Dave Basler

The new reality of Computer Assisted Wagering's escalating presence in racetrack's pools and the emergence of horse racing as a fixed-odds betting product on sportsbooks were the focus of Thursday's second day of the three-day National HBPA Conference at Prairie Meadows. Discussing fixed odds on horse racing as a new betting product has become a fixture at the National HBPA Conference, led by industry consultant Michele Fischer, who also is vice president of SIS Content Services, a subsidiary of the largest horse-racing content supplier to global bookmakers/sportsbooks. But this time...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--Dave Basler sees betting on table tennis in Asia and envisions it being replaced with horse racing in America's burgeoning sports books. "We can fill that void a lot of times during the day so that they don't have to play table tennis from China or cricket from Australia--things that people have no idea about," Basler, the executive director of the Ohio HBPA, said Thursday during a morning session of the National HBPA Conference at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. "That's not just attractive to sports books, that's attractive...

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program announced that it has received a $75,000 donation from the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. The donation will help support aftercare efforts at the New Vocations facility in Medina, Ohio, which focuses on rehabbing, retraining and rehoming Thoroughbred racehorses retiring from racetracks in the state. "Making sure our horses have a good home after retiring from racing is vital to the Ohio HBPA," said Ohio HBPA Executive Director Dave Basler. "Continuing to support New Vocations is an easy decision given their 30-year track record...

Dislodged wiring within the United Tote Company circuitry at Thistledown resulted in betting pools remaining open for nearly a minute into a one-mile race on Tuesday. Wagering had to be manually stopped once the error was discovered mid-race, and the race was eventually declared a "no contest" for pari-mutuel purposes. Based on pool totals shown on the Thistledown post-race video feed, this meant refunds of $82,191 in wagers for the sixth race Aug. 17. It is unclear how much of that money was bet "after the bell." A lack of...

The Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) issued a directive effective Mar. 31 mandating that Thoroughbred and Standardbred tracks remain closed for live racing through Apr. 30 while stipulating that backstretch facilities at venues where meets were already in progress have to stay "open and operational until further notice." At this time of year, Mahoning Valley Race Course is the only Thoroughbred track open in Ohio. Live racing was last held there Mar. 18. The OSRC's directive was issued on the heels of horsemen at Mahoning Valley receiving notice from track...