“The Eclipse Award of Merit is the Thoroughbred industry's highest honor, bestowed upon an individual who has displayed a lifetime of achievement in service to the sport,” reads the press release from the NTRA. “Janney's decades of involvement and leadership within the sport of Thoroughbred racing has bettered the sport for future generations.”

“I am honored to have been chosen for the Eclipse Award of Merit and sincerely thank those who selected me,” said Janney. “This sport, and its future, have always been my top priority, and I am appreciative of the support of so many who have joined us on the journey to improve Thoroughbred racing and breeding for generations to come.”

As an owner and breeder, Janney has campaigned numerous top-class horses, including homebred graded stakes winners Coronado's Quest (Forty Niner), winner of the GI Haskell S. and GI Travers S. in 1998, Air Support (Smart Strike), Celestial City (Uncle Mo), Data Link (War Front), Hymn Book (Arch), Ironicus (Distorted Humor), Norumbega (Tiznow) and On Leave (War Front). Janney, in partnership with the Phipps Stable, was co-owner and co-breeder of 2013 GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon) as well as GISW Carriage Trail (Giant's Causeway).

Born into a Maryland racing family, Janney was raised with an appreciation of the sport through his parents and grandparents. The former, Stuart and Barbara Janney, bred and owned the Eclipse Award-winning champion and Hall of Fame inductee Ruffian. In the 1990s, the younger Janney began owning and breeding Thoroughbreds on his own and has continued to do so for more than three decades.

Janney's reach and influence extends well beyond the winner's circle into many of Thoroughbred racing's most important organizations. Janney has been a member of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association since 1992, serving as chairman from 1997 to 2001 and having served multiple terms on the board of trustees. He also served as a board member of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association from 1992 to 1997 and president of the Maryland Million Ltd. from 1994 to 1997. He was appointed by Maryland Governor Parris Glendening in 1999 to chair the Maryland Commission to Study Ways to Improve the Financial Viability of the Racing Industry. Additionally, Janney served on the board of Keeneland from 1998 to 2015. He currently serves on the board of The New York Racing Association, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Equibase Company and BloodHorse LLC.

Stuart Janney | Scoop-Dyga

“Stuart Janney's career has been that of dedication and service to both the horse and the entirety of the Thoroughbred racing industry,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “The Eclipse Award of Merit is in appreciation for all his efforts. Stuart's leadership, commitment, and passion for this industry is unquestionable and I thank him for all his work.”

“I offer my sincerest congratulations to Stuart Janney on being honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit,” said trainer Shug McGaughey, who has worked with Janney for decades. “I've trained horses for Stuart since 1988, and he has been an excellent client for me, always putting the welfare of his horses and the people who work with them first. As The Jockey Club chairman for the past decade, Stuart has my admiration for taking on the tough and often unpopular issues that we, as a sport, must face. I know it hasn't always been easy for him, but time and again I've seen him guided only by his principles: do the right thing for the horse.”

“Finally, I am proud to call Stuart my friend, and I wish he and his family my thanks for entrusting his horses with me for so many years,” said McGaughey.

As chairman of The Jockey Club since 2015, Janney has played a pivotal role in initiatives such as the creation of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). Under his leadership, 5 Stones intelligence was engaged to investigate horse racing, resulting in federal prosecutions and significant penalties. Janney previously chaired The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, making numerous recommendations for industry improvements.

Before his racing involvement, Janney had a career in the federal government, practiced law, and served as a managing director at Alex Brown & Sons. He is chairman emeritus of Bessemer Trust Company and is involved in various organizations, including serving on the board of King Ranch Inc.

Janney, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland School of Law, is married with two children and resides in Butler, Maryland.

The post Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney To Receive Eclipse Award Of Merit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be handed out on FanDuel TV and other outlets, during the 53rd annual Eclipse Awards, presented by FanDuel Racing, John Deere, Keeneland, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2023 Horse of the Year.

Of the 250 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of member racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the NTWAB, and Daily Racing Form, 219 (88%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2023 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, (in alphabetical order) are:

Two-Year-Old Male: Fierceness (City of Light), Locked (Gun Runner), Muth (Good Magic)

Two-Year-Old Filly: Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}), Hard to Justify (Justify), Just F Y I (Justify)

Three-Year-Old Male: Arcangelo (Arrogate), Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Mage (Good Magic)

Three-Year-Old Filly: Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), Randomized (Nyquist)

Older Dirt Male: Cody's Wish (Curlin), Elite Power (Curlin), White Abarrio (Race Day)

Older Dirt Female: Clairiere (Curlin), Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), Idiomatic (Curlin)

Male Sprinter: Cody's Wish (Curlin), Elite Power (Curlin), Gunite (Gun Runner)

Female Sprinter: Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic)

Male Turf Horse: Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Master of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Up to the Mark (Not This Time)

Female Turf Horse: In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Inspiral (Frankel {GB}), Mawj (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus})

Steeplechase Horse: Awakened (Curlin), Merry Maker (Ire) (Malinas {Ger}), Snap Decision (Hard Spun)

Owner: Godolphin LLC, Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables Inc.

Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin LLC, Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC,

Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, William I. Mott

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione, Irad Ortiz, Jr., Flavien Prat

Apprentice Jockey: Axel Concepcion, Jamie Torres, Sofia Vives

In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Paul Calia will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2023 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Eclipse Awards voting is conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), and The Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards ceremony is produced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire, Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.

The post Eclipse Finalists Tallied For Awards Show Jan. 25 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

2023 was certainly a year of many challenges for the Thoroughbred industry. Much has been written and spoken about the issues we face, although very little action has taken place.

As we enter 2024, I believe it is imperative we make meaningful efforts to improve our sport. Every component of the industry must pledge to do a better job. We must find common ground and set aside our egos.

We must commit (at a minimum) to the following actions as an industry:

1) Establish a public relations plan that: (a) provides a spokesperson to speak for our industry in times of crisis; and (b) addresses the issues and concerns regarding equine safety and aftercare. This will require resources-money!

A new initiative, LIGHT UP RACING, is being launched to address these issues and Fasig-Tipton is committing $50,000 for the initial launch and proof of concept for this initiative. In addition, we will commit $200,000 over the next three years to support organized industry efforts regarding public relations.

2) Implement a plan to utilize wearable technology and install PET scan machines at major racetracks. We have no choice but to embrace these concepts and work together to provide these as cost effectively as possible.

Fasig-Tipton has no financial stake or interests in any providers/vendors of these products; however, we are willing to commit to an investment/expenditure of $250,000 over the next three years to assist in these efforts if joined by other industry interests.

3) Improve our betting product. On Christmas Day, my three sons-in-law and two of my daughters were wagering modest sums on NBA and NFL games in progress.

They wanted action and engagement and were easily able to make understandable wagers on their phones. They could bet on a team, the number of touchdowns, who would make three-point shots, etc. and try for parlays that would produce significant payouts.

Relevant statistical data is available for FREE to encourage participation. The gambling world has exploded–yet our game has not.

We have many extraordinarily talented and successful people involved in our great sport. In addition, we have institutions and organizations with significant financial resources that must make investments today for the good of tomorrow.

I urge the Breeders' Cup, The Jockey Club, HISA, racetracks, stallion farms, sales companies, owners, breeders and trainers to make a commitment of both talent and resources to invest in our future before it is too late.

–Boyd Browning, President & Chief Executive Officer, Fasig-Tipton Co.

The post Fasig-Tipton’s Boyd Browning Urges Industry To Join In Action In 2024 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

They estimate an additional 2,500 to 3,500 mares will be reported as bred during the 2023 breeding season.

Kentucky traditionally leads North America in Thoroughbred breeding activity. During 2023, Kentucky's 199 reported stallions covered 16,953 mares, or 63.74% of all of the mares reported bred in North America. The number of mares bred to Kentucky stallions increased 1.58% compared with the 16,689 reported at this time last year.

Of the top 10 states and provinces by number of mares reported bred in 2023, in addition to Kentucky, stallions in New York, Ontario, and West Virginia covered more mares in 2023 than in 2022, as reported at this time last year.

Golden Pal, standing at Coolmore America, had the highest number of mares bred in 2023 with 293, followed by Epicenter (Coolmore), 262; Practical Joke (Coolmore), 252; Jack Christopher (Coolmore), 247; and Uncle Mo (Coolmore), 234.

Sires With 200+ Mares Bred:
Golden Pal (293)
Epicenter (262)
Practical Joke (252)
Jack Christopher (247)
Uncle Mo (234)
Olympiad (228)
Charlatan (223)
Cyberknife (223)
Justify (222)
Vekoma (212)
Mandaloun (211)
Nashville (204)
Yaupon (202)
Not This Time (200)

The RMB also shows that there were 14 stallions with a book size of 200 or more that covered a total of 3,213 mares in North America in 2023 as reported through Oct. 18, which is 12.1% of all coverings reported. The 45 stallions with books of 150 or more covered 8,588 mares, which is 32.3% of all mares reported bred.

