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Santa Anita Kicks Off Friday’s Stronach 5 Wager

Turf races from Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park, two competitive maiden events, and a low 12-percent takeout highlight Friday's Stronach 5.

The popular wager will feature races from Santa Anita, Gulfstream, and Golden Gate Fields.

The sequence starts off at 4:33 ET with Santa Anita's third race, a $75,000 maiden event for 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs. The nine-horse field includes first-time starters from trainers John Sadler, Michael McCarthy and George Papaprodromou. Loma Vista makes her second start for trainer Philip D'Amato after a sixth-place finish on the turf against maiden special weight company in October.

The second leg of the sequence shifts to Gulfstream and the ninth race, an allowance optional claiming event at 5 ½ furlongs for fillies and mares. American of Course enters off a third-place finish against similar after a four-month layoff for trainer Kathleen O'Connell. Rakasa goes out first off a claim for trainer Aubrey Maragh who is 25-percent off a claim. Domineer also goes out first off a claim for trainer Jose D'Angelo, who is 31-percent off a claim.

Golden Gate's third race is next, a maiden event for fillies and mares at six furlongs with a field of nine going to post. Leading trainer Jonathan Wong sends out Feel This Moment, fifth in her debut Dec. 11. Here Comes Ralphie takes a drop in class for trainer Steve Sherman. The filly makes her first start since March and comes into the race off a 'bullet' work. Lady Skywalker gets blinkers on, Sugar Plum has blinkers off.

It's back to Santa Anita for Race 4, a 1 /8-mile turf event for $50,000 maiden claiming 4-year-olds and up. Nothngoodcomseasy goes out for trainer Doug O'Neill. The son of Medaglia d'Oro lacked room when finishing fifth by three lengths on the turf Nov. 7. Street Ruckus gets back on the turf where he finished fourth, beaten two lengths, in October. Vladimir Cerin trains. Hulk, 0-for-3 on the turf, gets John Velazquez in the saddle for trainer Jeff Mullins. World Cruiser goes out for trainer Eddie Truman after a second-place finish on the turf in November at Del Mar.

The Stronach 5 will conclude with Gulfstream's 10th race, a 1 1/16-mile turf event for 4-year-olds and up with a $35,000 claiming tag. The field of nine includes Alley Oop Johnny, who goes out first off the claim for trainer Mike Maker after a fourth-place finish on the turf Dec. 2 at Aqueduct. Stakes winner Archer Road goes second time out after a two-year layoff. Leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sends out Hail to the Chief, third in his last two starts by less than two lengths against similar company. Stirling Drive will go out first time off the claim for trainer Dany Gargan after a third-place finish in November at Del Mar.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One –Santa Anita Race 3: (9 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:33 ET, 1:33 PT
Leg Two –Gulfstream Race 9: (9 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 4:42 ET, 1:32 PT
Leg Three –Golden Gate Race 3: (9 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:59 ET, 1:59 PT
Leg Four – Santa Anita Race 4: (8 entries, 1 1/8-mile turf) 5:04 ET, 2:04 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream Race 10: (9 entries, 1 1/16-mile turf) 5:14 ET, 2:14 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Santa Anita Kicks Off Friday’s Stronach 5 Wager appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Taking Up For Bettors: Kentucky Rep. Koenig Seeks To Eliminate ‘Breakage’

Kentucky State Representative Adam Koenig is taking up the banner for the most-neglected component of horse racing: the bettors.

Koenig is co-chair, with Sen. Damon Thayer, of the Pari-Mutuel Wagering Taxation Task Force appointed to review taxation policies on gambling on the Commonwealth's horse-racing products. Koenig said on last Friday's Kentucky Racing Spotlight weekly radio show on Louisville's ESPN 680 that based on the task force's findings, he will introduce legislation for a flat 1.5-percent tax on the gross (before winning bettors are paid off) of pari-mutuel wagers, including the highly successful historical horse racing operations. Such a measure would substantially increase the tax on bets placed on Kentucky racing through online platforms, known as Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW).

Another provision Koenig is championing in the bill he plans to introduce during the current 2022 state legislative session: rounding payoffs down to the penny, rather than down to the dime on a $1 mutuel.

The practice of rounding down is known as breakage. It's a decades-old policy that allows racetracks and any licensed bet-taker, including ADWs, to keep the extra money, to the frustration of horseplayers who believe it should be returned to winning bettors.

