Value Tech Blog

Horse racing a good bet for Georgia
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/horse-racing-a-good-1245322.html

This year’s “world series of horse racing” — The Breeder’s Cup — was worth $53.3 million to local businesses, 1.2 million viewers to ESPN and paid out $25.5 million in purses over 15 races.

And all of that benefited Louisville, Ky.

These millions of dollars and millions of viewers can belong to Georgia instead of Kentucky. Here’s how to do it:

During this year’s session, I introduced a constitutional amendment (HR186) to allow for horse racing with pari-mutuel wagering. If passed, the voters would cast their ballots on the amendment in the Nov. 6, 2012, general election.

Let’s get the “gambling” issue out of the way. This amendment does not allow for casinos, dog racing, slot machines or Elvis wedding chapels. All of that can stay in Vegas. So what makes pari-mutuel wagering different from gambling?

In simple terms, when you gamble, you are betting against the “house,” and the odds are stacked against you. With pari-mutuel, you are betting against the other bettors in each race. If you bet $1 on a horse, the “track” will take 18 cents to operate the track, pay taxes, purses to the horses and other overhead, while you share 82 cents with each of the other bettors. That is the “mutual” part of pari-mutuel wagering.

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

Vetch reportedly dismissed without cause
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/11/28/veitch-dismissed.aspx

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday dismissed chief steward John Veitch without cause, effective immediately, according to published reports. Veitch was at the center of the Life At Ten controversy from the 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships in which Life At Ten was allowed to race in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) despite prerace comments by her jockey, John Velazquez, raising concerns about her condition

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

Baze Escapes Serious Injury at Golden Gate
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66375/baze-escapes-serious-injury-at-golden-gate

Jockey Russell Baze, racing’s all-time leader with 11,415 career victories, escaped serious injury in the sixth race at Golden Gate Fields Nov, 27. His mount, Reinvent, crashed through the breakaway inner rail on the turf course while leading in mid-stretch. 

Reinvent stayed on his feet throughout the ordeal and appeared to come out of the accident relatively unscathed. Baze reportedly sustained a bruised right thumb.

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

So, maybe Rapid Redux was nor running against champions, 20 in a row, given all the randomness in racing, is impressive. 

Rapid Redux Claims North American Record | BloodHorse.com
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66302/rapid-redux-claims-north-american-record

Rapid Redux makes history with win number 20.
Robert Cole Jr.’s Rapid Redux became the all-time North American win leader in modern times with his 20th consecutive victory Nov. 21 at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in West Virginia  ().

With the field reduced to four horses after four late scratches, one just before post time, the 5-year-old gelding by Pleasantly Perfect   was gunned to the front by jockey Deshawn Parker, nursed a short lead until the top of the stretch, and pulled clear to win the one-mile starter allowance race by four lengths. Rapid Redux is now 18-for-18 in 2011.

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

We’re hoping they get this resolved soon. Just don’t appoint a Super Committee!

Talks to determine Maryland’s horse racing schedule moving slowly – baltimoresun.com
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bs-sp-racing-commission-1122-20111121,0,2060243.story

Maryland horsemen learned Monday afternoon they’d have to wait longer for a definitive answer on the state’s racing dates for the 2012 season.

“We’ve had productive meetings,” said John McDaniel, a member of the Maryland Racing Commission who has spearheaded the discussions. “Both parties have entered the dialogue with desire to reach an agreement.”

But no agreement has been reached, and the Maryland Jockey Club has not put in a request for any racing dates. Tracks often ask for 365 days as a way to meet the Dec. 1 deadline and request specific live dates later. But no request was made, the commission’s executive director Mike Hopkins said, “because McDaniel said they wanted to work through the negotiation process first.”

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

Kudos to  the Jockey Club! 

Jockey Club partners with NBC for live racing series – Thoroughbred Times
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/11/08/jockey-club-partners-with-nbc-for-live-racing-series.aspx

The Jockey Club, in collaboration with the NBC Sports Group, CNBC, and six racetracks, will provide live coverage of six major prep races for the 2012 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brand (G1) in the spring over four consecutive weekends.

The series will be highlighted by a 90-minute live broadcast on NBC featuring the Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 7.

“The Jockey Club is proud to work with our television and racetrack partners to bring more of our sport’s best racing to a national audience,” said Ogden Mills Phipps, Chairman of The Jockey Club. 

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

Larger fields would help!

Belmont Attendance Better, Total Handle Dips
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66144/belmont-attendance-better-total-handle-dips

All-source wagering dipped by more than 10% during the Belmont Park fall meet, according to the New York Racing Association, although on-track attendance improved during the 35-day stand.

The meet concluded Oct. 30. It was originally scheduled for 37 days, two more than in 2010, but one full day and a second partial day were lost due to inclement weather. Figures released Nov. 10 showed all-sources handle, comprising all wagers made on NYRA races, fell 10.3% from last year’s meet, with $263,037,788 wagered this year as compared to $293,163,373 in 2010. Attendance increased 4.6% to 133,369 compared with 127,540 during last year’s meet, and on-track handle on NYRA races reportedly totaled $41,656,097, up 45.4% over last year’s total of $28,656,204. NYRA Rewards account wagering, including wagers made on simulcast races, reportedly increased 216% ($8,280,728 vs. $2,620,682), contributing to an internet wagering jump of 234% ($12,786,902 vs. $3,825,633).

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

Hopefully, the extra days will help…

Monmouth Meet: Down From 2010, Up From 2009
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/66145/monmouth-meet-down-from-2010-up-from-2009

Business at Monmouth Park this year expectedly dropped after what appears to be a one-time “Elite Meet” last year, but average daily figures were still much higher than those recorded for the comparable 2009 meet.

The 71-day 2011 meet at the New Jersey racetrack ended Nov. 6, though there will be six more days of racing from Nov. 11-20 under the “Meadowlands at Monmouth” banner. The extra days were made official Nov. 9.

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

Charles P. Pierce on the 2011 Breeders’ Cup – Grantland
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7202943/the-decline-horse-racing

There are easier ways to gamble these days. There are other sports that are more suited to television and the other forms of instant communication, more conducive to a human attention span reckoned now in milliseconds. Even on a weekend like the one just passed, in which the sport puts everything it has going for it on full display, and at Churchill Downs, one of the few places that even the casual sports fan can recognize, there is still a sense about the sport that it has become unstuck in time, to borrow Billy Pilgrim’s phrase. That it is a door into the past from a present, a present in which history is whatever came in over your BlackBerry 25 seconds ago. That it is drifting further and further away into misty obsolescence, that it exists now somewhere deep in the hours before the dawn of whatever age it is our technology has brought to us. Men — and women — and horses, it seems, are something now that might as well have been painted on the walls of a cave.

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

The increase in field size is very good news for the ValueCapper!

Santa Anita bucks industry trends, ends autumn meet with solid gains
http://www.examiner.com/horse-racing-in-los-angeles/santa-anita-bucks-industry-trends-ends-autumn-meet-with-solid-gains

 ARCADIA, Calif. (Nov. 6, 2011)—Santa Anita’s inaugural 24-day Autumn Meet concluded Sunday, as The Great Race Place stood tall in the face of declining industry revenues,  posting significant gains in on-track  attendance, handle and in average-per-race field size when compared to like racing dates the past two years.

Average field size for the meet was 8.8 horses per race, a significant increase from 2009, when field size was 7.7 horses per race.  Average daily on-track attendance was up one percent over 2009 and average daily on-track pari-mutuel handle was up six percent.

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