Time For Horse Racing Industry To Put Up Video Archives

Partymanners Youtube account suspended
Most racing enthusiasts know by now that Partymanners recently had his Youtube account suspended.

Over 1500 videos of historical stake races are no longer accessible to the general public. Why? It appears that some egotistical maniac had a hissy fit sent Youtube a false claim that at least some of the videos were owned by him. Of course, this is not the case. These videos belong to the racetracks, and as far as I know, most if not every racetrack has to be aware of Partymanners Youtube channel for quite a while, and obviously had no problem with what he was doing. This channel definitely was free advertising for horse racing in general, and I think racing execs would be foolish if they filled out a form crying copyright infringement.

Partymanners has issued a counter claim, which will probably win out if the other guy can't prove he has the copyright to the videos. I'm pretty sure at least the first move by Youtube was simply an automated response. It is actually illegal to claim that you own the rights to a video you don't own the rights to.

This situation has now started to get many horse racing fans to ask why is it that a fan (Partymanners) of all people had to be responsible for bringing great historical races to the general public and not anyone directly involved in the horse racing industry? There is obviously demand for these old races, but the horse racing industry seems to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Many tracks now are putting up racing videos on a Youtube site. This is a good start. Woodbine just began doing this a few months ago. It would be nice if Woodbine could take the time and add old stake races to their channel. I'd love to be able to see races that featured horses like Momigi, Tiny Tinker, and Northern Dancer (I wonder if anyone has a video of Northern Dancer's maiden win at Fort Erie in 1963).

Going forward R2Collective gives a very good assessment of the current situation and a some good ideas for the future regarding race replays and with respect to its relationship with the internet in general.


Bill Finley's newest article: A look at 2010, through a crystal ball
Horse racing satire at its finest.
Here is a taste:

July: NYRA is able to re-open after Jess Jackson lends the struggling racing organization $50 million in return for them renaming the Travers the Plastic Tracks Suck Stakes. New York racing resumes with opening day at Saratoga.

It is at least on par with my last April Fool's Day post.


Speaking of Stronach
Doesn't it rub most people the wrong way that Frank Stronach was able to have a deal cut where he still winds up with Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields?, despite the fact that Magna Entertainment shareholders got totally screwed as did unsecured creditors. He proved he can't run a race track, never mind many racetracks. His vision of horse racing was completely out of touch with reality and those who believed in him got the shaft.

And this just feels so not so right: Adena Springs buy Miss Isella for over a million bucks. I guess life goes on for Stronach, and he must have got out of the Magna Entertainment mess OK. Maybe Bernie Madoff should have used his legal team.


Support From Horseplayers Wanted

CHRB Meeting this Friday - Let your thoughts be known via email

This Friday there is a CHRB meeting in California. One of the items on the agenda is the following:

"Discussion and action by the Board regarding an increase in the take-out on conventional and exotic wagers on races conducted by quarter horse racing associations as permitted pursuant to Assembly Bill 246 (Price), Chapter 226, Statutes of 2009."

We believe that any takeout increase, for any wagering is not a good thing in, as takeout increases have been proven time and time again to lower handle, and lower interest on horse racing. Jeff Platt, HANA President will be at the meeting and they have allowed him to speak on some of the studies which show takeout increases hurt, don't help racing.

If you agree and want your voice heard we need your help. if you cut the following and place it in your emailer.

Send it to "BonS@chrb.ca.gov"

You will be registering your displeasure with takeout increases.

Please use this in the subject header: "Please say no to any takeout increases"


Shameless self promotion: Someone who read my last blog piece had a lot of good things to say about it on a Harness Racing Forum.


If you missed the jockey fight during a race at Philly Park, check out Thoroughbred Chat. The Partymanners Youtube debacle is also touched upon.

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New Whipping Rules In Ontario May Alter Handicapping A Little

New Whipping Rules Coming To Ontario September 1st

"Whips will have to be be cushioned, be no more than 30 inches in length, and have a padded noise-making "popper."......................... Use of a non-approved whip will lead to the disqualification of the horse..................a horse cannot be hit with the whip more than three times in a row without being given time to respond, and the whip is not to be used when a horse is not visibly responding or is not in contention for a meaningful position."
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This appears to have major implications when handicapping horses who were not in contention. Speed figure players may need to add a few lengths to horses well beaten, or discard the race entirely because the riders will now wrap up on them early. Some jockeys do this already, but it might be more of a factor now.



