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Thoroughbred Owner Conference To Be Offered As Free Series Of Virtual Panels Over Nine Months

OwnerView announced today that the 2021 Thoroughbred Owner Conference will be held as a free series of virtual panels over nine months. The conference series, hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Dean Dorton, and Stoll Keenon Ogden, will be held on the first Tuesday of each month starting March 2.

“This new format for 2021 enables us to offer informative, educational and enjoyable panels on Thoroughbred ownership to anyone interested from the convenience of wherever they happen to be,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. “Each month's conference will cover a topic that is relevant to Thoroughbred ownership and, when possible, coincides with what is happening in the Thoroughbred industry at that time of year.”

The first panel of the series, sponsored by Keeneland, will be held Tuesday, March 2, and will cover the economics of racehorse ownership. Panelists are George Bolton, owner; Maggi Moss, owner; Sarah Reeves, attorney and member, Stoll Keenon Ogden; and Jen Shah, tax director, Dean Dorton. The panel will be moderated by Mike Penna of Horse Racing Radio Network.

“The economics of owning racehorses is one of the most essential aspects of ownership for new and even veteran owners, so we picked it as our first topic of the series,” Falter said. “Other topics are finding your Thoroughbred athlete, partnerships and syndicates, claiming Thoroughbreds, and five additional ownership topics.”

Each conference panel will be streamed live, and attendees will be able to ask questions during the discussion via typed messages that will be addressed at the end of each panel. Replays of the conference series panels will also be available at a later date.

“For the best experience and the option of asking questions in real time, we recommend registering for the series and watching live,” Falter said. “We will offer replays, but it will not be the same, interactive experience.”

There is no registration fee for the live or recorded virtual conference series, but registration is required. For more information about the owner conference series, including the schedule of panels and registration, please visit ownerview.com/event/conference or contact Gary Falter at gfalter@jockeyclub.com.

OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on aspects of ownership such as trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing.

The need for a central resource to encourage Thoroughbred ownership was identified in the comprehensive economic study of the sport that was commissioned by The Jockey Club and conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2011. The OwnerView site was launched in May 2012.

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New Jersey Horsemen Settle $150 Million Sports Betting Case For $3.4 Million

According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, horsemen in New Jersey have settled a years-long lawsuit with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and the NCAA for $3.4 million — far less than the $150 million the group claimed it was owed.

The settlement was reached out of court and entered into the record this week by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Freda Wolfson.

The $3.4 million will come from an escrow bond the leagues put up in 2014 when they first became entangled in a civil suit with horsemen while attempting to stop Monmouth Park from hosting sports betting. In 2018 a U.S. Supreme Court ruling made sports betting legal in New Jersey, and $150 million had been the figure the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NJTHA) claimed it had missed out on in the four years in between.

The escrow bond had originally been designed to cover revenue losses for a one-month period when Monmouth was subject to a court injunction barring sports betting at the start of the civil case.

In exchange for getting the bond amount, NJTHA will decline to pursue the case any farther.

Court Of Appeals Upholds Murray Rojas Felony Conviction On Drug Misbranding At Penn National

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday upheld the 2017 felony conviction of trainer Murray Rojas, who was found guilty in a jury trial on 14 counts of misbranding prescription drugs over a 13-year period from 2002-14 at Penn National racetrack in Grantville, Pa.

Rojas was subsequently sentenced to 27 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised released, a $5,000 fine and $1,400 special assessment.

She was found not guilty at the trial on charges of wire fraud.

Rojas was charged as part of an FBI investigation into corruption at Penn National that yielded guilty pleas from four veterinarians, a clocker, trainer and racing office employee. Rojas is the only person charged that went to trial.

Witnesses testified that Rojas instructed veterinarians to administer medication to her horses within 24 hours of a race in violation of Pennsylvania law or that she administered the drugs herself. Veterinarians admitted they misdated treatment sheets and billing records to cover up the violations.

