Oaks Winner Summerly Dies

Summerly (Summer Squall–Here I Go, by Mr. Prospector), winner of the 2005 GI Kentucky Oaks for Winchell Thoroughbreds, passed away earlier this year after suffering a bout of colic, The Twinspires Edge reported. Acquired by the Winchells for $410,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the mare was purchased by WinStar Farm for $3.3 million at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“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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Watch: Team O Besos Grateful For Second Chances And Help From Above

Exercise rider Margarito Fierro and jockey Marcelino Pedroza have trainer Greg Foley's Kentucky Derby contender O Besos in common, of course, but there is more than that drawing the pair of riders together. In a video produced by Twinspires' Andrew Brown, both men reveal their personal struggles with cancer and how the relationship with horses helped them to overcome.

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 post Watch: Team O Besos Grateful For Second Chances And Help From Above appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Simulcast Fee Dispute: Churchill Withdraws Complaint Against Thoroughbred Owners Of California

On Feb. 2, 2021, Churchill Downs Technology Initiatives Company (CDTIC), a subsidiary of Churchill Downs, Inc. that operates advance deposit wagering companies TwinSpires and BetAmerica, filed a lawsuit against the Thoroughbred Owners of California for invoking state statute in an effort to bring a dispute over simulcast hub fees into binding arbitration.

According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, that lawsuit has been dropped. A “notice of voluntary dismissal” was filed Monday in the United States District Court (Central District, California, Western Division), which indicated that the parties reached an agreement on March 5.

The notice did not indicate specifics about that agreement, and neither TOC's Greg Avioli nor Scott Edelman, the CDTIC's attorney, responded to queries from the TDN.

The dispute centered around a hub agreement reached on Dec. 22, 2020, between Santa Anita Park and CDI's two online wagering companies, TwinSpires and BetAmerica. The agreement specified the percentage the ADW companies would receive on each dollar wagered by California residents using their platforms. By California statute, the maximum an ADW company may receive to facilitate a wager is 6.5%. The agreed-upon percentage in the agreement between the ADW companies and Santa Anita is redacted in the court filings. According to the lawsuit, TOC asked that the hub fee be reduced to 4.1%, which the complaint said “would cost Churchill Downs Technology millions of dollars and upset almost a decade of an established course of dealing between the contracting parties.”

Two months earlier, on Oct. 28, the suit alleged, TOC president and CEO Greg Avioli asked Churchill Downs Inc. executive Mike Ziegler to “voluntarily return the equivalent of 1% of the total” wagered on the company's ADW platforms in 2020. “TOC threatened that if Churchill Downs Technology did not comply with its 'voluntary' request, it would demand arbitration pursuant to section 19604,” the complaint alleges, calling the effort a to retain additional revenue a “shakedown.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Which ADWs Have Gained The Most During COVID-19 Pandemic?

Without legal advance deposit wagering in the United States, horse racing would have suffered unimaginable consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic that was unleashed one year ago. As it was, many tracks were forced to close while racing officials, health departments and infectious disease experts across the country worked toward solutions to keeping a major industry going.

Almost without exception, on-track business evaporated and racing was dependent on leading ADW companies TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet and NYRA Bets to stay in business. Those companies, the “big four” among ADWs, handled nearly $6.5 billion through the Oregon Racing Commission wagering hub, about 60% of the $10.9 billion bet on U.S. races in 2020, according to Equibase.

Some caveats: NYRA Bets totals do not include wagers made by New York residents on in-state races. Also, the ADW totals include a relatively small percentage that is wagered on Standardbred and Quarter Horse racing and international races. The totals for TwinSpires and Xpressbet may include “white label” ADWs created by various racetracks that use the aforementioned companies' technology.

Another $160 million was wagered through the Oregon hub by six smaller ADW companies.

Also, keep in mind that a significant portion of wagering dollars (though the details are not available) is bet through a hub in North Dakota. Elite Turf Club, Lien Games Racing, WatchAndWager.com and several others are registered in North Dakota, which is not as transparent with wagering totals as is Oregon. Among those companies, Elite Turf Club is probably the largest, with a number of high volume customers employing computer assisted wagering programs.

The growth in wagering through the Oregon hub by the “big four” from 2019 to 2020 was 52%. From a percentage standpoint, NYRA Bets – the smallest of the four and the latest to launch its business in 2016 – had the biggest gain of 104%. From a dollars standpoint, TVG was the leader, gaining over $1.2 billion in wagers from 2019 to 2020.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those two companies are affiliated with television throughout the year: NYRA Bets through programming on Fox Sports and TVG with its long-established racing network.

TVG's growth was so dramatic in 2020 that it overtook TwinSpires as the largest volume ADW company using the Oregon hub, ending a long run at the top by TwinSpires. In 2019, TwinSpires handled over $640 million more than TVG.

From a percentage standpoint, TwinSpires showed the slowest growth of the “big four” during the pandemic, gaining 30%. Xpressbet gained 34% from 2019-'20 topping $1 billion for the second consecutive year.

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