Top News | Horse Racing Free Tips

Christian Stuart Named BetMakers North America CEO

BetMakers Technology Group Ltd has named Christian Stuart its Chief Executive Officer of North America. Stuart has previously held multiple executive leadership positions with Caesars Entertainment Inc., the largest gaming company in the U.S.

“We have been investing heavily in the U.S. market for the past three years while at the same time building up a U.S.-focused management team,” said Todd Buckingham, BetMakers' Group CEO and Managing Director. “As a next milestone in these efforts, I am excited that Christian is joining the BetMakers leadership team as CEO of North America, given his vast leadership experience in the U.S. gaming industry. North America is a critical market for our company with its potential for significant growth on the back of the widespread U.S. sports betting expansion and the potential growth of fixed odds wagering.”

Based in Australia, BetMakers provides critical solutions in technology, data, and development to the global racing and wagering industry, spanning both fixed odds and pari-mutuel markets. According to BetMakers, Stuart has leadership and gaming experience in both domestic and international markets. He has been involved with developing gaming strategies, executive operations management, facilitating large scale mergers and acquisitions, and building online gaming and sports betting divisions.

“I am excited about the opportunities that lay ahead for BetMakers both in the U.S. and globally,” said Stuart. “BetMakers' suite of innovative products and existing U.S. management team has created an opportunity for the company to quickly expand across the U.S. I look forward to joining the team, exceeding the goals of existing partners, and positively impacting the future of the U.S. racing industry.”

The post Christian Stuart Named BetMakers North America CEO appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Jury Selection Process Begins for Fishman Trial

The Jan. 19 selection of jurors for the federal horse-doping trial of Dr. Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli was extended into at least a second day when only 37 of 75 potential jurors were questioned inside a lower Manhattan courthouse.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil called for an end to the marathon nine-hour session at about 6 p.m. ET, ordering the jurors who had yet to be interviewed to return to the same Southern District of New York court by 9:30 a.m. Jan. 20.

The interview process consisted of 72 questions posed to the possible jurors, asking about a wide topic of subjects, including their knowledge of horse racing, ownership of pets, gambling, medications, feelings about veterinarians, and their background. These questions were asked to learn if any of them had personal conflicts that would prevent them from viewing the court case fairly and impartially.

Nine of the persons interviewed Wednesday were excused for a variety of reasons.

Of the 37 questioned, the only potential juror who said he follows horse racing closely at the present time was excused after he voiced concerns about judging the case without a bias.

Fishman and Giannelli are facing federal charges for allegedly working through a company called Equestology to sell adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs to clients in the horse racing industry.

Fishman and Giannelli are part of the March 9, 2020, indictments that also snared trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Fishman is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding while Giannelli is facing one count of misbranding conspiracy.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post Jury Selection Process Begins for Fishman Trial appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

First Foal a Filly for Instilled Regard

Taylor Made Stallions' Instilled Regard (Arch), a Grade I winner and four-time graded stakes winner, sired his first reported foal when a filly out of the stakes-winning and stakes-producing Malibu Moon mare Hung the Moon was born Thursday, Jan. 13. OXO Equine bred the filly.

Hung the Moon is the dam of the stakes-winning and multiple graded stakes-placed Brill (Medaglia d'Oro) and her most recent yearling–a colt by Quality Road–sold for $800,000 to Maverick Racing at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

Instilled Regard, a $1.05-million OBS March juvenile, is standing his second season at stud for $7,500 S&N.

The post First Foal a Filly for Instilled Regard appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Kentucky State Rep. Adam Koenig Discusses Breakage Bill On Writers’ Room

Breakage, the practice of rounding down bettors' payouts to the nearest 10 or even 20-cent number rather than paying the deserved amount to the penny, has long been a thorn in horseplayers' sides. Kentucky state representative Adam Koenig, an avid horseplayer himself, is trying to do something about it in his state. Wednesday morning, Koenig joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the bill he's sponsoring to eliminate breakage in Kentucky, as well as his proposed sports betting legislation, the successful effort to protect historical horse racing in the Bluegrass and more.

“Breakage laws go so far back that we can't even figure out when they were passed in Kentucky, but there was a time 100 years ago when the only place to go and legally make wagers was the racetrack,” Koenig explained. “The lines were deep and it was something done to make it easier to cash people out. They didn't have computer to figure out how much was being wagered. They were counting the money in the back and figuring out the odds by hand in real time. But obviously those days have come and gone, and it's time for our laws to reflect today's reality. Now we have an opportunity to do something about it, and this is going to be a comprehensive parimutuel wagering modernization bill.”

Koenig added that, especially in Kentucky with skyrocketing purses and the lucrative historical horse racing machines, accurately paying winning horseplayers is a matter of fairness.

“I live five minutes from Turfway,” he said. “Churchill Downs is building a beautiful facility there. They've got multiple facilities in Louisville. They've got a harness track in Hopkinsville. They're making plenty of money on the HHR facilities and I think, certainly on the breakage front, they can stand to help the bettors. We've taken care of the tracks. We've taken care of the breeders and the trainers and the jockeys. We need all of them to make the show run. But we also need bettors to make the show run. And by God, I'm going to take care of the bettors, not just because I am one, but because we need to take care of those folks without whom we don't have an industry.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, West Point Thoroughbreds, XBTV, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and Legacy Bloodstock, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and special guest co-host Randy Moss of NBC Sports touched on Michael Beychok's decision to stop playing the horses, the beginning of the trials in the doping scandal, the proposed four-race campaign of Flightline (Tapit) and more. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The post Kentucky State Rep. Adam Koenig Discusses Breakage Bill On Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post