer OTBs than in 2018, however, and those OTBs were closed for 1038 days more than in 2018, according to Auther's calculations.

Auther also estimated that the annual hit to Arizona Downs' business without Monarch has been negligible. “It exists,” said Auther, about the loss. Horseplayers, however, have simply adjusted their betting patterns to other available options, he said, adding that the loss of the Monarch product to Arizona Downs was one of quality rather than numbers.

More broadly, Arizona HBPA president Bob Hutton broached what he sees as some of the more deeply felt impacts to the state's racing industry.

“With the state of racing the way it is, when we're trying to get fans to the sport, why is this good?” said Hutton, critical of Monarch's part in the negotiations. “This is costing horsemen all over the country money, and why? I don't get it.”

Turf Paradise, it should be noted, has been for sale since at least 2020.

According to Francia, 1/ST representatives recently toured the track with a potential eye to purchase the facility. “They have not made an offer but they have looked at the track,” he said.

According to Gessman, representatives from 1/ST have similarly toured Arizona Downs, adding that he was present at the visit.

According to two sources who wished to remain anonymous, 1/ST made the owners of Arizona Downs an offer for the facility which was subsequently declined.

Both Auther and Daruty refused to comment on any possible offer that 1/ST has made for Arizona Downs.

Though calling the Arizona marketplace one with potential, Daruty added that “I think all the infighting and frankly some of the regulatory dysfunction has just left it in a place that's not healthy.”

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Alleging ‘Destroyed’ Reputation, Baltas Sues CHRB for $12 Million

Claiming that the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has “destroyed” his reputation as a trainer by issuing a 47-count complaint pertaining to the alleged race-day administration of substances to his horses and then purportedly violating his rights to due process when he tried to resolve the charges, Richard Baltas is suing the CHRB, its commissioners, and executive director for at least $12 million in damages.

According to a lawsuit filed Aug. 17 in Superior Court for the State of California (Los Angeles County), the lawsuit also stated that the CHRB has additionally allegedly not complied in full with Baltas's legal attempts to proceed with discovery of materials related to his case, “thereby forcing Baltas to proceed with information and documents that are being withheld and concealed from him…”

The CHRB's June 21 complaint stated that “Between the dates of 4/15/2022 to 5/8/2022, 23 horses trained by RICHARD BALTAS were administered a substance on days they were entered into races. Surveillance video captured all administrations by employees of BALTAS's barn. The substance was analyzed by University of California, Davis, who reported the presence of Higenamine and Paenol.”

According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), higenamine is a chemical found in a variety of plants, and can act as an anti-asthmatic to open up airways. Paenol is also a plant extract. Neither are specifically classified by the Association for Racetrack Commissioners International uniform classification guidelines.

The lawsuit continued: “None of the counts in the CHRB Complaint are valid, and each of them reflect a malicious intent by the Defendants.”

Last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge denied a request by Baltas to order the CHRB to allow him to enter horses. The next scheduled action in that separate case is a Sept. 29 conference.

In this new lawsuit, Baltas is alleging that his due process rights were violated as guaranteed under CHRB rules, the 14th Amendment to the United State Constitution, and Article 1, Section 7 of the California Constitution.

Reached via email on Thursday, CHRB spokesperson Mike Marten responded to a request for comment on the just-filed suit by writing, “We have not received anything new, so the only matter we are involved in civilly with Mr. Baltas is [the already pending] matter.”

Baltas's Aug. 17 lawsuit gave the following timeline of events:

“Baltas had a horse called Noble Reflection scheduled to run in the 10th race at Santa Anita Park on May 8, 2022. A few hours before the race, one of Baltas' employees were seen on videotape administering an oral dose syringe into the horse's mouth.

“A syringe was subsequently recovered from a feed bag that was tested and had allegedly traces of Higenamine and Paeonol, which are organic liquids that are found naturally in Chinese herbs. Notably, after Noble Reflection was scratched from the race, it was tested and the test results were 'clean,' and neither Higenamine nor Paeonol were found in the horse.

“Based on the film footage of Noble Reflection, Santa Anita went back and reviewed footage of Baltas' trained horses from earlier dates and allegedly found 22 other times when a Baltas employee squirted a substance in a horse's mouth.