For comparison, reports submitted by Oct. 10, 2013, show that one stallion covered more than 200 mares in North America, which represented 0.6% of the total for that year. Those reports also show 19 stallions covered 150 or more with a total of 3,205 mares in the 2013 breeding season, which equates to 9.4% of all mares reported bred in 2013 as of Oct. 10.

Click here to view all of the RMB statistics, which can be found in The Jockey Club Fact Book.

In addition, RMB information on stallions that bred mares in North America is available through report 36P or subscription service Equineline.

The post Report of Mares Bred: Golden Pal Tops List With 293 In 2023 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Gustavson has played a pivotal role in restoring Spendthrift Farm's position as one of the world's premier Thoroughbred breeding operations. He is also a member of The Jockey Club and Breeders' Cup Board of Directors.

“We welcome Eric Gustavson to the Keeneland Board, where his business skill and marketing acumen will be instrumental as we meet the opportunities and challenges of the future,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said.

The post Keeneland Names Spendthrift’s Eric Gustavson To Board of Directors appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“I think we really, seriously, need to look at more synthetic tracks,” Casse said, triggering yet another cavalcade of commentary on the conceived benefits and blights of synthetic surfaces. “I believe in them. I believe they've got plenty of data to back that up.”

Former TDN writer Lucas Marquardt followed it up with an analysis of race-day fatality data through The Jockey Club's Equine Injury database.

Marquardt calculated how from 2009 through 2022, there were 6,036 fatal injuries from 3,242,505 starts on dirt in North America. That's a rate of 1.86 fatalities per 1000 starts.

On synthetics, there were 534 fatal injuries from 482,169 starts, a rate of 1.11. That's a 68% difference.

“Put another way, had dirt tracks matched the safety of synthetic tracks during that stretch, there would have been 2,437 fewer fatalities,” Marquardt wrote.

The state with arguably the deepest-albeit most contentious-relationship with synthetic surfaces is California, which mandated in 2006 the switch from dirt to synthetic surfaces at its four major tracks.

The state reversed course a few years later in the face of broad dissatisfaction with the decision. It's no easy story to tell, riven by tales of cost-cutting and skirted corners, ill-chosen materials and drainage problems.

Some point the finger, at least in part, at the failure of industry leaders to adequately study the efficacy of different materials before putting the new surfaces down.

Since then, California's relationship with synthetic surfaces has grown even more complicated, thanks to Del Mar's dirt track consistently proving among the most statistically safe nationwide-dirt or synthetic. Nevertheless, Del Mar's experiences haven't been replicated state-wide.

In 2021, California's fatality rate on the dirt (1.51) was more than twice the synthetic rate (0.73), according to Marquardt's calculations. In 2022, it was more than three times larger (1.44 vs. 0.41).

This issue promises to remain a prominent one for the near future. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority recently announced that it is establishing a blue-ribbon committee to “work toward the study and ultimate introduction of more synthetic surface options in Thoroughbred racing.”

Among a fleet of promises, The Stronach Group (TSG) announced that it intends to replace the dirt training track at Santa Anita with a synthetic alternative.

Given the state's flip-flopping history with different surfaces, the TDN asked several long-time California-based trainers this question: Given the re-ignited debate on synthetics and all its accompanying arguments, should California mandate once again the replacement of its dirt surfaces with synthetics?

Eoin Harty
“Of course. I don't think they should even have to mandate it. I should think that somebody should show some f*&^ing leadership for a change and do the right thing. Instead of looking down, looking up, looking sideways and dancing around the issue, we need to address the elephant in the room: That we're in a position basically brought on by ourselves.”

“I think the time for hand-wringing and regurgitating old cliches about needing more data, more science, blah, blah, blah-that time has come and gone. No more committees, just do the right thing and put down synthetics. It's time to get on the right side of history. There won't be a Mulligan on this one.”

Note: Harty later explained the curse reflected the gravity of the situation.

John Shirreffs
“I like to tell the story of Tiago, who had won the Santa Anita Derby. In his four-year-old year at Del Mar, I had his exercise rider work him a half [mile]. He breaks off the half mile pole, the horse goes a 16th of a mile and pulls himself up, doesn't want to work.”

Trainer John Shirreffs | Benoit

“I tell the rider, 'don't worry, Mike Smith will be here tomorrow. He gets along with him really well.' Break Tiago off again, goes about a 16th of a mile, pulls himself up and refused to work on that synthetic track.”

“After Zenyatta won the G1 Clement Hearst S., she refused to gallop around the [Del Mar] racetrack. She'd go about two thirds of the way around then just stop and refuse to go. The only thing we could do is walk her to the nearest gap and take her off the track.”

