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Dennis Drazin Talks Eventful Monmouth Meet On Writers’ Room

While the 2021 meet at Monmouth Park is less than three weeks old, several years worth of drama has already been packed in at the Jersey Shore staple this spring, and Wednesday morning, the track's chairman and CEO Dennis Drazin joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to discuss it all. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Drazin talked about the fraught implementation of the New Jersey Racing Commission's whip ban, the latest attempt by the Jockeys' Guild to put pressure on Monmouth over it, the forthcoming experiment with fixed-odds wagering and more.

“I think it was a cheap shot on the part of the [Jockeys'] Guild to punish our jockeys that are riding at Monmouth Park for actions which were beyond their control and beyond Monmouth Park's control,” Drazin said of a Guild announcement that it will no longer insure Monmouth jockeys starting July 1. “About two years ago, there was a proposal for a rule change. The racing commission reached out to the industry to get some preliminary guidance. I remember very clearly going to the first meeting at Monmouth Park where the industry was invited by public notice. The Guild was there on behalf of the jockeys. As an attorney, I personally would have had a dozen jockeys in the first row to give their position on the rule and educate the commissioners. The Guild didn't do that. They didn't present any jockeys at those hearings. Now what they've done is punish riders for choosing to ride at Monmouth by taking away their coverages. I don't think that's the right course of action, and the Guild ought to think better of the actions that they took in writing that letter. I think they will receive notice from legal counsel. I think they're looking at litigation going forward if they continue this.”

While the first two weeks of the Monmouth meet were poor from a handle standpoint, likely in part due to rainy weather, the betting numbers improved drastically in its third week. Monmouth will have a chance to build on that momentum when it becomes the first major American track to implement a fixed-odds wagering system in the next month.

“We will definitely have fixed-odds wagering by the [July 17] Haskell because there is a pilot program right here right now that permits fixed-odds wagering on Grade I races as long as you conform to the Interstate Horse Racing Act,” Drazin explained. “It was offered on the Haskell in 2018 and 2019. The broader position, and this is something the whole country is looking at, is fixed-odds wagering is something we think is good for Thoroughbred racing and something that will be well received. But the racetracks around the country and the horsemen's groups that I have dialog with trying to study this, everybody's uncomfortable. Everybody tries to think, what's the right math? What's the right dollar amount, what's the right takeout? What's the impact of cannibalization? There are a lot of conversations going on trying to figure out how to do this correctly. And if everybody thinks about it forever and doesn't pull the trigger, we're never going to move it forward.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to the latest lawsuit from Bob Bafffert's legal team, broke down the Royal Ascot meeting from all angles and wondered what the news of The Stronach Group's potential sale of assets could mean for racing. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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NYRA Gains Approval in First Step to Add Tunnel at Belmont

The project that will ultimately lead to the construction of a tunnel to the Belmont Park infield and possibly the installation of an artificial surface at the track gained approval from the New York Racing Franchise Oversight Board Wednesday, according to the Daily Racing Form. The board approved the construction of a retaining wall on the backstretch, which would need to precede the tunnel's construction.

Beginning from a planned parking lot on Belmont's backstretch, the tunnel would lead to the track's infield, at approximately the location of the three-quarters pole. The tunnel would provide an access point for construction vehicles to facilitate work on the existing dirt and turf racing surfaces, as well as the potential installation of the artificial surface.

“It's, in essence, building a bridge to get to that 45 acres of land, including what could be community space,” NYRA chief executive David O'Rourke told DRF.

The project to build the tunnel would also require approval by the oversight board. NYRA officials said during the meeting that any projects for the infield area would be discussed at a later date. Construction on the tunnel is not expected to begin until 2022.

The Franchise Oversight Board also approved a project to construct a new building for the Racetrack Chaplaincy and a new health clinic at the track.

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Judge Gives Go-Ahead for Additional Testing of Medina Spirit Sample

Judge Thomas Wingate outlined the travel protocol to a New York lab Wednesday for the urine sample collected from Medina Spirit (Protonico) following his Kentucky Derby win last month, reported the Blood-Horse Wednesday. The Circuit Court Judge, who granted Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing and Bob Baffert the right to conduct further testing on the split sample, issued a temporary injunction Wednesday, outlining the flight plans, which will be funded by the plaintiffs. The judge, who stated that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission retain five milliliters of the sample, ordered at least two commission representatives to accompany the sample to the New York Drug Testing and Research Program in Ithaca, New York. The 3-year-old's connections believe additional testing will support their argument that Medina Spirit's Betamethasone positive stems from the administration of the topical ointment Otomax.

