Horse racing is under real pressure to enhance safety, with many critics seeking to outright abolish the sport. But it would be a mistake to believe that this conversation is limited to traditional critics or fringe voices. The attacks on our sport are gaining wider support and becoming more strategic. In October 2021, the San Diego Democratic Party passed a resolution calling to ban gambling on state-sponsored horse races in California. The group said they have both a moral and financial obligation to phase it out. Just weeks ago in New York, horse racing opponents in the state legislature challenged the economic benefits of the industry and proposed ending critical state subsidies. Understand, their goal is to eliminate the sport, not through an outright ban but by starving it of revenues.

Our industry has taken steps toward better regulation through the adoption of such initiatives as the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act, but high-profile scandals and equine deaths remain weekly headlines. As we have witnessed in these turbulent times, the pace of change in our world is accelerating, not just technologically, but socially. The world can and does literally change overnight. Dating back to the colonial era, horse racing, America's oldest sport, is more at risk than ever of being relegated to the dustbin of history.

It is time for bold action to address horse safety. It is long overdue. And why shouldn't we do what we can to secure the health and safety of the horses we love; that touch our very soul. It is time we implemented a program to transition dirt tracks to safer synthetic surfaces. Synthetic tracks are indisputably safer and yet instead of growing in use, they have been phased out over recent years. Del Mar, Keeneland and Santa Anita, early adopters of synthetic surfaces, have all converted back to dirt and since then have all experienced a rise in equine injuries.

Industry leaders must make this a priority. If we don't get our head out of the sand and take action, I fear the end of our sport.  Ironically, COVID and the complete shutdown of almost all sports for a period of time gave our industry an opportunity to shine. Sports fans old and new, locked down at home, found refuge in horse racing, engaging more tracks here at home and around the world. The fact is with the wide adoption of mobile betting, our industry is poised for an economic and popular renaissance. Horse racing and its wide availability is becoming an essential part of the offerings that sustain mobile betting. Industry leaders are increasingly integrating horse racing into their mobile sports betting platforms. It is the future of our sport, but to realize this revival we must first save it.

Which brings us to our logical conclusion. Churchill Downs Incorporated, a publicly traded company that in addition to owning Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, also owns multiple tracks, including Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, as well as several casinos, and TwinSpires, a leading mobile betting app. TwinSpires players in some jurisdictions are able to bet on professional sports, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and PGA, as well as collegiate sports and events from around the world–as well as horse racing. Churchill Downs Inc.–listed on the New York Stock Exchange–relies upon the content generated by a healthy racing industry and as such their board of directors and officers must recognize their responsibility to take the lead in advancing this cause and the overall cause of horse safety. This is not some altruistic plea. Churchill Downs's shareholders have the most to gain and everything to lose.

Kentucky is the economic and emotional epicenter of horse racing in America. Its legendary farms and breeders are a part of the folklore of our sport. The Kentucky Derby is the most famous and important horse race in the world. But there is a long-held cultural and business resistance to synthetic tracks in Kentucky.  It makes sense. Like agriculture, the sport of horse racing is elementally tied to the earth. For a sport as old as America, steeped in our agrarian roots and rich in history and tradition, it is easy to understand why change is difficult. But change we must, and Churchill Downs Corporation, an entity synonymous with the most glorious of horse racing traditions, must lead the way. We're the King of Sports. Let's keep it that way.

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Visitors should enter the track through the Paddock Gate and can park for free in White Lot. Morning workouts can be viewed between Sections 115-117 of the grandstand. Kentucky Derby Morning Works presented by TwinSpires.com will begin Monday and air on www.kentuckyderby.com/works, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Fans in attendance will be able to watch the show on the track's Big Board and infield televisions.

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“When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting in May of 2018, we had high hopes for the potential to build a profitable business in this space,” Carstanjen said. “Our initial strategy was to leverage a variable cost technology model and be disciplined in our marketing spend with a focus on bottom-line profitability as states legalized online sports wagering and iGaming.

“We have profitable retail sports books in four of our casinos,” Carstanjen said. “However, the online sports betting and online casino space is highly competitive with an ever-increasing number of participants that the states have licensed. Many are pursuing maximum market share in every state with limited regard for short-term or potentially even long-term profitability.

