Tag: The Biz

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association is hosting an Ownership Seminar on Wednesday, May 4, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Attendees will learn insights on different aspects of Thoroughbred ownership from industry professionals and enjoy a day of racing at Churchill Downs during the week of the Kentucky Derby.

The topics and speakers at the Ownership Seminar include:

• Thoroughbred Industry Resources, presented by Susan Martin from Equineline
• Thoroughbred Veterinary Care / A Veterinarian's Perspective, presented by Dr. Russell Freeland, DVM, DACVS-LA from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute: Davidson Surgery
• Acquiring & Managing Racehorses, presented by Mike Mackin from Lucky Seven Stable and Kenny McPeek from McPeek Racing & Bloodstock
• Supporting Non-Profit Organizations that Work Towards Improving Thoroughbred Racehorses & People Who Care for Them, presented by Erin Halliwell from Thoroughbred Charities of America
• Accreditation, Inspection, and Approved Aftercare Organizations, presented by Suzie Picou-Oldham from Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance
• Equine Insurance, presented by Tyler Clarke from Clay Ward Agency
• Legal Aspects of Racehorse Ownership, presented by Sarah Reeves from Stoll Keenon Ogden
• Handicapping 101 with Oaks & Derby Preview, presented by Kaitlin Free

The TOBA Ownership Seminar is aimed towards all levels of education – from prospective to new owners, to knowledgeable owners or industry professionals and enthusiasts looking to continue their education. The seminar is open to the general public, with a special discount for TOBA members. Meals, materials, access to racing in the afternoon, and a TOBA gift bag are included with registration.

Registration is available online, until Sunday, May 1, at: toba.memberclicks.net/seminars-clinics.

Questions about TOBA's clinics and seminars may be directed to Samantha Smith at samantha@toba.org (859) 276-6793.

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA), based in Lexington, Ky., was formed in 1961 and is a national trade organization of leading Thoroughbred owners and breeders. TOBA's mission is to improve the economics, integrity and pleasure of the sport on behalf of Thoroughbred owners and breeders. Projects managed by TOBA include the American Graded Stakes Committee, Claiming Crown, Ownership Seminars, Breeding, Conformation & Pedigree Clinics, US-Bred, TOBA Owners Concierge, OwnerView and the Sales Integrity Program. TOBA provides international representation for U.S. owners and breeders on the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee, International Cataloguing Standards Committee and International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation. Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) is the charitable arm of TOBA. TOBA Media Properties, a subsidiary of TOBA, is the co-owner of BloodHorse LLC. TOBA is represented on the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium as founding members.

The post Speakers Announced For TOBA Ownership Seminar At Churchill Dows appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Horse Races Now (HRN) is excited to announce its media partnership with OpenStable, a sports technology startup that has developed Thoroughbred racing fan-friendly Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to engage the next generation of racing enthusiasts.

Ownership of a transferrable digital collectible (NFT) will give racing fans access to an exclusive community with many perks, privileges, and gear that are usually reserved for horse owners and syndicates. OpenStable is making NFT ownership easy by accepting payments through traditional channels using credit cards or PayPal, along with multiple cryptocurrencies, making it simple for those new to the technology.

The Legendary Racing Prospects Collection will go on sale April 29 at 10:00 am EST, featuring leading contenders of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Join the ride by visiting www.openstable.io.

Kenny McPeek, a Thoroughbred owner and trainer and founder of Horse Races Now, said: “Both Horse Races Now and OpenStable were created to make horse racing accessible and easy to understand. Horse Races Now supplies daily U.S. and international racing data and information and OpenStable supplies insider access to exclusive horse and owner information, collectibles, memorabilia, and race-day access and experiences.”

“The OpenStable platform grants access to exclusive information, collectibles, and experiences so fans can fully enjoy the journey,” said Brian Klatsky, president of OpenStable's parent company, OpenLocker.

Horse Races Now is a free easy-to-use App and website that allows users to follow their favorite horses, trainers, racetracks, and jockeys with optional push notification reminders as well as viewing entries, changes, results, purchasing past performances, reading current racing news and having access to handicapping tools. Download Horse Races Now from the AppStore or GooglePlay and use on your desktop at www.HorseRacesNow.com.

OpenLocker Inc., has a proven track record of engaging fans who have never bought an NFT before with innovative digital collectibles, including the Bone Yard Huskyz Club for University of Connecticut sports fans.

The post Horse Races Now, Sports Technology Startup OpenStable Strike Media Partnership appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Equine fatality rates in Arizona aren't getting better.

That was one takeaway from the track safety report provided by state veterinarian Dr. Sue Gale at this week's meeting of the Arizona Racing Commission.

Gale revealed that the statewide average catastrophic injury rate was 3.34 per 1,000 starts for the past fiscal year — well more than twice the national average from 2021 of 1.39. When split by track, Gale indicated that Arizona Downs had a comparatively safe meet last summer with a rate of 1.37 per 1,000 starts, while the Turf Paradise meeting that started in November was 2.99 per 1,000 starts through the end of March.

Gale did not provide a rate for Rillito Park's recent meet because “if they had one fatality, their rate would have been 4.00 [per 1,000 starts] and of course they had more than that. So the rate is somewhat limited in its value.”

