“Horse-racing bill would let Californians gamble against a horse” plus 2 more |
- Horse-racing bill would let Californians gamble against a horse
- Horse racing starts on Saturday
- Montana Horse Racing: A Way of Life
| Horse-racing bill would let Californians gamble against a horse Posted: 26 Aug 2010 05:41 PM PDT Legislation to revive the lagging horse-racing industry has taken a controversial turn with a last-minute proposal to make California the first state in the nation to let race fans bet that a horse will lose. With the Legislature's 2009-10 session ending Tuesday, lawmakers are set to consider a bill written by Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) that would also attempt to attract the annual Breeders' Cup championship to the Golden State by setting aside $2 million a year to promote the race. The event is now held at a different location around the country each year. If adopted, the legislation would also take a higher percentage from the bets to increase the purse offered to the owners of the winning horse in any race. California's horse-racing industry — like horse racing nationwide — has suffered from a decline in attendance and in betting that was only exacerbated by the recession. Between 2004 and 2009, commissions collected by racetrack operators and winning purses for horse owners declined about 12%, according to the California Horse Racing Board. During the same period, attendance at racetracks and simulcast facilities in the state dropped 25%. But an amendment added last week has sparked debate by allowing an "exchange wagering" system that would let two or more bettors place opposing wagers on a race. The bill would allow betting-exchange businesses to accept bets for and against horses, with odds set by the bettors. Supporters of the legislation discount worries that exchange wagering could open the door to corruption, in which gamblers who bet against a horse could sabotage the animal or its jockey. Supporters note that the bill would require the California Horse Racing Board to draft rules for placing bets with exchange wagering businesses. "Essentially, people already bet against a horse," said George Wiley, an aide to Perez. "When you bet on a horse, you bet that six or seven other horses lose." Exchange wagering is permitted in England and Australia, and New Jersey lawmakers are considering legislation to permit it in that state. Proponents of the bill say exchange wagering sparked new interest in horse racing in England over the last decade by increasing the amount of money bet on the races and by drawing in younger bettors. "If we want to help this industry, the provisions in this bill will do that," Wiley said. But opponents of the new wagering system, including horse-racing companies with online betting operations, have called the proposal "hastily crafted" and risky. Critics of gambling also blast the idea, saying exchange wagering is just another way for gambling operators to take money from bettors. "It's a dying business and they know it, and what they are trying to do is to use every last dollar they have to create more forms of predatory gambling," said Les Bernal, executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling, a nonprofit group based in Washington. Critics within the racing industry say exchange wagering would unfairly benefit businesses like Betfair.com, the London-based Internet betting firm that controls most exchange wagering in England. A spokesperson for the company rejected such claims. Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of four horse-racing facilities as well as an online wagering platform called TwinSpires.com, opposes the exchange wagering amendment, saying the idea has not been thoroughly studied to ensure that race operators and horse owners would get a fair share of the bets. "We want to make sure that the cure is not worse than the disease," said Brett Hale, senior vice president of Churchill Downs. George Haines, president of the Santa Anita Park racetrack in Arcadia, criticized the proposed law in a statement posted on the track's website. Santa Anita is owned by Magna Entertainment, which operates seven other racing facilities, several off-track betting facilities and a national online wagering business known as XpressBet. Perez's bill was introduced in February and focused primarily on bringing the Breeders' Cup championship to California. The event was held at Santa Anita last year, generating an estimated $60 million in spending throughout the region and the state, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. But Perez's office added the amendment to allow exchange wagering Aug. 19, less than two weeks before the end of the legislative session. A hearing on the new amendment has not been scheduled. In traditional "pari-mutuel" betting, the odds for a particular horse are determined by the total amount bet on the race. The race operator — often a racetrack or a county fair — pools the money and is responsible for paying out the winnings, subtracting a purse for the horse owners and a commission for the track. In exchange wagering, bettors can pick a horse to win, choose the odds and put down a bet. Another bettor can match that wager, accept the odds and, in essence, bet against the first bettor. Such betting, overseen by a licensed operator, can be done online, over the phone or in person. The exchange wagering operator pays the winning bettors out of a pool of bets and subtracts a commission to be shared with the horse owners and the racetrack operators. Kirk Breed, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, said the idea of introducing exchange wagering in the state is not new. He said business leaders in the state's horse-racing industry had been discussing it for more than two years as a way to save the industry. "People in the industry itself have come forward to say we need something to save this business," he said. If the law is passed, Breed said, the racing board could adopt rules and procedures within six months to govern exchange wagering. "Everybody has agreed all along that exchange wagering is the only game out there that has a potential for helping the industry," he said. hugo.martin@latimes.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php | ||||
