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Economic Indicators: Derby Return To May Helps Boost Total Wagering Dollars

Equibase, LLC released its fourth monthly report of 2021 on Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing on Friday, June 4. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Equibase has been providing monthly economic indicators advisories. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year.

With the pandemic-instigated racing shut down across much of North America in May of 2020, as well as the rescheduling of the Kentucky Derby, it's no surprise to see the massive 55.84 percent increase in wagering from May of 2020 to May of 2021. The increase in racing is evidenced by the 206 percent increase in races held across the same period.

Average daily wagering, however, was down 51.84 percent from May of 2020 to May of 2021, perhaps indicative of the other options for wagering dollars available as pandemic restrictions continue to decrease across the country.

The more representative year-to-date numbers, from the first five months of 2019 to the first five months of 2021, show total wagering up 12.88 percent while average daily wagering is up 25.55 percent.

May 2021 vs. May 2020
Indicator	May 2021	May 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$1,415,509,171	$908,333,874	+55.84%
U.S. Purses	$106,723,865	$31,971,002	+233.81%
U.S. Race Days	398	123	+223.58%
U.S. Races	3,249	1,059	+206.80%
U.S. Starts	23,161	9,145	+153.26%
Average Field Size	7.13	8.64	-17.45%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,556,556	$7,384,828	-51.84%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$268,150	$259,927	+3.16%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2020
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2020	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$5,284,716,622	$4,056,194,923	+30.29%
U.S. Purses	$411,282,722	$254,699,053	+61.48%
U.S. Race Days	1,443	1,001	+44.16%
U.S. Races	12,376	8,421	+46.97%
U.S. Starts	93,411	67,928	+37.51%
Average Field Size	7.55	8.07	-6.43%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,662,312	$4,052,143	-9.62%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$285,019	$254,445	+12.02%

2019 Comparisons:

May 2021 vs. May 2019
Indicator	May 2021	May 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$1,415,509,171	$1,300,923,869	+8.81%
U.S. Purses	$106,723,865	$115,776,828	-7.82%
U.S. Race Days	398	450	-11.56%
U.S. Races	3,249	3,650	-10.99%
U.S. Starts	23,161	25,955	-10.76%
Average Field Size	7.13	7.11	+0.25%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,556,556	$2,890,942	+23.02%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$268,150	$257,282	+4.22%

YTD 2021 vs. YTD 2019
Indicator	YTD 2021	YTD 2019	% Change
Wagering on U.S. Races*	$5,284,716,622	$4,681,850,887	+12.88%
U.S. Purses	$411,282,722	$428,807,298	-4.09%
U.S. Race Days	1,443	1,605	-10.09%
U.S. Races	12,376	13,552	-8.68%
U.S. Starts	93,411	102,513	-8.88%
Average Field Size	7.55	7.56	-0.22%
Average Wagering Per Race Day	$3,662,312	$2,917,041	+25.55%
Average Purses Per Race Day	$285,019	$267,170	+6.68%

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

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Guess Who’s Back: Preciado Granted Stable Employee License At Parx

Five years after his owner and trainer licenses were revoked in Pennsylvania, Ramon Preciado is back on the backstretch at Parx. Preciado was granted a stable employee's license in December 2020 and has been working as a groom for trainer Penny Pearce ever since, according to his attorney, Alan Pincus.

State stewards ordered Preciado's licenses revoked in December 2016 after one of his runners was positive in a post-race test for clenbuterol. The racing commission apparently felt the positive, which came following a race in July, was the last straw. The test results came in as Preciado was appealing a 270-day suspension for eight medication violations that occurred earlier in the year. Parx banned Preciado from its grounds in April 2016, a move which Preciado contested in court.

A former Preciado employee would later be arrested on one count of rigging a publicly exhibited contest after she said she illegally administered clenbuterol to Preciado horses to seek revenge against the trainer. That employee, Marian Vega, was deferred to Pennsylvania's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program and bypassed a trial.