“Zenyatta and Tiago were both big, strong horses that really ran hard. Those type of horses really did not like synthetic tracks. I think that if you just look at how long it takes horses to adjust to the synthetic tracks when they first go in, all you do is find horseshoes on the outside of the track because they're all grabbing themselves. Their feet stop so quickly in it. Synthetic tracks only get bearable as they get older. When they first go in, they're really sticky and tough on horses.”

“As you've seen in the statistics in California, our breakdowns are really reduced. So, I don't think synthetics are the answer. Synthetics are a nice alternative. I mean, it'd be great to have a synthetic track here on the training track because you can't use the main track when it's wet. So, maybe they'd let us use a synthetic track when it was wet.”

Richard Mandella
“I think Santa Anita has the right idea to put it on the training track here to learn more about it, and hopefully it will be waterproof to train through the winter. I would take one step at a time.”

Leonard Powell
“I think the option of having a synthetic track to train on is very good. But to mandate to have all racing on synthetic, I don't think that's a necessity.”

“The notion of a bad step has been proven incorrect. We've found out through a lot of studies, when it comes to injuries, it's not a one-day, one-time thing. It's an accumulation of the pounding from the training, day-in, day-out. So, having the option to have a synthetic to train on would help that, and would lessen the number of catastrophic injuries on dirt on race-day. And it could be very useful on rainy days.”

“However, synthetics are always called all-weather tracks. But they're not really all-weather tracks. They're bad-weather tracks-they're good tracks in bad weather. In Europe, they've had problems with them in the summer months, like we had here. When it's hot and sunny, those tracks are not that good.”

John Sadler
“If you put synthetic tracks back in here, you have to have all the tracks in the country on synthetics. You can't go half and half. That doesn't work. You can't train on synthetic and expect to do well on dirt. You can't train on dirt and expect to do well on synthetic.”

John Sadler | Benoit

“If you go back to when we had synthetics in California, I did very well on it. I could live with one surface nationwide. But because I can train on what you give me, it doesn't mean I prefer that. Not necessarily.”

“I would prefer good dirt. I think it's preferable for these horses. Why? Well, for one, they need a lot of upkeep. They need to be replaced. They need to be refreshed. They're expensive to maintain. And anybody that tells you they're not expensive to maintain is–I don't think they're being truthful.”

“There are other arguments. Are there really fewer fatalities [on synthetics]? Stats probably show that. But is that the real number, if you also look at [career ending] injuries? You don't know, right? It's hard for me to just take one study number and say, 'okay, that's all there is.' It doesn't work like that.”

“What I'm trying to say it's very nuanced. You'd have to give time for the breeders to adjust. You'd have to give time for people to purchase the right horses to adjust. A lot of what we did here wasn't well planned out. We did it and then lived with the consequences.”

Carla Gaines
“Let me start by saying I am not that well-educated on the various types of synthetic tracks.  I know there have been improvements on them since they were mandated here in California in 2006.”

“Santa Anita is installing a synthetic surface here on our training track this fall and with the expected increase in rainfall this winter that would give us an alternative place to train the horses when the main track is sealed.  It would also be a nice option for our grass horses as we do not have grass workouts here.”

“But for racing, I would have no interest in it. We as trainers are held responsible for every single injury. The spotlight is on us-rarely the surfaces we train on and race over. Instead of getting rid of dirt tracks, let's keep a closer eye on them, and try very hard to improve them. As one old timer told me once, 'we can put a man on the moon, why can't we figure out dirt?'” 

Doug O'Neill
“I love the fact they're putting it on the training track. At Santa Anita you'll have all three surfaces. And when we get the rainy weather, you can train on a synthetic. If we had weeks of crazy weather, you could potentially run on synthetic.”

“But to replace the main track dirt for synthetic, I would be anti that. Just wouldn't want to replace the dirt.”

“We've had a pretty good sampling with Hollywood Park and Santa Anita and Del Mar all being synthetic at one time. It had its little perks during rainy season. But all in all, not a good experience for me.”

“They're really good in inclement weather, which a lot of the world has, as opposed to Southern California. So, I just don't think they're good for Southern California tracks.”

The post Second Stab At Synthetics In California? The Trainers’ View appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The post Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database Adds Surface And Track Condition Analysis appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Letters to the editor are, by definition, opinions. You can disagree with an opinion, but you can't exactly say it's wrong. But when “facts” that are not facts are offered in support of an opinion, that is disinformation. The writer of the July 26, 2023, Thoroughbred Daily News letter to the editor slamming HISA could be the poster child for that. Over the past week I reviewed his criticisms with executives with HISA and HIWU and found his letter replete with disinformation.

