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Olympics Faced Same Integrity Issue as Racing | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/72010/olympics-faced-same-integrity-issue-as-racing

Photo: Skip Dickstein

Travis Tygart spoke at The Jockey Club Round Table Conference.

Fourteen years ago Olympic committees worldwide were saddled with integrity issues similar to what Thoroughbred racing faces today.

Doping among elite athletes was tarnishing the Olympic Games’ image, chasing away TV viewership, and hurting sponsorship revenues. Critics, not unfairly, started using labels like the “Chemical Games” or “HGH Games,” according to Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the keynote speaker at the annual Jockey Club Round Table Conference Aug. 12. The Thoroughbred racing industry faces the same public perception problem from the use of both legal therapeutic medications and illegal drugs.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

What’s Going On Here | Punish the Cheaters – by Eric Mitchell | BloodHorse.com Blog Stable
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/wgoh/archive/2012/08/14/punish-the-cheaters-by-eric-mitchell.aspx

Amidst all the celebration of The Jockey Club’s recent marketing efforts and increased TV exposure for Thoroughbred racing, one message came through clearly at the Aug. 12 Round Table Conference: Racing as a sport will continue floundering and may not survive if it doesn’t punish the cheaters.

One of the more sobering slides shown during the annual state of the industry conference Aug. 12 was part of a presentation by Matt Iuliano, executive vice president and executive director for TJC. The slide entitled “Crime Pays” showed the total purse money earned by trainers who had violated drug rules from 2005 through 2011 compared with total fines they had received. The trainers earned $15.4 million in purses and paid out $1.4 million in fines. Penalties are no longer deterrents; they have become merely a cost of doing business.

TJC chairman Ogden “Dinny” Phipps was right to ask those attending the Round Table if they were happy with allowing 1.5% of the licensed trainers tarnish the public perception of the sport.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

An intelligent, two-pronged approach.

Jockey Club: Marketing Relies on Integrity
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/71997/jockey-club-marketing-relies-on-integrity

The Jockey Club intends to continue with its efforts to market Thoroughbred racing and develop new patrons, but the organization’s leader said Aug. 12 those efforts must go hand in hand with medication and penalty reforms.

Jockey Club president and chief operating officer James Gagliano, speaking at the Round Table conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., cited the organization’s investment in television coverage for racing, social media platforms, and fan education programs that resulted from the 2011 report from McKinsey & Company. The Jockey Club also is strongly pushing its Reformed Racing Medication Rules.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Suffolk Downs Applies for Casino License | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/71955/suffolk-downs-applies-for-casino-license

Photo: Elkus Manfredi Architects

Architect rendering of the Suffolk Downs casino project.

Suffolk Downs has formally declared its intent to compete for one of Massachusetts’ commercial gaming licenses. The East Boston racetrack announced Aug. 10 it had submitted the required non-refundable $400,000 fee with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

“We begin this formal part of earning a license to develop a world-class destination resort at our 77-year-old racetrack with great enthusiasm and with the understanding that our project must set the standard for gaming development in Massachusetts,” said Richard Fields, Suffolk Downs’ principal owner. “With our partner, Caesars Entertainment, we are committed to a proposal that will create more jobs, tourism benefits and local economic development than any other project in the state.”

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Two years in a row at the same venue for the Breeders’ Cup.

Santa Anita to Host 2013 Breeders’ Cup
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/71909/santa-anita-to-host-2013-breeders-cup

Santa Anita Park, which hosted the Breeders’ Cup as recently as 2009 and is hosting this year’s edition, will also host the 2013 Breeders’ Cup, pending the approval of a final host site agreement, according to Daily Racing Form. The final contract details will have to be worked out and approved by the Breeders’ Cup board.

Santa Anita previously hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 1986, 1993, 2003, and 2008-09. The Southern California track will host this year’s running Nov. 2-3.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

Belmont Park stakes receive substantial increases
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/08/2940277/belmont-park-stakes-receive-substantial.html

The Jockey Club Gold Cup will have a purse of $1 million when it takes place this year at Belmont Park. The 1 1/4 mile race along with all the stakes races during Belmont and Aqueduct’s fall meets will have increased purses.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology

July Pari-Mutuel Handle, Purses Decline
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/71843/july-pari-mutuel-handle-purses-decline

Pari-mutuel handle remained slightly ahead of last year even though it was down 7.37% in July when compared with the same month in 2011, according to the Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators released by Equibase.

Wagering on United States races in July totaled $925,447,361, compared with $999,046,849 in July 2011. The number of U.S. race days—individual programs at each track—was 557, down 32, or 5.43%, from July of last year.

Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology