The National Thoroughbred League (NTL), a new series of races meant to bring the team concept to the sport and to attract new fans, will put on its second 2024 event Saturday at Parx. It is called Oktober-Fast and is hosted by NBA Hall of Famer and Philadelphia icon Julius (Dr. J) Erving.
When the NTL was in the planning stages last year the focus was on purchasing horses and then having them divvied up between the teams. There are currently 10 teams in the league and they would own the horses. It turned out the plan was impractical, so President of Horse Operations Tom Ludt came up with a new concept.
Now, a racetrack draws a card as it normally would and then the team owners draft the horses, much in the same way football fans draft their fantasy football teams.
The actual owners of the horses keep all the purse money, but must agree to let their horses run in the silks of whichever team drafted them. The Parx races that will be part of the NTL are the sixth through the tenth.
“We don't own any of the horses,” Ludt said. “It's a Iot more like a fantasy sports game. One condition of entry is that the horse has to run in silks of team that drafts them. The racetrack does its draw and the gives us a one-hour window for a fantasy draft based off a random draw. Unfortunately, one race only has seven horses so three teams were excluded.”
A point system is based on where the horses finish for each of the teams. In the inaugural NTL event this year, which was held at Kentucky Downs, the Miami Seahorses came out on top with 570 points. There is no prize structure in place this year to reward the winning teams, but that may change in the future.
NTL events are supposed to be about more than just horse racing and that will be the case this weekend at Parx. Erving, who is a co-owner of the Philadelphia Stallions, will be the main attraction, He, along with other sports stars, will be available throughout the afternoon to have a meet-and-greet with fans. There will be no charge to enter the area where the sports stars will be congregating.
NTL event | Sue Finley
This year's series will wrap up in December at Turf Paradise. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is a co-owner of the Phoenix Mustangs.
Ludt is already planning for 2025 and believes the NTL events scheduled for Pimlico in the week between the Derby and the Preakness will be the league's biggest hit.
“Lamar Jackson has bought into the Baltimore team, the Maryland Colts,” “Ludt said. “The Governor has been very supportive of us. We have negotiated with Pimlico and we got May 10, the Saturday between the Derby and the 150th Preakness. To have Lamar Jackson and the Governor behind us, I think that's going to make that event by far our biggest event.”
While still a work in progress, the NTL's goal remains the same, to introduce new fans to the sport of horse racing.
“Our idea is to put butts in the seats, to bring new people out to the racetrack. We're doing it through different avenues. The meet-and-greets should get sports fans not interested in racing to the track to see what the sport has to offer.
As he has in the past, Ludt made it clear that he was hoping the industry as a whole would be more supportive of the NTL concept.
“It's a challenge,” he said. “This industry is very segregated. I have finally found a model that works for the tracks and works for us so that we can economically survive. People don't want to hear this but I think we're going to be doing this industry a huge favor. On Saturday, we will bring a lot of people to this track who don't normally follow horse racing. That's our mission.”
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