Here are some of the most serious mistruths from the article:

Lack of Communication on Testing Results & Provisional Suspensions

According to the author, “There was zero notification from HISA/HIWU explaining what needed to be done.” Truth: According to Ben Mosier, executive director of HIWU, “Every trainer and owner who receives a positive test result receives a written notice from the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), the independent enforcement agency tasked to enforce HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program, that states which prohibited substance was detected and contains detailed instructions about next steps, including HIWU contact information if the owner or trainer has questions.” I will note HISA maintains a 24/7 hotline for questions, something never before provided by state testing authorities.

Professionalism of Testing Barn Staff

According to the author, “… the people performing the test were not wearing gloves and were not wearing sterile gowns, nor are the receiving barns/test barns cleaned and thoroughly sterilized before and after every animal is processed.” Fact, again from Mosier: “All test barn personnel operating in states under HISA's jurisdiction have been trained by HIWU procedures that include sanitizing hands prior to handling sample collection equipment and wearing gloves throughout the process of collecting urine samples.”

Lab Credibility

The author attacks the credibility of the laboratories working with HIWU questioning whether they know how a substance got into a horse. Fact: Labs detect prohibited (banned or controlled) substances that are present in equine blood, urine, or hair samples and no labs have ever been tasked with conducting investigations into how, when, or why the horse was exposed to that prohibited substance.

Prohibited Substances

The author accuses HISA of inappropriately categorizing prohibited substances that are permitted by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Fact: In the case of one of the author's horses, the substance reported as metformin is a prohibited substance by HISA and ARCI. WADA's and USADA's prohibited substances are not relevant because their prohibited lists cover proven performance-enhancing effects in humans, not horses.

Beyond that, the letter writer seems to have totally forgotten the big picture, so here's a reminder: HISA was necessary for the safety of our horses and riders. The survival of Thoroughbred racing in America depends on it, and as we all know, there is plenty of evidence to support that fact.

People in our sport, including at the highest level, were cheating right under the noses of state regulators for years and not getting caught–the names Servis and Navarro should ring some bells. And if you think that's a thing of the past, think again. As of July 30, 2023, HISA drug rules, enforced by HIWU, have resulted in 30 positive findings for, or possession of, banned substances. These aren't minor therapeutic overages; we're talking about drugs that have no business anywhere near a racehorse in competition or training. So, those horsemen who have been sticking their chests out and saying, “There's no doping going on in Thoroughbred racing,” are just plain wrong.

The HISA rollout hasn't been perfect, but HISA was given a huge job to do in a short period of time. And throughout that time, HISA has been bombarded by an orchestrated barrage of lawsuits generated by the same small group of dissidents and based on the same type of alternative facts espoused in the TDN letter. Now that HISA has won the latest round of lawsuits in federal court, the same group of naysayers has launched a massive disinformation campaign–they should be ashamed of themselves.

Despite the incoming fire of misinformation, half-truths, and lies, HISA has made enormous progress. Here are just a few examples:

• HISA is virtually a start-up company and has launched both its Racetrack Safety Program and its Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program in the span of a year, establishing a much-needed national set of integrity and safety rules.
• HISA developed uniform protocols based on data and science that were previously absent from this sport. Data generated by HISA's reporting mechanisms is being deployed in real time to help identify horses that could be at increased risk for injury, thereby making racing safer for horse and rider alike.
• Veterinary oversight and the number of learned hands touching horses before they set foot on the track has expanded to help ensure horses' wellbeing. More than 30,000 pre-race inspections have been performed by regulatory vets, and to date, more than 1,000 veterinarians have submitted more than 1 million treatment records of the care they provide to horses.
• HISA has put unprecedented emphasis on jockey wellness and safety, providing the industry with a national medical director and jockey safety and welfare manager to enhance and expand safety programs for our riders.
• To improve its own rollout and rule compliance, HISA established a national Horsemen's Advisory Group that is consulted on a regular basis for feedback on its rules and their implementation.
• HIWU was established in partnership with Drug Free Sport International and has formed a best-in-class team of testing, laboratory, investigatory, and legal experts to enforce HISA's anti-doping and medication control efforts. Since launching on May 22, HIWU has tested more than 15,000 horses, including post-race tests, out-of-competition tests, vets' list tests, and tests on claimed horses.

There is more work to be done, but HISA and its staff are working long hours to create and implement a lasting anti-doping program that is already transforming equine health and safety. I do agree with the letter's author that racing needs to improve, to demonstrate to the public that we as an industry put the care of our horses above all else. HISA is the independent organization that is leading the sport in these efforts, and it's time for everyone to be more productive and engaged to accomplish our shared goals.