One “start” is the event of one horse leaving the gate in one race; a field of seven horses leaving the gate in a race therefore translates to seven starts. Expressing fatal injuries as events per 1,000 starts when looking at a race meet, state, or nationally is intended to account for variation in the number of horses per race or number of races in a given location or time period.

Gale said that she did speak with the track veterinarian at Rillito after its opening card was marred by two horse deaths, and after the veterinarian began walking the track surface with the superintendent, pointing out areas of surface inconsistency, the meet concluded with two weekends of safe racing.

For a portion of the Turf Paradise meet, Gale had said she was the only veterinarian conducting pre-race examinations on horses, and has admitted in previous meetings she was unable to see every horse before they ran. She had also said the veterinary staffing shortage also interfered with her ability to review entries for high risk horses whose condition may merit further scrutiny. Over the past month, Gale said she had assistance from a veterinarian based in Texas who proved a “great resource.”

“As the meet goes towards the latter end of it, horses are starting to show some wear and tear and we're having to scratch several horses each day,” she said. “I think that's been a positive contributor to reducing fatalities.”

Gale pointed out that the fatality total in Arizona has been similar year over year for some time now. The 2019-20 fiscal year for the Arizona commission was shortened by the outbreak of COVID-19, but in that year there were 22 racing fatalities across all three racetracks. In the previous full fiscal year, the number was 20. This fiscal year, it's once again 22.

“We haven't really done much on an annual basis to change these rates, however I will make a note that the last Thoroughbred breakdown we had at Turf Paradise was March 4,” said Gale.

Another Thoroughbred collapsed after coming off the track on March 11.

Gale also noted that the Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority's safety regulations will go into effect July 1, and some of them could force some positive change in the state. HISA will require the adoption of a voided claim rule, which Gale said “would make a huge difference in this state preventing some of these breakdowns that we have.”

Voided claim rules invalidate claims if the claimed horse is determined by a regulatory veterinarian to be injured in the running of the race, as a way to disincentivize trainers from entering sore horses in hopes of sending them to another barn.

HISA will also require the reinstitution of an equine safety committee to review fatalities and try to create prevention strategies. Gale said there had been such a committee in Arizona in the past, but it is no longer operational.

The post In Arizona, Fatality Rates Continue To Outpace National Average appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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While the 2022 racing season at Arapahoe Park had previously been in doubt, it looks like horsemen will be able to count on another summer of racing in Colorado, per information released at a meeting of the Colorado Department of Racing Events this week.

Arapahoe had previously threatened to close its doors if a state senate bill changing the calculation of payments to the horsemen's purse account was not passed successfully. Now, the track has agreed to withdraw that draft legislation and will run 42 live racing dates for Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, and Arabians from July 3 to Oct. 4, with the backstretch opening June 3.

Read more about the purse account calculations dispute in this report from February. 

This year's meet will be run with the same purse calculation formula as previous years, and the horsemen, the track, and the state will meet ahead of next year's race season to come to an agreement on how to revise or clarify existing state regulations on purse account calculations.

Earlier this year, the horsemen, the track, and the state took different views of the way the track should allocate money to the purse account. Among other disputes, the track believed that in the case of money received from an out-of-state simulcast facility, it was cleared to take out its costs and taxes before calculating the appropriate percentage to the purse account. The draft legislation in the state senate had sought to change the definition of “gross receipts” to fit this interpretation. The horsemen believed the track was required to take out the purse percentage before expenses were paid from the remainder.

Last year, the Colorado Department of Racing Events requested assistance from the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB) to help sort out where money had gone and whether distribution complied with the statutes governing revenue to purse accounts. Racing commissioners were provided with an executive summary of the TRPB's extensive report on the issue at this week's meeting.

The executive summary seems to suggest that Arapahoe had been significantly underpaying the horsemen's purse account for years.

The TRPB wrote that it was unable to do as thorough a report as it would have liked, since at some point it stopped receiving cooperation from the racetrack. Initially, investigators received a number of documents from two members of the track's financial management team, including workbooks, simulcast contracts, and OTB agreements. When one person departed the company and was replaced, the new controller informed the TRPB the track would no longer provide additional information.

The TRPB also found that the statutes were confusing and “took considerable study and understanding.” Separate statutes exist governing purse distribution for OTB operators, simulcast operators, and track operators, although Bally's Arapahoe Park is the only operator of all three types of businesses in Colorado.

“While each state has different economics governing the funding of purses, the national average of purses to handle is 7.7%,” the summary read. “The current method of purse liability calculation in Colorado produces a ratio of purses to handle that is significantly lower than that percentage. Notwithstanding the differing application of statutes, the methods used to define gross and net in the calculation of purses as derived handle from was questionable in so far as having an even greater outcome of reducing purse liability.”

The summary stopped short of speculating on how the previous calculations came to be standard practice, or whether the track was subject to any legal liability as a result.

“The examination does not attribute blame for the source, method, or evolution of these calculations,” wrote the TRPB. “These are merely the findings from the evidence as presented and the results as they were documented. The backgrounds and actions of individuals, companies, or organizations are considered out-of-scope in this examination.”

Although the report is helpful in clarifying the current situation in Colorado, state regulators do not consider it the final word on what the regulations should look like moving forward.

The post Amid Confusion About Purse Account, Arapahoe Park To Host 2022 Racing Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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