Rojas was denied an opportunity during the trial to put forth an expert witness who would testify that the drugs Rojas was having administered were therapeutic and not performance enhancing, but Judge Rambo ruled that was irrelevant because state law bars all drugs within 24 hours with a limited exception.

After her conviction, Rojas filed a motion for acquittal with District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo, but that motion was denied. Her attorney, Robert E. Goldman, then filed an appeal on the following grounds:

That the District Court failed to instruct the jury properly on a distinction between “administering” drugs or “dispensing” them.
That the government's evidence to convict on misbranding charges was insufficient because it did not establish Rojas dispensed drugs rather than have them administered.
That the District Court erred in permitting a Stewards Ruling to be entered into evidence
That Rojas should have been permitted to provide evidence that the drugs were therapeutic rather than performance enhancing.
That the government did not present evidence that Rojas engaged in fraud or attempted to cover up her activities, which her attorneys said was required to convict on felony charges

The Court of Appeals judges who heard the case disagreed on all five counts. Because the full court did not participate, the ruling is considered non-precedential.

The case was heard by Circuit Judges Michael A. Chagares, Anthony J. Scirica and Jane R. Roth. The government was represented by William A. Behe from the United States Attorney's Office in Harrisburg, Pa.

Rojas has the right to file for a rehearing before the Court of Appeals. If that fails, she may petition to the United States Supreme Court.

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Renovations Ahead For Oklahoma Training Track, Patron Area At Saratoga

The Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga could be getting a much-needed rework this year, according to reports presented by NYRA officials at a meeting of the Franchise Oversight Board on Monday. The board gave its approval to NYRA's budget for 2021 and anticipated maintenance projects, including the updating of the Oklahoma.

According to NYRA, the training track hasn't had significant work done on it since the 1960s. Investigation by the association after the close of training in 2020 found there were spots in the track's sand base that were inconsistent. The horsemen voiced approval for a plan to take up the entire track cushion and replace the base with a limestone material similar to that on the main track. The railing will also be replaced with a safety rail and the track will be widened 10 to 12 feet through the stretch and backstretch. Officials also hope to improve the pitch and elevations throughout the track surface. In one spot there's as much as a three foot difference between the 3/4 pole and 7/8 pole, which was put in to direct water drainage. One challenge to this process will likely be the pine trees that border the backstretch, as their proximity and root systems could make them barriers to the update process. The association is in touch with a landscape architect to determine the best resolution.

Saratoga could also see an upgrade to the popular Post Bar, next to the walking ring and the Shake Shack. The area, which is currently covered by a tent, could be replaced by a two-story structure with a permanent enclosed structure ideal for group sales. A deck on top of the structure would offer a unique view of the paddock, and NYRA officials said they're hopeful the removal of the tent could improve visibility/available space to some general admission patrons.

Monday's meeting also included a financial report from NYRA, highlighted by improved figures for its NYRA Bets platform in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift from in-person wagering to online only created an increase in activity for all ADW companies and NYRA CEO/president David O'Rourke estimated NYRA Bets is “about in the middle of the pack in terms of growth, which is good.”

O'Rourke guessed that about 60 percent of new wagering activity to the NYRA Bets platform was coming from existing customers who just didn't have an account before. The remainder however, he attributes to casual sports fans who had not previously spent much wagering on horse racing but began doing so while racing had extra coverage from FOX Sports and NBC in the spring and summer when other sports were halted. He also said those customers seem to have stuck around from summer to the Breeders' Cup, when other live sports had resumed.

For 2021, NYRA does not anticipate having fans on-site through at least spring and made its budgets based on a 25% attendance reduction for the Belmont Stakes and a 12% reduction at Saratoga to allow for social distancing.

Based on the increased activity from NYRA Bets, the association predicts an increase of $1.1 million in net income for 2021 over its 2019 net income. A reduction in operating expenses, both from not having fans on-site as well as corporate restructuring is the other factor in the predicted increase.

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