James L. Gagliano,
President and Chief Operating Officer
The Jockey Club

The post Jockey Club’s Gagliano: HISA Is Necessary appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Patrick Cummings, the moderator of the panel on CAWs, is the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a racing-industry think tank. Cummings took the panel through a brief history of parimutuel wagering and the changes the industry has seen before landing at the crux of the subject matter: CAWs.

“The CAWs are individuals with well-resourced staffs, developing couture models assessing vast amounts of data,” said Cummings. “They deploy finely-honed algorithms to efficiently place bets, often at the last possible second, all while receiving significant rebates for their play.”

The rebates, he said, while sizeable, were only one of the challenges that CAWs present to racing. The other is their ability to bet large amounts of money at the last possible second before the race, which gives them an advantage over regular players.

Pat Cummings | Skip Dickstein

“In pari-mutuel wagering, betting late has always been beneficial,” Cummings said. “But, when all betting was done on-track, betting late came with the risk you might not get your bet down at all.

“That's not a concern now, especially for the CAWs, who've been given the ability to place batch bets, dumping vast amounts in the final cycle of betting. The impact of that is witnessed every day, in nearly every race and across almost every pool.”

That impact, he said, has led us to where we are now: CAWs have grown from 8% of total handle in 2003 to around 33% of handle today. At the same time, when adjusted for inflation, non-CAW wagering is down by nearly two-thirds over the same time period. That's a concern because the money returned to racing in the form of purses is much greater from normal bettors than from those receiving huge rebates. So while handle may be up, “the greatest source of growth has been a handful of high-frequency bettors,” who pay less back into the system.

“How the evolution of CAWs is managed and how we support the existing customers we still have might be key to the future of wagering on racing in today's tech-forward world–one with unfathomable processing power, machine-learning, AI and more,” Cummings said.

Cummings led a Q-and-A session with Joe Longo, the General Manager of Content Managing Solutions for NYRA, which owns an ownership stake in the Elite Turf Club, one of the largest computer syndicate operations; and Dr. Marshall Gramm, a horse owner and professor at Rhodes College.

Gramm said he had written models with partners based on statistical probabilities. He started receiving rebates in 2011, and said that doing so not only allowed him to turn a profit, but to increase his handle enormously, from $49,000 in 2010 to $25 million in 2015. He has gone on to be a major racehorse owner, with 116 horses he now owns alone or in partnerships.

Gramm said that some in the industry have come to believe that rebates are all negative, but that his churn had increased exponentially because of it.

Love it or hate it, though, CAWs are here to stay, said Gramm.

“There's no walking back from it,” he said. “The computers aren't going away. You can't step back in time.”

Neither panelist addressed the issue that Cummings talked about in his introduction and that was covered in Jerry Brown's TDN op/ed, Existential Crisis, that because in parimutuel markets, players are playing against one another, regular people are effectively paying more, and leaving the game.

Longo discussed how NYRA has become the only racing organization to ban CAW bettors in the win pool within two minutes to post in order to negate the late odds fluctuations which have become so frustrating to horseplayers. Longo said that while no other organization had followed that lead, he felt that others eventually would.

HISA Panel Discusses Adjustments to New Rules

Trainers Jena Antonucci and Ron Moquett served as panelists, along with Ben Mosier, Executive Director of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), and HISA's Lisa Lazarus on a Q-and-A panel moderated by Jim Gagliano, the President and COO of The Jockey Club, on how trainers were adjusting to the new HISA regulations.

Gagliano asked the two trainers how their life had changed under HISA.

Trainer Jena Antonucci | Skip Dickstein

Antonucci said that she was already running her business along the lines that HISA requires in terms of record-keeping, but acknowledged that that part of the business had been a learning curve for other horsemen. Moquett said that, “as a Thoroughbred trainer, there's a new set of rules to follow and we're going to adapt to those rules, but primarily, we keep the priority on the horse.”

Antonucci acknowledged that there were concerns and bumps in the road as the program has gotten underway, but urged people to come forward with those problems so that the solutions could be found. But the benefits, she said, were dramatic.