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Former Track President Submits Bid for Arlington

The future of Arlington Park remains very much up in the air, but Roy Arnold is convinced that racing can prosper there and is hopeful that he can spearhead an effort to insure that one of America's most beautiful racetracks remains a racetrack for years to come.

Arnold should know. He was the track's president during better times, from 2006-2010, and is currently the president and CEO of Endeavor Hotel Group. Arnold was instrumental in bringing together a consortium interested in purchasing Arlington Park from Churchill Downs. Churchill announced in February that it was putting the track up for sale and set Tuesday as a deadline to receive bids. Other than Arnold's group, it is not known who made bids and for how much.

“We have this iconic jewel which is known throughout the world and people are accepting as inevitable the fact that it's going to be bulldozed,” he said. “For the industry to stand by while that happens would be tragic.”

Endeavor sent out a press release Tuesday in which it said that it had joined forces with three other companies as well as “high net worth individuals.” The plan is to create a whole new Arlington, just one facet of what Arnold called a “diversified, four-seasons sports and entertainment district.” The foot print of the racetrack itself will be reduced and the land that is left over will be used to build an arena suitable for a minor league hockey team, a low-density housing development and a 60-acre industrial space. The ancillary businesses will create a revenue stream that will make it easier to justify keeping racing on the site. He also said that if the group takes over Arlington it will be able to offer sports wagering.

Arnold would not disclose how much his group bid, but was confident that it will be enough to secure a deal.

“We have the passion, we have the capital, we have the vision,” he said. “Now all we need is the opportunity. That started with our putting the bid in. Now we have to let the process unfold. We believe we will have one of the highest, if not the highest, bid.”

Arnold's group has the backing of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which has worked behind the scenes to find a potential buyer interested in maintaining racing. While Arnold realizes there are plenty of challenges operating a racetrack, especially one that does not receive revenue from a casino, in the modern era, but he said there's no reason why racing in Chicago can't succeed.

“People have concluded that absent subsidies this is a dead sport, that if you take away the supplements that go toward the major racing states that still have good programs that it would be difficult to see them continuing,” he said. “We can create a different model that will work. The fact is the track is profitable and can be profitable as a racetrack.”

Arnold foresees operating a “boutique” style meet that would be shorter than Arlington's current season. That will help with the purse level, currently a problem with Arlington offering some of the smallest purses in the sport. The plan also calls for lowering the takeout to make the product more attractive to bettors.

While Arnold and his partners believe an on-going racing operation at Arlington will work, it's clear that the bid also involves a desire to keep racing going at a track that has been around since 1927.

“There is for some reason an inability of some in the industry to understand that the demise of Arlington in America's third largest media market would be a catastrophe for the sport,” he said. “We are doing this because we have a passion for thoroughbred racing.”

But there's only so much that Arnold can do. Churchill Downs is under no obligation to accept their offer, even if it is the largest one submitted. WGN Television reported that there are fewer than 10 prospective buyers and that “a couple” of the bids came from groups interested in maintaining Arlington as a racetrack. WGN speculated that the Chicago Bears may be involved and may be interested in building a new stadium on the racetrack property.

In May, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association urged the Illinois Attorney General to launch an antitrust probe of Churchill Downs, alleging it had taken steps to preclude casino gaming and diminish pari-mutuel wagering at Arlington. While Churchill never applied for a casino license for Arlington, it is heavily involved in gaming in the state and is said to be interested in opening new casinos.

Additionally, the Village of Arlington Heights approved an ordinance to prevent racetrack owner Churchill Downs from prohibiting any future buyer from continuing to operate the facility as a racetrack.

Is it in Churchill's best interests, politically, to sell the property to a group interested in keeping racing alive?

“Churchill has two ways of going,” said Mike Campbell, the president of the horsemen's group. “They can reject this offer, but if they do it brings up all sorts of issues about anti-trust allegations that are currently floating around that the Attorney General may be looking at. I know there is an effort among legislators to make that happen. Many legislators are very concerned about how this all came down. If I were Churchill, I would take a look at all that. They have other interests and bigger fish to fry in Illinois than eliminating horse racing at Arlington Park. I believe they might finally capitulate and allow this to happen for the single reason that have their eye on a casino in Waukegan and in the city of Chicago. It's up to them. The hard way or the easy way. It's their choice.”

The 2021 meet is set to conclude Sept. 25. Churchill has already said this will be the last ever meet at Arlington under their ownership. There's nothing to do between now and then but wait, and hope that Arlington is sold to a group that believes in the future of racing in Chicago.

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