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Illinois Racing Board Nixes Arlington’s OTB Licenses But Approves TwinSpires ADW

You win some, you lose some.

That's how it went for Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) and its dormant track, Arlington Park, during Thursday's regularly scheduled meeting of the Illinois Racing Board when the 10 commissioners deadlocked on a motion to permit Arlington to continue to operate off-track betting faclities, effectively killing the measure. CDI won a second vote by a 9-1 margin permitting TwinSpires, the company's advance deposit wagering platform, to maintain its license and operate in the state in 2022.

The meeting was contentious at times, with Arlington's Tony Petrillo and Hawthorne's Tim Carey shouting over each other during discussions about ADW revenue.

Commissioner Alan Henry, a fierce critic of CDI over its decision to not race at Arlington in 2022 and sell the track property to the NFL's Chicago Bears to build a football stadium, referred to the closing as a “flagrant obscenity,” saying that, “It's now time for this board and this state to move on from Churchill Downs.”

This came after Chris Block, newly elected president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, said the move to close Arlington has put the state's Thoroughbred industry “on the brink of collapse.”

But the board apparently has a number of CDI loyalists who felt it was in the best interest of racing to permit Arlington Park to maintain its OTB network despite not operating a live race meetingin 2022 – in what the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association said was contrary to law.

Petrillo told the IRB that CDI remained committed to live racing in Illinois, saying the company was continuing to search for a property to build a new track to replace Arlington. When pressed by the board, he couldn't offer any specifics. Two senior CDI officials, Bill Mudd and Brad Blackwell, joined the call, but they offered no specifics, either, saying they hoped to find a place to build a track and then get a casino license.

To several commissioners, that made no sense, inasmuch as CDI turned down an opportunity to add casino gambling to Arlington after enabling legislation was passed in 2019. Horsemen and CDI worked hand in hand for many years to get the legislation approved.

When it came time to vote on Arlington's OTBs, five commissioners were in favor and five against; thus, the motion did not pass. The yes votes came from Leslie Breuer, Marcus Davis, Lydia Gray, Charles MacKelvie and Leslye Sandberg. Voting against the Arlington OTB licenses were board chairman Daniel Beiser, Beth Doria, Alan Henry, Benjamin Reyes and John Stephan.

Hawthorne is expected to pick up the slack from the Arlington OTBs that will not reopen, although under current law it is one OTB short of the maximum it can operate. Hawthorne is expected to seek legislative help that will permit them to expand their network.

For an advance deposit wagering company to be licensed in Illinois, it must have a contract with a state racetrack and the consent of the representative horsemen's group.

TwinSpires had previously reached an agreement with Fanduel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, the downstate track formerly known as Fairmount Park. The Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association that represents horsemen at Fanduel/Fairmount withheld consent until just before Thursday's meeting. The board could have approved the license without consent, if the commissioners felt the horsemen were being unreasonable, but the agreement made that a moot point after the Illinois HBPA gave their consent.

However, there was one last chance for the IRB to block TwinSpires' operations in Illinois by denying the company an ADW license. After much debate, that license was approved by a 9-1 vote. Henry was the lone dissenter.

As commissioner Henry explained, the approval will hurt horsemen at Hawthorne because the bulk of purse revenue will remain at Fanduel/Fairmount although 75% of the ADW customers live in the Chicago area.

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Jockeys’ Guild Virtual Assembly Includes Presentations On Mental Health Awareness, Proposed HISA Regulations

The Jockeys' Guild held its Annual Meeting virtually again this year on Dec. 7, 2021. The virtual meeting was attended by active Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse jockeys from around the country.

The highlights included a synopsis of the short film THE FALL by Equine Productions' Visual Director Nathan Horrocks, who co-directed the feature with Cold Feet star Robert Bathurst. Horrocks has been in racing most of his life and has witnessed firsthand the mental health challenges that jockeys face on a daily basis. His hope is to raise awareness of the mental health struggles within the sport of racing and let jockeys know they do not have to suffer in silence.

Racing advocate and long-time supporter of the jockeys Sen. Damon Thayer (KY-R) addressed the members on the compromise he was instrumental in accomplishing in Kentucky regarding the use of the riding crop, as well as the increase in losing mount fees at select tracks. His involvement, as well as his continued support, is invaluable.

Dr. David Lambert B.V.Sc. (Hons.), M.R.C.V.S, President and Founder of Equine Analysis, in Midway, Kentucky, presented “21st Century Solutions: Stopping Horses From Breaking Down.” The system, known as Stride Safe, employs sensors, which are placed in saddle towels, to track the movements of the horse and gather data which can be used to protect horses, and in turn, jockeys from life-threatening injuries. The system is currently being utilized at NYRA.

Ann McGovern, director of Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (“HISA”) Racetrack Safety standing committee, provided the jockeys with an update about the current status of the proposed racetrack safety rules, which have been formally submitted to the Federal Trade Commission. She also advised members about the intent of the Authority to provide regulations assuring for the safety of the horses, thereby, improving the safety of the jockeys. Jockeys voiced their concerns regarding changes that have occurred with racing, as well as their ongoing worry with regards to the safety issues created by the restrictive use of the riding crop and the penalties being proposed by HISA. The Jockeys' Guild will submit public comments to the FTC and encouraged others to do so as well.