“I may be a minority in this thought,” she said, “but I find it has been the great equalizer. It isn't a secret that there is availability of different levels of pharmaceuticals on different levels. Really smart chemists, and people looking to gain an edge. So I feel the biggest benefit has been to probably the hardest hit of this industry, which is the middle and the smaller side, where it has allowed a level playing field and where that guy or gal who busts their butt 24/7 can walk into a race and not feel like they're going to watch another horse re-break at the top of the stretch. That their plied trade and their skill set will have an opportunity to shine, where that eight-percent trainer historically, where it looks like I can't train a racehorse? All of a sudden, he's winning more, or she's winning more, and it's not because we've done anything different in our practice. And you know what? What I do, I do darned well, and my horse–whether it's in the Grade I Belmont Stakes or a $12,500 maiden–is going to have the chance to march down that stretch and compete eye-to-eye with the horses next to them, and there's not a pharmaceutical in our way.”

The crowd gave her an ovation after the comment.

“There are a few parts of it that have been very challenging,” said Moquett. “You're dealing with a large group of people who are now just getting introduced to technology. I'm helping people who are sometimes my competitors try to understand and navigate the system.

“I wear a number of hats,” he said. “I train horses. I own horses. I'm a member of the HBPA, and I'm on the HISA Advisory Committee. I'm constantly a sounding board. People come to me and say this is unfair, and I come to [HISA]. It's new. There are going to be problems, and they're going to have to listen to horsemen. It doesn't matter how good [Lisa Lazarus] is at her job, we need the Bill Motts and the Steve Asmussens. My job is to say, `look, I understand what you're trying to do, but we need to do a better job of explaining to people what the differences are between accidental contamination, an overage of an allowed medication and someone trying to gain an edge.' I'm basically representing 4,500 people that have to go through every regulation that HISA believes is okay. So [Lazarus] and I will get together, we'll battle, and we'll come to a solution. I will say we don't always get along that great, but she has been very good about hearing me out.”

Lisa Lazarus said, “One of the things we heard a lot was that if the public hears that a trainer has a medication overage, they think that they're a cheater. That they don't understand the difference between true doping substances, and medications that are allowed, but just not on race day. And so, one of the things that the [AMDC] does is distinguish very clearly between allowed substances and banned substances.” Violations for each were very different, she explained. “We're there to protect the 99% of trainers who are competing cleanly, so that they get a fair race.”

Safety, and The Traceability of Thoroughbreds

Tracing what happens to a Thoroughbred when it leaves racing or breeding has long been a problem for the industry, an issue that Kristin Werner, the Senior Counsel for The Jockey Club, addressed in her report on Thoroughbred Safety.

“I am pleased to announce that the `Transferred as Retired from Racing' process has gone digital,” said Werner. “The permanent removal of a horse's eligibility to race is beneficial to the retiring racehorse, but the process requires thoughtfulness and transparency on the part of the seller and buyer to avoid contractual disputes or other disagreements. To that end, the previous process required a notarized signature and hard-copy form to retire a Thoroughbred from racing. With the assistance of digital signature verification, we are now able to confidently collect the required signatures through the Interactive Registration website, which will make the process easier for everyone involved.”

Kristin Werner | Skip Dickstein

Werner also reported that the ease of traceability is increasing due to the replacement of hard-copy certificates with digital ones starting with the foal crop of 2018. This, she said, “will allow The Jockey Club to follow up with the certificate manager to try to trace a Thoroughbred that has exited the racing or breeding population with an unknown outcome. When this system is in place in 2024, an automated prompt will be triggered when a horse has not been reported dead and has no racing activity, no breeding activity, and no Thoroughbred Incentive Program number for a specified time period. The communication will explain why the prompt was triggered and will ask the manager to indicate the horse's current status.”

For foals born in 2017 and prior that had made a start in the past 10 years, she said, The Jockey Club would be reaching out to the last connections to try to determine their status.

Werner also addressed racing's safety issues.

“In 2022, data analysis from the 14th year of reporting to the Equine Injury Database (EID) showed a decrease in the rate of fatal injury in 2022 to 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts,” said Werner. “This is the lowest cumulative fatality rate since the EID was launched in 2009, and is the fourth consecutive year that the rate has decreased. While 99.88% of Thoroughbred races were completed without a fatality last year, clusters like those that occurred in April and May of 2023, unfortunately, cast a shadow over the good news and bring equine fatalities back into the headlines of national media,” she said, referring to the fatalities during the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

Werner said that the advent of the EID had allowed them to identify 35% of the risk factors which put horses at increased risk for breakdown during the running of a race. Those factors include a horse's vet list history, the race distance, and the time a horse has spent with a trainer. Long races, and longer time with a horse's trainer make that horse statistically safer.