Frank Stronach Could Be In Deep Doo Doo

The Magna creditors are claiming: "MI Developments prevented Magna Entertainment from selling assets that might have allowed it to successfully restructure." And the intent was apparently sinister on Stronach's behalf. He purposely put Magna into the bankruptcy position in order to benefit himself by doing many "sham" transactions.

If these allegations are proven, I can see possible jail time being pursued as well. The Madoff scandal has put market regulators on high alert, and they don't mind taking the odd big guy down.



Jockey Norberto Arroyo charged with possession with the intent to sell cocaine
Arroya is currently 2 for 56 at Saratoga. The purses are good, and his mounts have earned over $166k; no reason for him to have a second job.



Baymount Enters Into Letter Of Intent On The New Quinte Track

The new proposed partner is a subsidiary of the Kilmer Group which has a significant ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.



Nick Gonzalez is hotter than a Playboy centerfold on the planet Mercury. Six consecutive winners at Fort Erie including a natural hat trick yesterday as he won the 4th, 5th and 6th. I picked all three as first choices, so I will leave speculation that Gonzalez is using some special concoction to jealous horsemen and maybe the ORC.



Ray Paulick Vents Against Equibase
One of HANA's issues is free information for bettors. I'm don't want to solely blame Equibase though. This is an industry problem and it illustrates just how dysfunctional and anti-player the industry is and always has been. Equibase should be subsidized by the racetracks in a way that the information becomes free. Everything from lifetime charts to daily past performances to breeding records. Free info will only attract more players and owners, etc., and this might just result in growth.

Paulick makes a great point comparing the free information available for every other sport out there. You can get just about any player stat for free by doing just a quick web search or go to sites like NBA.com or NFL.com, etc.

Just a quick note. Equibase does give out some good free info. I go there every day when I do my daily charting of the tracks that I do track variants for.



Bill Finley Says That Lagging Odds Are Unacceptable

He is preaching to the choir.

"As long as the odds continue to change during races, people have a right to be suspicious....close when the first horse is loaded into the gate. It usually takes upward of a minute to load an entire field, normally enough time for every bet made everywhere to funnel its way into the system.....Horseplayers aren't stupid. They will quickly figure out that they have to get their bets in in time and will adjust accordingly."

$4.4 Million Lottery Win Lands The Lucky Guy In Jail Overnight

Too Funny: Ontario Man Wins A $4.4 Million Lottery Jackpot. He collected his check, posed for the camera, walked out of the OLG offices, and was quickly nabbed by police officers because "he was wanted on a six-year-old warrant for failing to appear, theft under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime."

Seems the OLG ratted him out after they did a security check on the winner. They do these checks now whenever they are suspicious, because of all the bad press they received over the fact that a disproportionate amount of big winners were found to be ticket sellers (and ticket checkers, of course).

'According to court documents, Shell was charged in 2003 for allegedly stealing cameras, global positioning systems, memory cards and watches belonging to Kuehne + Nagel, an international transport and logistics company, and for having the items in his possession knowing they were obtained by crime.'


Sports Betting In Delaware: The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued Delaware Friday, seeking to block the state from implementing sports betting.

The lunacy of these sports leagues is mind numbing. Like sports betting doesn't happen already? It is just like prostitution and marijuana as far as I'm concerned, legalize it, and that way the government can make some extra money.

The NFL especially is laughable to pride itself on the say no to legalized gambling on sports in the USA. First off, Vegas already has legalized gambling on the NFL, so the monkey is already out of the cage. Secondly, if betting and Fantasy Football leagues (which is gambling as far as I'm concerned), didn't exist, the NFL might be just as dead as horse racing is now. I love watching the NFL, but if I didn't have a bet going and/or fantasy players to root for, I would rather be watching The Antiques Road Show.




