With First Event Approaching, National Thoroughbred League Regroups

The National Thoroughbred League (NTL), a racing start-up meant to bring the league concept to Thoroughbred racing, will debut Sept. 3 at Kentucky Downs, but the first few events on the schedule will be run under a format different than what was envisioned when the formation of the league was announced.

Under the original concept, all horses performing in NTL races were to be owned by the League itself and would be portioned off to six teams representing different cities. Each team was to have six horses and the team that accrued the most points during the series was to earn a $1-million bonus.

But NTL President of Horse Operations Tom Ludt said that no horses have been bought and there are no immediate plans to do so. Instead, Kentucky Downs will run the $500,000 National Thoroughbred League H. on Sunday, Sept. 3. Though the race is meant to bring attention to the NTL, it will be open to all horses. Despite being owned by outside interests, the jockeys riding in the race will wear NTL silks.

“This is not going to fail,” Ludt said. “We have made some changes to make it better for the long term. It's all about building up the League. We have pivoted into a different scenario for 2023 so that we are bigger, stronger and better organized. We're going to learn a lot for 2024.”

The second event on the NTL schedule is set to take place at the Meadowlands on the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14. Ludt said the plan for the Meadowlands event is to also have a race recognizing the NTL but, again, one open to all horses. Under the original schedule, the NTL was to go from the Meadowlands to Los Alamitos to Tampa Bay Downs. Ludt said plans for the Los Alamitos and Tampa Bay Downs races are still in flux.

Ludt said he advised the League's founders that buying horses at this time was not economically feasible.

“I talked them out of buying horses right now,” Ludt said. “I told them that when you look at what we're trying to accomplish this is a major task and when you look at the amount of money that needed to be spent on these horses it was tough. It's a start-up and we've run into some issues.”

Ludt said that one of the problems was that the races held at Kentucky Downs and the Meadowlands were scheduled for the grass, while the Los Alamitos and Tampa Bay Downs races were to be run on the dirt. That meant that any League horse who was a grass specialist would have nowhere to run for several months. Horses in the League are not permitted to run in outside races.

“We were going to run three or four events and then these horses were going to sit and the expense to keep them in training was going to be huge,” Ludt said. “So why buy them now? I talked them into not buying the horses. Some people are going to jump on that and say we failed. No, we have a plan.”

Ludt said he approached NTL organizers and suggested there are other ways to fill the teams' rosters other than buying dozens of horses. He also said he suggested that horses in the League be allowed to run in non-League races, but was told that is not in the League's plans.

“I told them, don't own the horses,” he said. “Instead, get creative. Look into partnerships. But they believe the League needs to own horses long term. That's fine, but you have to look at the numbers. Just the day rate alone for all these horses is going to be huge.”

Ludt said that even though the Kentucky Downs race will look different from what was originally planned, it will benefit the League. The NTL envisioned all of its races turning into events and is linking each one to such things as wine and food festivals and entertainment. On the night before the Kentucky Downs race, there will be a live performance by DJ Pee .Wee (aka Anderson .Paak) at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon.

“The way this thing set up, it is an event business with horse racing,” he said. “The truth of the matter is it needs to start off with more events and less horse racing. The goal is to grow the game. We don't need the Tom Ludts of the world to become a fan of the League. They already are racing fans. We need to get people like our neighbors and turn them into racing fans by exposing them to the League.

“At Kentucky Downs, let's have a an opening blowout event, a launch party. The people at Kentucky Downs are super behind this. Kentucky Downs is maybe the only track in America that has more money than they know what to do with and they were willing to put up a big race. Horses will run in our silks, but it's just that we won't own the horses. It's going to be great. It's just not the way we wanted to do it a year ago.”

So far as 2024 goes, Ludt said the plan is for the NTL to operate under the original plan and that he will begin the process of buying horses sometime early next year. He said there may be as many as eight teams in the League in 2024 and that the racing schedule will expand beyond the four racing dates scheduled for this year.

The post With First Event Approaching, National Thoroughbred League Regroups appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Santa Anita’s ‘Folds of Honor’ Raises Over $40K for Charity

After racing on Memorial Day, jockeys, trainers, owners, and racing fans played in Santa Anita's third annual 'Folds of Honor' charity poker tournament, which raised more than $40,000 to benefit spouses and children of fallen or disabled veterans.