“Unlike the situation with Noble Reflection, there was no syringe found in the other 21 instances to be tested. Instead, the CHRB assumed the substance in the other 22 cases going back to April 15, 2022, was the same that was found in or on the outside of the syringe found on May 8, 2022. None of the 21 horses that raced ever tested positive for a Controlled or Prohibited Substance.

“On May 10, 2022, the Santa Anita and/or the CHRB and its agents went back retroactively to review videotaped footage of Baltas's horses from April 15, 2022, up through May 8, 2022, and allegedly saw 22 horses trained by Baltas receiving an orally administered liquid that they contend was X-Treme Air Boost, which is a product advertised for use in horses in the Santa Anita Condition Book.

“The CHRB has never explained its decision for going back in time to find violations in the past, and its conduct demonstrates that they and/or the Defendants herein intended to target Ballas to find as many violations as possible. Such conduct demonstrates malice and oppression on the part of the CHRB and its Agents.

“Although no syringe was located in the 22 other cases, the CHRB assumed the product was X-Treme Air Boost…. Because the ingredients in question are food which are expressly excepted under Rule 1843.5; that is they are not within the Statue or any ruling of this Court.

“Based on these facts, on May 10, 2022, Aidan Butler, [acting] on behalf of Santa Anita, notified Baltas that he was prevented from entering any horses at Santa Anita.

“On June 22, 2022, the CHRB filed an Ex Parte Application with the Stewards at the Los Alamitos Racetrack to refuse the entry of two horses trained by Baltas…. The Stewards at Los Alamitos summarily denied these two entrees without a hearing or any form of due process. The denial constituted a de facto summary suspension…

“Baltas has not been allowed to enter a horse in the State of California from May 8, 2022 through the present date, causing him harm. On June 29, 2022, Churchill Downs issued a de facto suspension to Ballas, a decision made, once again, without any due process. Baltas was treated by the Churchill Downs and the 23 Defendants as 'guilty,' based solely on an allegation, and without any consideration to the alleged harm he would suffer.

“Before June 21, 2022, [CHRB] Executive Director Scott Chaney represented [to Baltas] that any complaint filed by the CHRB against Baltas would not contain alleged violations related to prohibited substances.

“Then on June 21, 2022, the CHRB filed a 47-count complaint which, much to the surprise of [Baltas], not only contained 23 counts of violations of CHRB Rule I 843.5, but, contrary to the representations made by Chaney on behalf of the CHRB, but also contained 23 counts of violations of [the absolute insurer rule] which included references to Higenamine and Paeonol, plus one count of a violation of…Conduct Detrimental to Horse Racing.

“As a result of the CHRB's conduct, [the inability to enter horses has cost Baltas] many thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and [he] stands to lose many millions of dollars in damages in an amount to be determined at jury trial for lost earnings, the loss of clients who entrusted their horses training to him, and an irrevocable damage to his reputation.”

The lawsuit termed the CHRB's actions as “wildly excessive and disparate to any other trainer punishment imposed by the CHRB, and was obviously punitive in nature in that it would effectively terminate Baltas' career as a trainer. Others facing similar charges arising out of CHRB Rule 1843.5 in the past received far more lenient sentences, including monetary fines in lieu of a year-long license suspension.”

According to the lawsuit, Baltas arrived at the $12-million figure by combining $10 million in “special compensatory damages for monies already lost and for future damages in an amount commensurate with what Baltas would have earned if his reputation was not destroyed,” plus $2 million for “general damages in the form of emotional and psychological distress, pain and suffering, anxiety, stress, depression, worry, inconvenience.”

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CHRB In-Person Meeting Wednesday, August 17

The California Horse Racing Board will conduct an in-person meeting Wednesday, Aug. 17 beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Del Mar Hilton. The meeting will be open to the public. Those providing unsolicited public comment on individual agenda items will be limited to two minutes and comments must relate specifically to the agenda items; regarding agenda item #8, Public Comment, no further comments will be permitted after 30 minutes. For those who do not attend, the webcast audio link on the CHRB website will provide a way to listen to the meeting. The agenda and package of materials for the meeting are available on the CHRB website and at the links in red above.

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