Are Frank Stronach's alleged financial shenanigans finally going to be fully exposed? It looks like a good possibility that his house of cards will be analyzed, and I think it could get ugly.



Town of Fort Erie gets $325,000 from quarter one slots revenue. Last year, the town received just over $1.3 million for the year, so it seems that revenues have at least stabilized at the bottom, unfortunately, but at least this might be the bottom.



And now for something completely different. A harness race on the turf at The Meadowlands:

H/T Bane on Pace Advantage


Rebate Shops Endangers Tournaments by Richard Eng
Seems like those who buy in to play in the big handicapping tournaments have stopped betting through Vegas, and are making their large plays through ADWs that offer rebates.
First off, that is how almost all big players play. And why not? You get an average 7% rebate and you bet a million a year, that is $70,000 in extra money to play with. Also, if the rebates didn't exist, these players would probably betting only $1-200,000 tops, but that is another story.
But Eng is right. The ones who put on these tournaments need to at least break even, and it isn't a terrible request to make it so that monies bet on the tournament go through the hotel. And the method outline by Eng makes perfect sense.
It is a choice for the player to even pay to be in the tournament in the first place, and they can always play from home and forget the tournament and simply just get their rebates on every bet.
Choice is important for the player. As long as it exists, I'm happy.

Speaking of tournaments, in the recent one held in Vegas, a California horseplayer just set a tournament record.

Ontario Lottery And Gaming Could Be In Deep Doo Doo

$3.5 Billion Lawsuit Looks Good From The Plaintiffs Side
A $3.5-billion lawsuit against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. on behalf of more than 10,000 problem gamblers - with ramifications for many thousands more across Canada - reveals a devastating glimpse into a lucrative government business that leaves some of its best customers in financial ruin.......
Aubrey Dennis 49, a Markham man, lost a big whack of dough playing slots mainly at Woodbine and Casino Rama. He is the one who launched this lawsuit on behalf of gamblers on the self exclusion list.
After losing an estimated half a million he eventually signed the self exclusion contract, and was photographed and told that if he was seen at an OLG casino he would be charged with trespassing.
He was only turned away once (a bus to Casino Rama), but even on that day he wound up going to Woodbine instead.
He proceeded to lose a couple of homes and his job.

The fact that the OLG was stupid enough to have a self exclusion form that they obviously couldn't/wouldn't enforce properly puts them in a very bad situation in my opinion.

Personally, I'm not sympathetic to Mr. Dennis either. He knew he had a problem, but still went to the casinos obviously hoping they wouldn't turn him away. He may gain here because the system stinks. The fact that our society thinks they need to have these types of lists is ludicrous. I mean, how can you stop someone from losing their rent money and food money on lotteries? Until we utilize fingerprint technology, it is completely unrealistic for society to stop a problem gambler from gambling. And the OLG should have known this before OKing the self exclusion program.

The OLG profited over $2 billion last year, so $3.5 billion is still a lot. A similar but smaller lawsuit was filed previously by Joseph Keyes, who signed the self exclusion document. He settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. I have no idea what the OLG will use as a defense for this one.

For those who don't know, 20% of slot profits in Ontario are split between the racetrack and the horsemen.


In related news, a gambling postie in Calgary gets to spend time in jail for stealing mail and forging checks.



Friends Of Fort Erie Thoroughbred Racing
The EDTC of Fort Erie, in an attempt to put a plan together that will look good enough to the government, that they will guarantee a $35 million purchase plan of Fort Erie race track by the EDTC, has put together a web page asking for suggestions on how to improve the bottom line at "The Fort."
I sent a couple of suggestions regarding post times. I have more. They have my number. Here is the suggestion box page.


Speaking of Fort Erie, opening day is just around the corner. The first Saturday of May (same as the Kentucky Derby).

Some of the Fort Erie jockeys are seen in this Youtube video working on their fitness and timing:

OK, that was just a mild attempt at humour. It does look like fun. Maybe this could count as another idea for Fort Erie. This would be a great attraction for kids, though I'm not sure how insurance companies would handle the danger aspect of it. These inflatable horses are unpredictable, and a child still risks serious danger, though it is highly improbable, it could still happen, helmets or no helmets.