Nancy LaSala, Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (“PDJF”) President, and PDJF Board Member and horse owner/breeder Paul Braverman gave an update on the PDJF. Mr. Braverman emphasized that the PDJF has made a commitment to the disabled jockeys for the rest of their lives, yet there is no committed source of funding from the industry. Like many other non-profit organizations, COVID-19 has had a negative impact on their customary fundraising efforts and was a stark reminder of the need for institutional funding. In response to horse owner's requests, the PDJF has created a new initiative called “Rider's Up” that has the full support of the PDJF Board and has been presented to many industry stakeholders. The PDJF is hopeful that contributions generated from the Rider's Up Initiative by horse owners will enable the PDJF to increase its monthly stipends to recipients who have suffered career-ending catastrophic injuries.

In support of this worthy cause, the Jockeys' Guild Senate members voted to adopt a new policy, whereby winning Jockeys' Guild members of races with purses over $70,000 will contribute 0.005 percent of their earnings, capped at $200. This would be a separate program from the “one dollar program” that is already in place and would continue to be offered at the tracks that do not offer purses of $70,000 or more. Like the horse owners program, the jockeys will have the ability to opt-out. The Guild Senate formally adopted this proposal to support the PDJF's Riders Up initiative with the intent of encouraging the horsemen organizations to follow suit, such that both the winning owner and winning jockey can help to make a critical impact on the welfare of these disabled riders. It should be noted that many active jockeys already contribute money and their time to the PDJF, as well as donations to other jockeys who are injured.

The riders in attendance re-elected John Velazquez and Mike Smith as Co-chairmen, Javier Castellano and Julien Leparoux, along with newly elected Quarter Horse jockey James Flores, as Vice-Chairs, Joel Campbell as Treasurer and Rodney Prescott as Secretary. In addition, Alex Birzer, Joe Bravo, and Drayden Van Dyke were re-elected to the Board of Directors.

In a closed session, the members reviewed 2021 financials and the 2022 budget.

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Judge Orders NYRA To Pay $106K In Baffert’s Legal Fees In Ongoing Civil Suit

U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon has ordered the New York Racing Association (NYRA) to pay $106,457.50 in legal fees and $2,667.31 in expenses incurred by trainer Bob Baffert in an ongoing legal battle between the two. Baffert brought suit against NYRA after the racing organization banned him from its tracks following Baffert's announcement that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone after the Kentucky Derby.

In May, Judge Amon granted a preliminary injunction against NYRA, preventing the organization from enforcing its ban while the lawsuit is still pending. NYRA had argued that such reimbursement for legal costs was premature since Baffert had won a preliminary injunction but not the lawsuit itself. Judge Amon did not agree with that argument, pointing to other cases in which a plaintiff won a preliminary injunction but did not prevail in pursuit of a permanent injunction.

Judge Amon's ruling indicated that Baffert has agreed not to seek damages related to this portion of the case.

The ruling weighed the experience of each of the attorneys working on Baffert's case, as well as the billing records about the number of hours they've spent on the case so far, to determine whether the amount he requested is reasonable. According to the judge's opinion, Baffert's primary attorney, Craig Robertson, has billed him at a rate of $475 per hour. She did not award the full amount Baffert was seeking, based on an opinion that the rates in some cases were higher than the average range or that some of the work was duplicative.

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‘Can’t Ignore These Injury Rates’: CHRB Grants Golden Gate Six-Month License With Increased Monitoring

At Wednesday's meeting of the California Horse Racing Board, the Daily Racing Form reports that discussion centered around the equine fatality rate at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, Calif. Seventeen racehorses have died in racing (four) or training (13) at Golden Gate this year, with four fatalities coming during an eight-day span in November.

In March of 2021, Golden Gate was the site of an on-track protest against horse racing organized by Direct Action Everywhere (DXE), whose spokesperson Cassie King, said DXE was spurred to action by the deaths of three horses during a recent four-week period.

CHRB vice chairman Oscar Gonzales introduced a motion to grant Golden Gate a three-month license in order to review its safety policies, but that measure failed on a vote of 3-4. Instead, commissioner Dennis Alfieri suggested monitoring the track's safety record every 30 days, and a six-month license was approved on a vote of 4-3 (racing from Dec. 26 to June 14, 2022).

Gonzales, Wendy Mitchell, and Brenda Washington-Davis voted against the six-month license. Alfieri, Damascus Castellanos, Alex Solis, and chairman Dr. Greg Ferraro voted for it.

Ferraro said he had traveled to Golden Gate with executive director Scott Chaney and equine medical director Jeff Blea to talk about the injuries.

“We can't ignore these injury rates,” Ferraro said. “We're willing to work with them and try to improve the situation.”

At last December's meeting of the CHRB, the fatality rate at Los Alamitos (29 in a one-year period) came under scrutiny when preparing to grant that track's race dates for the year. Board members voted to grant the track a six-month license, instead of one year. In January 2021, after Los Al enacted a series of protocols to improve safety, the CHRB voted to restore a full-year license with enhanced scrutiny.