“Because we do not see for us a path in which this business model delivers predictable and acceptable margins for at least several years, if ever, we have decided to exit the business-to-customer online sports betting and iGaming space over the next six months…

“We are always committed to building long-term value for our shareholders. And consistent with this commitment, when we see that an investment is not progressing as we had planned, we will redeploy the resources and capital to other growth projects or return the capital to our shareholders,” Carstanjen said. “We have proven with our past decisions that we are willing to walk away from businesses where we do not see a secure enough path to consistent profitable growth with an acceptable return for our shareholders.”

The Thoroughbred industry is painfully aware of the gaming corporation's previous decisions to abandon aspects of its business. Under CDI's stewardship, horse racing has ceased over the past decade at Hollywood Park in California and Calder Race Course in Florida. A sale is in currently the works to turn historic Arlington International Racecourse near Chicago into a football stadium.

CDI currently owns four active Thoroughbred tracks (Churchill Downs, Turfway Park, Fair Grounds and Presque Isle Downs). Because of its recent history of shuttering racetracks, an announcement by CDI earlier this week that it intended to acquire Colonial Downs and its Virginia gaming properties drew widespread social media chatter among racing industry participants and fans, with skepticism and concerns for Colonial's future far outnumbering comments that considered the deal to be a positive one for the sport.

“This isn't the result we wanted when we started [online sports betting] back in late 2018, but it is the prudent next step forward for our company,” Carstanjen said. “We remain absolutely committed and excited about TwinSpires Horse Racing as its top line, bottom line, and margins continue to demonstrate that this is a special online business with a sustainable, scalable and unique business model that delivers profitable growth today just as it has since we started the business well over a decade ago.”

At a later point in the call when investment analysis were permitted to ask questions, Carstanjen responded this way to one query about the decision to exit online sports betting:

“[G]ambling ultimately is a margin-driven business, and you have to set up your teams and you have to set up your processes to guarantee that you can drive margins. We can do that with TwinSpires Horse Racing, but we just don't see that for us in the broader online segment. So, we'll keep watching that business over time. We'll watch the others that are in it. And we'll see where the future takes that space.”

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During his 14 years with CDI, he has served in multiple leadership roles including President of United Tote, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and, most recently, as interim President of TwinSpires and Online Gaming.

Prior to joining CDI, Murr worked in information technology leadership roles at General Electric. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Bellarmine University.

“During his tenure with CDI, Ben has been an important leader in the growth across our operations,” said Carstanjen. “He has been a key player throughout the extensive changes in our Company over the last 14 years and will continue to move our TwinSpires and Online businesses forward.”

“I've been heavily involved with TwinSpires and our Online Gaming operations throughout my tenure at CDI” said Murr. “I am passionate about these businesses and believe strongly in their future growth potential and strategic importance for CDI.”

Murr will remain a Senior Vice President of CDI in addition to his responsibilities as President of TwinSpires and Online Gaming. Murr's promotion is effective immediately. CDI will move quickly to fill the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer role.

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Murr brings 24 years of leadership experience to the position. During his 14 years with CDI, he has served in multiple leadership roles including President of United Tote, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and, most recently, as interim President of TwinSpires and Online Gaming.

Prior to joining CDI, Murr worked in information technology leadership roles at General Electric. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Bellarmine University.

“During his tenure with CDI, Ben has been an important leader in the growth across our operations,” said Carstanjen. “He has been a key player throughout the extensive changes in our Company over the last 14 years and will continue to move our TwinSpires and Online businesses forward.”

“I've been heavily involved with TwinSpires and our Online Gaming operations throughout my tenure at CDI” said Murr. “I am passionate about these businesses and believe strongly in their future growth potential and strategic importance for CDI.”

Murr will remain a Senior Vice President of CDI in addition to his responsibilities as President of TwinSpires and Online Gaming.

Murr's promotion is effective immediately. The Company will move quickly to fill the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer role.

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Worth approximately $1.5 billion, Twinspires is the official wagering partner of the Kentucky Derby.

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg CDI has reached out to an adviser to solicit potential interest, but stressed that no final decision about its sale has been made.

CDI's share price rose to a high of $236.26 Thursday after the report was released.

Read more at Bloomberg.

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The board of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, which represents horsemen at the southern Illinois track 15 miles from downtown St. Louis, cites the closure of suburban Chicago's industry icon Arlington Park by Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), TwinSpires' parent corporation, as a prime motivation for withholding consent. With CDI not owning a functioning racetrack in Illinois in 2022, TwinSpires must under state law have a contract with another duly licensed track to conduct business in the state starting Jan. 1. The only remaining Prairie State horse tracks are FanDuel and Chicagoland's Hawthorne Race Course, with CDI seeking approval through the FanDuel track.