At the end of 2016, Pincus said his client decided to accept the decisions of the track and the commission, and made plans to reapply for a license at a future date, should he show he had “rehabilitated.” In 2018, Preciado's application for a stable employee license was denied due to “his background and numerous medication violations.” At the end of last year however, Pincus said Preciado's application was granted. He still does not hold an owner's license.

Pearce, meanwhile, is having her best year yet. While her win percentage in 2020 was 8 percent, it jumped to 25 percent thus far in 2021. She has sent out 36 runners, which have picked up nine wins, six seconds and two thirds, meaning she finishes in the money 47 percent of the time now.

“I imagine that, he's a top-flight horseman, that, you know, he would function as a groom and she could benefit from his expertise with the horses,” said Pincus of Preciado's role in Pearce's shedrow.

One of Pearce's runners, Beto's Girl, moved to the barn earlier this year after a second-place effort at Tampa Bay Downs and is now owned by the partnership of JAG Racing and Jettany Thoroughbred Corp, which ran horses with Preciado prior to his license revocation.

When asked about the distinction between a trainer's role and Preciado's function as a groom, Pincus said, “A trainer is in charge, enters the horses, supervises everything. He, like any other employee, assists in whatever way he can, but he's not the trainer.”

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Attorney: Vega To Appeal Summary Suspension In Pennsylvania

Parx Hall of Fame owner/trainer Ricardo Vega, who runs under the banner of Richard Vega Racing Stable, will be appealing the summary suspension dealt to him last week by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission. Attorney Alan Pincus said he had filed paperwork in court Thursday to request a stay of suspension while the appeals process is completed.

According to the racing commission's ruling from May 27, multiple loaded syringes and needles were found in Vega's barn during a large-scale raid at Parx in late May. Pincus said his client shares the tack room where the items were found with three other trainers and that it is not kept locked.

Pincus said Vega was not permitted in the barn while investigators searched and was shown one loaded syringe, which he did not recognize. It remains unclear what was in the loaded syringes, since Pincus said testing has not yet been completed on the contents.

“They showed him one syringe and he doesn't know anything about it,” said Pincus. “They claim they found a whole bunch of other stuff but we've not seen it.

“They're not going to hold a hearing until the results of that testing comes back, and who knows how many weeks or months that could be. So without a stay [of suspension], he's going to go out of business waiting for a hearing.”

Pincus also said there was no representative of the horsemen present during the search, as he said is required.

According to a report presented at a regular meeting of the commission May 25, investigators searched six barns, six tack rooms, five grooms' quarters and five external tack rooms. They also completed 66 out-of-competition tests. Although he could not reveal specifics, commission executive director Tom Chuckas said at that meeting the raid revealed “a significant amount of contraband … dealing with medications, either unlabeled, compounded, or expired.

“I regret to say that there were contraband that have no business on the backside, like needles and syringes and some other things that we discovered,” Chuckas said.

Pennsylvania state code prohibits anyone other than licensed veterinarians from possessing syringes, needles, or injectable medications on the backstretch.

No hearing has been set yet for the appeal.

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SunRay Park Concludes 2021 Meet With 123 Percent Gain In Handle

The 2021 SunRay Park and Casino live racing season registered its most successful meet in history, reporting record gains in handle.

The 18-day stand which concluded on Sunday in Farmington, New Mexico yielded a staggering 123 percent gain in total handle. Presenting live racing for the first time since 2019, the Northern New Mexico track experienced record growth in their simulcast export operation.

SunRay's racing product appears to have found an entirely new national simulcast audience, finishing up a whopping 137 percent versus a 17 day, 2019 meet. Total handle of better than $7 million reflected an uptick of well over $3 million from previous meet figures.

On-track numbers managed to show impressive resilience while dealing with state imposed Covid-19 attendance restrictions. Despite the limitations placed on patron capacity throughout the property, on track handle still managed to increase by over 15 percent.

Upon conclusion of the meet, General Manager Bradley Boehm said: “We were incredibly pleased and humbled by the tremendous response from both our on and off track patrons. To receive this kind of reaction to our live racing program, after being shuttered for 11 months, is more than we could have ever expected. We look forward to applying this momentum to 2022 and beyond.”

SunRay Park traditionally runs their live race meet from mid-April to early June.

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