Mistakes aside, the Modern Games “scratch” and subsequent fiasco tells us plenty about the state of rule-making and pari-mutuel wagering technology.
It might even offer signs into the future of betting on the Breeders' Cup and other big American racing events too.
Disregarding a horse for “pari-mutuel purposes” and then running the race with that horse in it, as was done in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, is equivalent to disregarding the interests of betting customers altogether. The rules need to change.
While many questions remain unanswered, and the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation raises more than a few in Part 1 of “Disregarding Bettors,” every stakeholder in the American racing industry should hope the future will be improved from the present.
One former regulator sounds-off on the long-time ignorance of bettors in rule-setting.
“The interests of the horsemen should never supersede those of the betting public. My experience has been that a lot of regulators are ignorant about what is in the best interest of bettors. That is a problem now and it has always been a problem.”
A major racing operator taking bets on some of the Breeders' Cup races called the entire incident “a concern,” and said the race should have been run as a non-wagering event, a far fairer outcome for customers. Click here to read the rest of this piece from the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation.
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