Illinois law also gives horsemen consent rights before an advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform can enter into a relationship with an Illinois track to conduct business in the state.

Illinois HBPA president Jim Watkins said his organization's board believes the issue is of the magnitude that it should go before the Illinois Racing Board. The IRB has scheduled a hearing on Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. Central via WebEx. The racing regulators have the power to overrule the horsemen's veto if they believe the horsemen's action was unreasonable, he said.

“That's where we're at now,” Watkins said. “We just felt this was an issue the racing board should be able to weigh in on, whether TwinSpires continues to be allowed to operate in Illinois. That's a big reason we withheld our consent.”

Watkins said the horsemen are upset not just that CDI shut down Arlington Park but then would not sell to ownership wishing to maintain racing at the 94-year-old track. CDI is the majority owner of Rivers Casino Des Plaines, located 10 miles from Arlington Park. The company has an agreement to sell the Arlington Park property to pro football's Chicago Bears for a reported $197 million.

“CDI wants their cake and to eat it, too: 'We're not willing to be involved in the racing, but we want to still utilize our ADW powers in Illinois,'” Watkins said.

Beyond the situation with TwinSpires in Illinois, Watkins believes there are fundamental issues with the entire ADW model that the industry must address to maintain horse racing's viability.

“This is where the system is really flawed,” he said. “It's an agreement between three parties. In Illinois, the track and the ADW provider negotiate the contract, and the third — the horsemen — is just the consenter. There are so many questions left unanswered. Obviously with the increased numbers of people using ADWs, the horsemen and the tracks get so much less of that it could spell doom for us.

“The framers of these ADWs intended for it to basically be a third to the provider, a third to the track and a third to the horsemen. But they take out fees up front, and those fees are unspecified in purpose and amount. What is an ADW fee? What does that mean? The racetracks don't ask the ADW to pay their security payroll and the electric bill. And the horsemen don't ask the ADW company to pay the feed bill and hay bill and straw bill.”

Watkins said the Illinois HBPA also “wants to bring light to a flawed system” under which online betting platforms operate. Watkins said that the ADWs make the lion's share of the net proceeds at the expense of horsemen's purse accounts and brick-and-mortar tracks and simulcasting facilities, even as the online technology siphons off the majority of bettors.

“It's inherently flawed, just the way it is set up,” Watkins said. “I think it's going to be the death of horse racing if we continue to go at the rate we're going. This was so well-said by a Chicago horseman: 'We traded dollars for quarters when we went to simulcast wagering. Now, with the ADW wagering, we're trading dollars and quarters for nickels.' The recipe has to be changed if horse racing — at least for the mid-level and smaller tracks — is going to exist.”

Watkins points to a July 14 article by former New York Racing Association head Charles Hayward, now publisher of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, that illustrates the inequities of the ADW splits.

“Because of the pandemic of early 2020, Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW), Computer Robotic Wagering (CRW) and other off-track outlets handled 97 percent of the total U.S. racing handle last year,” Hayward wrote. “The on-track handle was the remaining 3 percent, or $333 million.

“… Here is a model of how the racetrack and the purse account would split a million dollars bet through an ADW: The ADW operator receipts would be $70,000, or 40 percent greater than the $50,000 total proceeds to the racetrack and the purse account.”

The Illinois HBPA signed a one-year contract with TVG to operate in Illinois, Watkins said. FanDuel, part of the corporate enterprise that operates the TVG racing channel and betting platform, is the southern Illinois track's equity partner to operate the sports book. While the company is not a partner in the racetrack, it received branding and naming rights as part of a contract that includes the long-term sponsorship of the St. Louis Derby, worth $250,000 in 2021.

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The organization representing owners and trainers at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (formerly known as Fairmount Park) is withholding consent for the TwinSpires betting platform to accept wagers from Illinois residents.

The board of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association cites the closure of suburban Chicago's industry icon Arlington Park by Churchill Downs Inc., TwinSpires' parent corporation, as a prime motivation for withholding consent. With CDI not owning a functioning racetrack in Illinois in 2022, TwinSpires must under state law have a contract with another duly licensed track to conduct business in the state starting Jan. 1. The only remaining Prairie State horse tracks are FanDuel and Chicagoland's Hawthorne Race Course, with CDI seeking approval through the FanDuel track.

Illinois law also gives horsemen consent rights before an advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform can enter into a relationship with an Illinois track to conduct business in the state.