| Horse racing starts on Saturday Posted: 25 Aug 2010 10:57 PM PDT The Billings Gazette | Posted: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 11:56 pm | Four weekends of horse racing will get under way this Saturday and Sunday at Yellowstone Downs in Billings. Ten races are set for Saturday at the MetraPark track, with another 10 races expected on Sunday. Post time will be at 1:30 p.m. both days. There will be four quarter horse races Saturday and six thoroughbred races, including the Yellowstone Downs Thoroughbred Inaugural Allowance. Horses were still arriving on the track's backside Wednesday afternoon. Entries for Sunday's races will be accepted today. "It's just really exciting to see the horsemen roll in with their horses and their campers and trailers," said Lou Wojciechowski, office manager for the Yellowstone Horse Racing Alliance. "The excitement on the backside of the track is just palpable. You can just feel it." Horses are expected from an eight-state region and western Canada. Wojciechowski said the number of stall applications for this season indicate "a bigger year than we've had in quite a while" for horse population. Yellowstone Downs has 562 stalls available. Past this weekend, races are also scheduled for Sept. 5, 6, 11, 12, 18 and 19. Admission to the races is $5 and programs are $3. Reserved seating is available by calling 869-5229 or by inquiring at the box office. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php | ||||
| Montana Horse Racing: A Way of Life Posted: 26 Aug 2010 01:23 PM PDT Janis Schoepf, member of the All Breeds Turf Club and assistant race director, unhooks a horse from a hot walker between the racehorse stables at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon For most people, horse racing means spending a few days at the fairgrounds' track punctuated by the starting bell, thundering of hooves and the cheers or frustrated sighs from an expectant crowd. But outside the distance between the starting gates and the finish line is a lifestyle built around the athletic equines, one that runs on a continuous loop of finding, training and running elite animals. On Aug. 19, two days before horse racing returned to Kalispell for the first time since 2005, owners and trainers gathered at the racing barns on the Flathead County Fairgrounds to continue the incessant task of caring for their horses. "You live, you breathe horses," trainer and owner Debbie Cunnington said. "Your reward is when they cross that finish line." "You give up a lot as far as personal time," she said.
Cunnington didn't have a lot of time to talk; she needed to rotate her horses out of the stalls so she could replace the sawdust while the animals walked in circles led by metal walkers. This year's racing co-director Janis Schoepf was also busy with horses at the barn, some belonging to her and others to clients. Schoepf trains horses, but doesn't breed or raise them. And though she was thoroughly occupied with making sure last weekend's races were in line, Schoepf had already been thinking about the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association's sale in Los Angeles this October. With up to 1,000 head of horses to choose from, Schoepf and her clients have already begun shopping. "That's the start," Schoepf said. Racehorses are typically purchased at a young age; Schoepf will buy long yearlings, meaning they are almost 2 years old. Once they hit the 2-year mark, their owners can start training them, she said. The young horses will start going through their paces in January, and once they are physically ready, they need 120 days to learn about starting gates and races, Schoepf said. "And that's just one," Schoepf said. "You can imagine anytime you have a barn-full, it's 24-seven." Local racer Tom Reed knows just how detailed this process can be. He bought his horse, Florida Rock, in 2007 when it was 4 months old. "It's almost like I bred him," Reed said. When the horse was old enough, Reed had a trainer take a month to break it. Florida Rock was galloping by the time the trainer finished. But when Reed entered the horse in a race last year, it refused to run. After a tendon injury sidelined training for a while, Florida Rock got back into the sport four and a half months ago. Reed's horse entered its first race last week. Even then, Florida Rock had more to learn. The horse had to get comfortable getting saddled and led to the paddock, as well as having its top lip lifted so race officials can see his identifying tattoo. "He's ready; he is bred to be a good horse," Reed said. While the Kalispell races brought the sport back to the Flathead Valley, local racers have spent the last few years elsewhere in pursuit of prize money.
Most of the racers are part of a larger circuit of races that happen in other parts of the state, Idaho, Washington and Canada. Kalispell and Missoula were added to the Montana circuit this summer, much to the delight of Montana Board of Horseracing Chairman Al Carruthers. "We're trying to revive horseracing in the whole state," Carruthers said. Kalispell was an especially exciting revival, he said, because it is the last track in the state that can handle all racing distances for quarter horses. Ideally, Carruthers would like to see two or three weekends of horse racing in Kalispell instead of the current two-day spread, which he said could be a turnoff for non-local competitors. "These guys don't like to come all this distance for two days," Carruthers said. When the racers do come to the valley, they bring their families and their money, he said. They need places to stay, fuel, feed and things to do when they aren't at the barns. "The impact is unreal," Carruthers said. "And from the looks of Kalispell, they need help." If the county agreed, Kalispell could potentially host races sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association, he said. The races would take three weeks, because the AQHA requires two weeks between trial races and the finals. The horse racing season usually runs through October. Then, when the weather cools the tracks, the equines are turned out to pasture and spend time "just being horses," Cunnington said. But racers don't idle for long. Reed has other horses to train back on his 300-acre ranch south of Kalispell and he plans to wean a promising, new colt in the middle of October and raise it until it's 2 years old and ready to break. "He's a nice colt," Reed said.  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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