“The thing I'm perhaps most excited about is the elimination of breakage on live racing,” Koenig told Kentucky Racing Spotlight hosts Joe Clabes and Jennie Rees on the show. “It's something that happens at every track everywhere. Win, place, show … they (pay off) – at least in Kentucky and most other states – to every 20 cents (on a $2 mutuel). You pay $3.20 or $3.40 or $3.80. But it doesn't work out that way. You might deserve $3.47 or $3.68. We're going to try to make that happen. Because it's your money and it goes back to – I don't know, the 1930 or 40s – when the only place you could gamble legally was the track. There were long, deep lines, and they didn't want to pay everybody to the penny every time they came up.”

If Koenig is successful, Kentucky would be the first state to essentially eliminate breakage. New York, with a sliding breakage calculation, is the only state in the last 30 years to address breakage, but the proposed plan for Kentucky is easily the most player-friendly of any, according to industry expert Pat Cummings of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation.

“I think not only will it be great for the bettors, but I believe it will be an incentive for people across the country to bet on Kentucky racing,” said Koenig, an Erlanger resident whose district in Boone and Kenton County is adjacent to Turfway Park. “Maybe if you're a bettor like me who bets $5 to win, place on a race, it's not that big a deal. But if you're somebody who doesn't mind betting $200 across the board on a horse, that adds up to real money over time. I think the tracks will get the money back with additional wagering.”

“… I'm not doing it to cost the (tracks) money or even to help their product. I'm doing it because with the passage of this HHR (legislation) and increasing the numbers of HHR machines, we've taken care of the breeders, taken care of the owners; the trainers and jockeys are running for bigger purses,” Koenig continued, referencing legislation passed last February to protect historical horse racing. “The only person we haven't taken care of is the bettor. You can't run the show without all of those people — but you have to have the bettors.”

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The task force was convened in the wake of last year's passage of SB 120 that cleaned up the language to ensure that historical horse racing was legal under the Kentucky constitution. Some lawmakers felt HHR should be taxed at a higher rate, with more money going to the state's General Fund. Subsequent testimony documented that — by being taxed on the gross rather than on net revenue and with a mandated amount going toward purses for live racing — the excise tax on HHR is effectively 32.2 percent.

That places Kentucky's tax rate on the high end of surrounding states with casino gaming, testimony before the task force documented. While standardizing the 1.5-percent excise tax, Koenig's bill would increase the tax on online and phone wagers made in the state from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent.

“There is a range of tax rates when you make a wager,” said Koenig, who continues to work on the language of the bill before filing. “… When you're at a track and you go to the window, go to a (self-bet) machine, there's a 1 1/2-percent tax on that. But if I am at Keeneland or Churchill Downs and I bet on a simulcast race, say Oaklawn, that's taxed at 3 percent. If I bet on that same race at Oaklawn on my phone, it's taxed at one-half of 1 percent. I'm sure these tax rates made sense when they were created. But now, they don't make so much sense.

“… I believe we're going to generate a fair amount of money, especially with raising the ADW tax from a half of a percent to 1 1/2 percent. It's very complicated because within those tax rates you're funding purses for thoroughbreds, for standardbreds, funding the University of Louisville (equine business) program. Funding pays for improvements at the track. It's more complicated than I ever thought. We're going to make it more even, so that it makes more sense, and we're going to generate some additional revenue for the General Fund.”

Koenig said his bill also will remove any restrictions on how Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) supplements can be used as long as recipient horses are foaled in the commonwealth and sired by a Kentucky stallion. The bill would leave it up to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's KTDF advisory committee to set the policy but would be expected to allow the Kentucky-bred supplements to be added onto claiming races for the first time.

Among other likely provisions:

Funding for the equine programs at the University of Kentucky and the Bluegrass Community & Technical College.

Requiring that the horse-racing industry pay for the cost of its regulation, with the budget for the racing commission currently coming out of the General Fund.

Creation of a revenue stream to provide help for problem gamblers. HHR facilities would be required to maintain and share self-exclusion lists, where problem gamblers who ask to join the list will be refused admission to such properties.

Kentucky's 2022 legislative session runs through April 14.

Kentucky Racing Spotlight, presented by the Kentucky HBPA, will run Fridays from 6-7 p.m. ET through March 4 on ESPN 680/105.7 with streaming at espnlouisville.com, the ESPN 680 app and the iHeart and TuneIn apps. The shows are archived at davisinnovation.com/kyracing. In addition to the Kentucky HBPA, Kentucky Racing Spotlight is sponsored by Davis Innovation, NKY Tribune and the Louisville Thoroughbred Society.