The Safety Committee is also calling for the dissemination of information regarding the consistency and maintenance of track surfaces. “The Thoroughbred Safety Committee today calls for that information to be frequently measured at periodic distances and made available to the public,” said Werner. “Working with other key industry stakeholders, especially the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, The Jockey Club recommends exploring the best methods for providing the racing surface data to the horsemen and public, including through an app, website, or other electronic feed. As with all of its recommendations, The Jockey Club will help provide resources to ensure this recommendation is met.”

Analytics in Sport

Michael Lopez, the Director of Football Data and Analytics for the National Football League, is a Saratoga resident who used to teach at Skidmore College in town, and a long-time horse racing fan. He talked about how the NFL uses data to drive decision-making, and ways in which he felt horse racing could do the same.

Michael Lopez | Skip Dickstein

And while the sports are completely different, there were several interesting parallels.

Wearable technology has been an interesting new potential safety tool for horses, designed to measure things like their regular stride to detect any changes that might indicate a problem. The NFL is doing the same.

“Recently,” said Lopez, “all NFL players are now wearing RFID chips in their helmets, shoulder pads, and cleats, small enough so that the players don't feel them, but enough so that a signal is emitted each time they step onto the practice or game field. The burden is heavy–this data is messy and the tracking cumbersome–but the idea of a cleat specific to a running back on turf, or a helmet specific to a quarterback who likes to scramble–gives the league plenty to work on. And each practice, each club is required to wear tracking devices that give insight into a player's load, distance traveled, speed, etc., which enables sports scientists to evaluate performance, if players need to tone down, or injury recovery.”

Moreover, the NFL is timing the replay review process to ensure that a coach's challenge in a more prominent game is treated the same way that it would be in a less-prominent one. After the non-disqualification of Forte (Violence) in the July 29 GII Jim Dandy S. prompted much discussion over whether a less well-publicized event would have merited a DQ, the topic struck home. “The horse racing corollary is obvious,” said Lopez. “When, why, and how stewards decide for or against a disqualification, because a possible DQ at Del Mar should have the identical decision-making process to one at Saratoga.”

Engagement With Racing

Lindsay Czarniak | Skip Dickstein

Lindsay Czarniak was just a baby when her father Chet took the job as the first-ever horse racing reporter for USA Today in 1982. Today, she is a sports broadcaster who anchored SportsCenter for six years and who works as a Fox Sports sideline reporter. She is a studio host for NBC's summer and winter Olympics. She is also an influencer with America's Best Racing and a West Point Thoroughbreds partner who was one of the co-owners of Jace's Road (Quality Road) in this year's Kentucky Derby. “My goal was to give folks that pay attention to my content the VIP access,” said Czarniak. “I had so many people pulling for Jace's Road because they knew we were in the big race.”

Her advice for racing? Lean into storytelling and access; just because it feels normal to people within the industry doesn't mean that it is to fans. “There is a family aspect, a necessary aspect, a high-stakes aspect to this sport that your average sports fan would consume.”

She also advised racing to place itself where young people consume content, i.e., streaming platforms, digital and social media, etc., and to communicate the safety steps that have been taken.

Racing and Data

Kyle McDoniel was named the President and COO of Equibase on June 1, 2023, and comes from a sports and data background, having most recently served as vice president of U.S. Strategic Partnerships for SportRadar, a sports technology company.

McDoniel talked about the challenges inherent in GPS tracking of horse racing, and said that Equibase is now producing tracking at 28 tracks across the U.S. and Canada, representing over 75% of North American handle. In addition, he said the company was continuing to invest in graphical representations of past performances, including those that illustrate stride frequency and length averages, among other things.

Janney's Closing Remarks

Stuart S. Janney III | Skip Dickstein

In his closing remarks, Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney said that the advent of HISA had done a lot to secure racing's future.

“Four years ago, at this program, a great Australian breeder-owner, John Messara, speaking about the proposed federal legislation, said, `You've got everything to unleash your monster of economic rewards if you were to join the rest of the world in this harmonization in terms of the drug rules.' John was right and we are here today and it's now time to capture that future.”

To do so, said Janney, “I have two suggestions. First, we have to embrace the international aspect of the sport. Racing is global and thankfully, in many parts of the world, the sport is thriving.”

His second suggestion, he said, involved marketing. “We need to get past the concerns that we are constantly in turmoil, rocking from one crisis to the next. Another Round Table speaker from the past, David Fuscus, [who] discussed crisis management, said, `If we come together as an industry, negative perception can be turned. There is hope we can come through these dark days, but to do so, the public needs to understand what we're doing and believe we are on a path to success.'”

Entire Conference Available Online

To watch the entire Round Table conference, click here.

The post Technology, Engagement, and the Future the Focus of Annual Round Table Conference appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post