Illinois HBPA president Jim Watkins said his organization's board believes the issue is of the magnitude that it should go before the Illinois Racing Board. The IRB has scheduled a hearing Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. Central via WebEx. The racing regulators have the power to overrule the horsemen's veto if they believe the horsemen's action was unreasonable, he said.

“That's where we're at now,” Watkins said. “We just felt this was an issue the racing board should be able to weigh in on, whether TwinSpires continues to be allowed to operate in Illinois. That's a big reason we withheld our consent.”

Watkins said the horsemen are upset not just that CDI shut down Arlington Park but then would not sell to ownership wishing to maintain racing at the 94-year-old track. CDI is the majority owner of Rivers Casino Des Plaines, located 10 miles from Arlington Park. The company has an agreement to sell the Arlington Park property to pro football's Chicago Bears for a reported $197 million.

“CDI wants their cake and to eat it, too: 'We're not willing to be involved in the racing, but we want to still utilize our ADW powers in Illinois,'” Watkins said.

Watkins said the Illinois HBPA also “wants to bring light to a flawed system” under which online betting platforms operate. Watkins said that the ADWs make the lion's share of the net proceeds at the expense of horsemen's purse accounts and brick-and-mortar tracks and simulcasting facilities, even as the online technology siphons off the majority of bettors.

“This is where the system is really flawed,” he said. “It's an agreement between three parties. In Illinois, the track and the ADW provider negotiate the contract, and the third–the horsemen–is just the consenter. There are so many questions left unanswered. Obviously with the increased numbers of people using ADWs, the horsemen and the tracks get so much less of that it could spell doom for us. The framers of these ADWs intended for it to basically be a third to the provider, a third to the track and a third to the horsemen. But they take out fees up front, and those fees are unspecified in purpose and amount. What is an ADW fee? What does that mean? The racetracks don't ask the ADW to pay their security payroll and the electric bill. And the horsemen don't ask the ADW company to pay the feed bill and hay bill and straw bill.”

The Illinois HBPA signed a one-year contract with TVG to operate in Illinois, Watkins said. FanDuel, part of the corporate enterprise that operates the TVG racing channel and betting platform, is the southern Illinois track's equity partner to operate the sports book. While the company is not a partner in the racetrack, it received branding and naming rights as part of a contract that includes the long-term sponsorship of the St. Louis Derby, worth $250,000 in 2021.

Click here for previous TDN story on CDI's request for IRB approval.

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“She was one of the prettiest mares we had on the farm,” WinStar's Elliott Walden told Twinspires' Ed DeRosa. “While she didn't reproduce herself, she always was a good mother, and it was a privilege to have a Kentucky Oaks winner in the broodmare band.”

In addition to the Kentucky Oaks, Summerly also won the GII Fair Grounds Oaks and GIII Silverbulletday S. She was second in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Mother Goose S.

Summerly's first foal was stakes winner Kentucky Reign (Distorted Humor) and she is also the dam of group placed Allez Marie (Unbridled's Song). She produced a filly by Always Dreaming in 2020 and a colt by that GI Kentucky Derby winner in 2021.

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Fierro, a long-time employee for Foley, was diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer in 2016, and underwent surgery and several long months of recovery before returning to the racetrack. Eventually Fierro returned to galloping horses as well.

“That was a good therapy for me, to be around horses,” Fierro said. “After that, I never think I'd be able to gallop again, and I did. I still do it. I'm lucky to be alive. I'm very grateful, you know. I said, 'Thanks God, for giving me this second chance in life, because some people, they don't get it.”

Pedroza lost his mother to brain cancer two years ago, at the young age of 44.

“I'm glad that she doesn't suffer any more, and that she's in a better place,” said the jockey. “She told me, 'Papi, life continues, you gotta keep going, you got kids and a wife that depends on you.”

He took those words to heart. The same day his mother passed away, Pedroza won a race at Indiana Grand. He believes she'll be riding with him in the Kentucky Derby, celebrating his success.

Now, both Fierro and Pedroza will head to the first Saturday in May with big dreams. Both believe their big chestnut colt has a solid chance to wear the roses.

“My plan is to be in the Derby, and win it,” Pedroza summarized.

Check out the full video below:

The @Foley_Racing-trained O Besos moved into the top 20 in the @KentuckyDerby points standings over the weekend!

The whole Foley barn is excited, especially O Besos' exercise rider, Margarito Fierro, and jockey @jockeypedrozajr.@TheBrownAndrew reports: #KyDerby pic.twitter.com/H2A2AuWTiD

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) April 19, 2021

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