Good news for bettors; bad news for business that don't want to compete like Woodbine: Canada May Get On-Line Gambling.



Wagering drops in New York OTBs. Didn't they just raise takeouts "thinking" it would mean more money for the OTBs and the state? Morons. Sure the economy has something to do with it. So does competition as New York residents can actually get rebates or rewards by sitting at home and playing with ADWs like Twinspires, Youbet and Premier Turf Club amongst others. The OTB's cry that they can't compete with them is complete hogwash.



Semi success story: Heather Takashi used up her savings to buy a broodmare, patiently sat on the broodmare until breeding her and producing a pretty nice foal who has gone on to win considerable dough. Skill, luck, and patience is the key to making money as an owner (Luck is the number one factor by a country mile).
H/T Jen's ThoroughBlog


Winning Ponies (an internet radio program) hosted by Ed Meyer recently interviewed Chantal Sutherland: Click here and listen to it.


Don't forget to check out the free Past Performance available by clicking here thanks to Brisnet.

The Daily Racing Form has a free page that shows profiles of the contenders, including their last couple of Beyer numbers and video links as well.


Jeff Mullins gets 7 day hand slap for dissing the rules. NYRA may impose further sanctions.


Stalking bid dropped for Magna Entertainment. Stronach appears to be a goner now, as he lost leverage to play more games. Good.

Stronach To Commission 9 Solid Gold Statues Of Himself

In a surprising move Frank Stronach has conditionally commissioned erecting 9 statues of himself to be placed in front of each of the 9 racetracks troubled bankrupt company Magna Entertainment currently own.

The statues are to be 14 feet high made from solid gold. They will each weigh around 800 pounds. Stronach wants the statues to reflect the real him, so he will not be in a suit but in the clothes he normally wears around his house: a toga, sandals, and the thorny crown he traditionally wears while relaxing at home.

Asked how he will come up with the estimated $140 million to finance the statues, Stronach laughed hysterically at the idea that he would use his own money, instead he has put together a new company called Magna New and Improved Inc. He is working on getting a loan from Magna International to get company off the ground and to pay for the statues. "The loan from Magna should be no problem, after all, Magna is sort of in the metals business any way."

From there he expects to raise more money by going public with the new company, and then he expects to borrow money from banks and financial institutions so that he can buy many of the Magna Entertainment assets at what he calls "a real steal."

When asked about the practicality of erecting the statues Stronach said "in business you gotta spend money to make money."


In other news:

WOODBINE TO DROP TRACK TAKEOUT TO A 15% MAXIMUM
(Special to Cangamble)

Davey Willnut, head honcho at the Woodbine Interdicting Group announced today, that he is going to aggressively drop takeout rates for the 2009 Woodbine thoroughbred meet, when it starts at an unadvertised date sometimes this month.

"It finally hit me that we are not attracting new players," Willnut said, "our illegal collusive tactics just aren't working, we are not the only game in town anymore. Our feeble attempts to eliminate the competition has stopped working, we must compete now in order to grow."

"We've decided that we don't want to depend on mooch degenerate gamblers who just don't care about how ridiculously high are takeouts are," Willnut continued, "they only have limited bankrolls in most cases, and all we have done with our technological advancements is make it easier for these clowns to lose their gambling money in a much faster time."

"We've decided that win, place, and show bets will have a 12% takeout, while all other bets will be at 15%," said Willnut, "I'm sure we will not only get the gambling money from our regular client base, just at a slightly slower rate, but we will also attract many bettors who have left us for Betfair, for example. We will also probably attract many online poker bettors, now that we have made the game possibly beatable. We may even create a buzz amongst bettors who are actually making money or coming very close at least. They may start bringing their friends."

"I was ashamed and disgusted with myself when I read on the Cangamble blog, that Woodbine has the 7th highest track takeout out of 58 racetracks." Willnut when on, "I now consider myself a visionary. I will save horse racing with this initiative. My dad used to call me and my brother dumb and dumber. I'm going to rectify the dumb part of his statement, or was I the dumber...it doesn't matter now, because now I am smart."


"I realize dropping takeouts is a risk, but we ask our cherished loyal customers to take a risk every day when they bet on our product," said Willnut, "For instance, the other tracks out there may not play ball. They may make our product less appealing by ramping up the takeout on our product to much higher levels for their customers, like we do in many instances, or they might not show our signal anymore, like we did when Laurel reduced takeouts last year for 12 days. Many racetrack executives, I have to admit, don't give a rats ass about the betting public, and especially their own customers. They are such unscrupulous, arrogant, idiotic basturds."

Is Davey Willnut worried? "I'm pretty confident our bottom line will increase dramatically from here, but just in case, I'm not going to buy anymore new expensive suits until I know for sure."



FDA Warns of New Disease: Mad Trainer Disease
It seems a newly detected untreatable disease has hit the racing world. Mad Trainer Disease or MTD. It is very prevalent amongst high percentage trainers. The early symptoms are an inflated ego, a certain smugness, and an evasiveness when it comes to hard hitting media questions.

Lab scientists speculate that the cause of the disease is from sharing needles with horses.

HANA'S Number One Rated Track? Hint: It Isn't Woodbine

Keeneland is number one out of the 65 rated tracks. Their brass took the results pretty seriously too. Keeneland President and CEO Nick Nicholson seems very pleased that his track was rated on top:

Nice field sizes, but more importantly, the lowest takeouts in North America pushed Keeneland to the top. To put things in perspective, a triactor at Keeneland that pays $810 for a deuce would pay $717 at Woodbine, if the betting on each were proportionally the same.

If you are a horseplayer who wants the biggest bang for your buck, please join HANA, it is free.


Fort Erie Update
Tim Hudak was adamant that slots should go if Fort Erie doesn't have live races.
No slots and no racing at Fort Erie would make the racetrack almost worthless. The land can't be worth that much if Woodbine sold it for $10 and the transfer of a $3 million debt just over 10 years ago.
'The Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Agencies Tuesday.' I watched most of it on TV (channel 67 on Cogeco). Rod Seiling seemed to be optimistic that racing would happen this year at the Fort. Only he knows what he knows.
There is a lot of quiet optimism happening right now. Is a deal imminent? Will Fort Erie be saved?

Also, OHRIA will probably be getting more power soon and take away some of the pressure from the ORC. But if they think that they can go ahead and campaign against what they call "illegal offshore betting," good luck to them.
OHRIA, WEG, and every other racing entity in Canada had better learn that their days of monopoly are over. It is time they compete for the bettor's action.


Andrew Beyer Gives Maryland Hell For Raising Takeouts

'Executive 1: "The economy is killing us. Customers are deserting us. Our business is terrible. What are we going to do?"

Executive 2: "I've got an idea. Let's raise our prices!"

Executive 1: "Raise prices! Brilliant!.....

....Whenever I visit tracks in other countries, I observe the relationship between the takeout and the health of the sport. Gambling-mad Hong Kong and Australia produce per-capita wagering that dwarfs the United States. Their takeout rates are around 16 to 17 percent, and in both places I met pros who bet astronomical sums and make a lucrative livelihood beating the game by a couple of percentage points. By contrast, when I visited Argentina last spring, I did not hear of a professional horseplayer in a country with a rich horse tradition. The takeout rate of 28 percent made serious betting impossible. Somewhere between 17 and 28 percent is a crucial tipping point.'

New York Breeding Program Finally Paying Dividends
Hey, don't they have state bred claiming races? How come Ontario doesn't?



Maryland Rejects Magna Entertainment's Slot Proposal
H/T The Paulick Report


Speaking of Magna and Frank Stronach, this is one of the funniest pieces having to do with horse racing that I've ever read:
Economy Hits Magna: Stronach Announces Jockey Layoffs

'Magna CEO Frank Stronach announced in a teleconference held yesterday that the latest cost cutting measure by his beleaguered racetracks and company will include the layoffs of jockeys.

“The economy has adversely affected out bottom line at Magna, and we are forced to make some tough decisions, including the layoffs of all jockeys at our tracks as of Feb. 18,” Stronach said.'

Read the rest:)