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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Four Tracks, Two Turf Races, 12-Percent Takeout

Over the course of approximately one hour, Friday's Stronach 5 will feature races from Laurel Park, Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields, a low 12-percent takeout, full fields, and two turf races.

The action begins at 4:28 ET.

Laurel's ninth race, a $10,000 claimer at seven furlongs, starts the Stronach 5. The wide-open field of 14 fillies and mares includes Bellswillberinging from the barn of Gary Contessa. The daughter of Mosler drops in class. Icy Harbor, part of a Dove Houghton-trained entry, shortens in distance after finishing ninth on a muddy track. His previous race over a fast track produced a third-place finish. El Bochinche enters off a second-place finish for trainer John Robb.

The Stronach 5 heads west for the second leg, Santa Anita's third race. The 1 1/8-mile turf event for 4-year-olds and up for $25,0000 claimers has an 8-5 favorite in Keystone Field. The Richard Mandella-trained gelding drops in class after finishing fourth, beaten two lengths, in allowance conditions at Del Mar. The second-place finisher in that race came back to win under allowance conditions. Stage Ready goes out second off a $40,000 claim for trainer Jeff Mullins. John Velazquez is named to ride. Graded stakes winner Cleopatra's Strike, who has five seconds at the distance in seven starts, seeks his first win since the 2019 John Henry Turf (G2).

Gulfstream's ninth race, a $62,500 allowance optional claimer at 6 ½ furlongs for 4-year-olds and up, drew a field of nine including Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, who will make his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher in a year. The Into Mischief colt won the Bourbon (G2) on the turf as a juvenile before going to the sidelines after winning the Mucho Macho Man in his only start as a 3-year-old. Luis Saez has the call. Bank On Shea will make his first start at Gulfstream after winning restricted races for New York breds at two and four. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides for Carlos David.

Golden Gate's third race will serve as the fourth leg of the Stronach 5. The six-furlong claiming event for 4-year-olds and up drew a field of seven with a 2-1 favorite in Mohawk King, an Irish-bred who drops in class and gets blinkers for trainer Simon Callaghan. Mohawk King finished fifth in his last start behind Freeport Joe, who has won two consecutive races including the Berkeley Handicap (G3). Mohawk King will likely be joined on the lead or as part of the pace by Knockout Bert, who has finished in the money in seven of nine starts at Golden Gate. Foster Boi goes for his fifth win at Golden Gate in eight starts.

Gulfstream's 10th race concludes the Stronach 5. The one-mile turf event, a maiden optional claimer for 4-year-olds and up, has a 5-2 favorite in Eagle Chief, who breaks from the rail after being claimed by Paradise Farms Corp and trainer Mike Maker for $50,000 at Del Mar in November. Eagle Chief, a son of Into Mischief, is winless in 11 starts. Tyler Gaffalione rides. Golden Indy, fifth in his debut Dec. 16 for trainer Jonathan Thomas, returns with Paco Lopez in the saddle.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One –Laurel Race 9: (14 entries, 7 furlongs) 4:28 ET, 1:28 PT
Leg Two –Santa Anita Race 3: (9 entries, 1 1/8-mile turf) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT
Leg Three – Gulfstream Race 9: (9 entries, 6 ½ furlongs) 4:42 ET, 1:42 PT
Leg Four – Golden Gate Race 3: (10 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:50 ET, 1:50 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream Race 10: (9 entries, 1 mile turf) 5:14 ET, 2:14 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Four Tracks, Two Turf Races, 12-Percent Takeout appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Australia: Mastermind Of Wagering Club Ponzi Scheme Sentenced To Nine Years In Prison

On Friday, County Court Judge Douglas Trapnell sentenced Australian horse racing identity Bill Vlahos to nine years in prison for his role in leading a Ponzi Scheme that swindled investors out of $17,520,224, reports abc.net.au. Vlahos scammed 1,800 investors across 61 different syndicates out of their money by making them believe he had a statistical formula for picking winners.

Instead, Vlahos used the funds to bring additional individuals into the scheme as well as to fund his own extravagant lifestyle.

Vlahos initially faced 347 charges, but ultimately pleaded to two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

“Through your pernicious greed and insatiable desire for personal affirmation, you destroyed the lives and financial security of your family, friends and associates,” said Judge Trapnell. “It is clear you must have known the impact you've had … yet you continued your deceptive scheme, unrelenting and unrepentant. The audaciousness of your behavior is breathtaking.”