“After a long and exhilarating weekend, it was fantastic to see this kind of support for our veterans and their families,” said Santa Anita Director of Marketing Andrew Arthur. “Folds of Honor is a tremendous charity and we're honored to be affiliated with them. We raised more money than we did last year and we're confident this is something we can continue to build upon. Sincere thanks to everyone who participated, it was a lot of fun.”

Among the horseman who participated were trainers Mark Glatt, Ryan Glatt, Doug O'Neill, and Ryan Hanson; and jockeys Geovanni Franco, Ricky Gonzalez, Edwin Maldonado, and Jessica Pyfer; while the tournament winner was former Breeders' Cup Chairman Tom Ludt.

“It was great to participate in this year's Folds of Honor tournament,” said Ludt. “The tournament is a great way to finish up the Memorial Day weekend because it raises money for military families. It was a lot of fun and I was very fortunate to get the right cards at the right time. Wonderful event and a great time. I'll be back next year to defend my bracelet.”

The post Santa Anita’s ‘Folds of Honor’ Raises Over $40K for Charity appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Phoenix Thoroughbreds Will Cease Racing In UK ‘For The Foreseeable Future’

Phoenix Thoroughbreds released a statement Tuesday announcing that the ownership group will cease racing operations in the United Kingdom immediately, according to the Racing Post. The group has racehorses with 11 different trainers in Britain.

“This has not been a decision we have taken lightly,” said Phoenix's founder Amer Abdulaziz Salman. “However, for the growth and wellbeing of our business and our partners internationally, we have taken the decision to leave the UK for the foreseeable future. It saddens me greatly to have to do this but at this juncture, we believe it is necessary. We would like to thank everyone who has helped us achieve our dreams so far.”

Abdulaziz was alleged in a New York court to be a money launderer for fake cryptocurrency OneCoin last year, and he has consistently declined to identify any investors in the Luxembourg-registered equine fund.

Prominent racing figures to have distanced themselves from Phoenix include: Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, trainer Martyn Meade, bloodstock advisor Dermot Farrington, and former vice-president and head of equine investments Tom Ludt.

Also on Tuesday, the Racing Post published a list of questions Phoenix has refused to answer, including queries about the money laundering allegations and the Luxembourg fund. Phoenix responded with a categorical denial of all the allegations against it, insisting they would “vigorously contest all allegations of wrongdoing.”

The post Phoenix Thoroughbreds Will Cease Racing In UK ‘For The Foreseeable Future’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Tom Ludt Leaves Phoenix Thoroughbreds

Tom Ludt, who joined Phoenix Thoroughbreds as head of U.S. operations in December of 2017, has left the company, Racing Post reported. According to Ludt, he accepted a termination agreement offered by Phoenix’s creator, Amer Abdulaziz Salman. Abdulaziz’s brainchild operates on multiple continents and has enjoyed Group 1/I success, but first came under investigation in November of 2019, as first reported by Racing Post.

Abdulaziz allegedly stole €100 million from sham cryptocurrency OneCoin-which he allegedly helped operate as an international Ponzi scheme-and reinvested those funds into thoroughbreds through Phoenix. The November investigation resulted in a guilty verdict for former lawyer Mark Scott on charges of fraud and laundering $400 million in illegal funds for OneCoin. Scott created Fenero Funds allegedly to route money between destinations.

Both Abdulaziz and Phoenix Thoroughbreds deny all allegations. After news of the investigation broke, Ludt asked Abdulaziz about the veracity of the allegations.

“[The Racing Post story] was the first I heard of [the allegations], so I was shocked,” Ludt told Racing Post. We had discussions afterwards and he [Abdulaziz] completely denied that he had anything to do with it. I don’t remember the exact dates but there was some dialogue and I point blank asked what the heck was going on because I’d spent the last two and a half years of my life travelling the world for this company and I didn’t want to get dragged down with a bad reputation.

“He’s continually denied it and he’s indicated he had investors from that company [Fenero] but never OneCoin. I’ve never been involved [in the fund], so I don’t know, but everything’s changed since then. I continued to ask him to do some interviews with the press to talk about it and he just wouldn’t do it. Everything changed when that came out.

“He told me that Mark Scott invested [in Phoenix] through Fenero, but that’s all I knew. He did not deny Fenero funds had gone into Phoenix.”

The post Tom Ludt Leaves Phoenix Thoroughbreds appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights