Equibase

According to statistics released Monday by Equibase, daily average wagering and average purses per race day each saw significant increases in the period from Jan. 31-Mar. 31, 2021 when compared to the same time frame in 2020. Total wagering in the three-month period was reported at $2.776 billion, an increase of 10.27% over last year, with daily average wagering at $3,611,092, which represented a 14.15% improvement from 12 months ago. Nearly $215 million in purses were disbursed from January through March, some 4.6% better than last year, with several tracks...

1/ST CONTENT, the operating group for all of 1/ST's media and content companies, announced the appointment of Jason Wilson as Chief Operating Officer. Wilson will work directly with Aidan Butler, President, 1/ST CONTENT, to further develop and align the company's North American and international content businesses. He will focus on innovating Thoroughbred racing content programs and building competitive customer platforms. "I am thrilled to have Jason, a well-known and knowledgeable industry executive who shares our vision for the future of our sport, as part of the 1/ST team," said Butler....

Wagering on U.S. races totaled $840,059,258 in February, a decrease of 6.79% from the $901,272,610 wagered in February 2020, according to figures released Thursday by Equibase. Race days declined from 296 in February 2020 to 219 last month and number of races fell from 2,477 to 1,928 from 2,477. Average wagering per day rose 25.98% from $3,044,840 a year ago to $3,835,887. U.S. purses fell 19.70% to $62,100,791 during the month, while average purses per day rose 8.53% from $261,272 to $283,565. During the first two months of the year,...

With $959,602,269 wagered, total all-sources handle for the sport rose by 9.57% in January, according to figures released Thursday by Equibase. The January numbers reflected a fairly seamless comparison between January 2021 and January 2020 because the racing schedules for both months were not impacted by the coronavirus. There were 2,211 races run this year, only a slight drop from the 2020 number of 2,352. Based on the amount wagered per race day, the industry saw an increase of 21.6 %. Comparing figures during most of 2020 was particularly difficult...

Despite a press release in late August from Equibase in which the company announced it would be conducting an "extensive analysis" of its Gmax timing system, the technology has continued to produce a number of inaccurate times at the racetracks it services. The TDN has found recent examples from Del Mar, Tampa Bay Downs and Penn National that show there were problems with the Gmax timing of the races. Gmax, which is operated in the U.S. by Equibase, relies on Global Positioning System (GPS) to record times, as well as...

Grayson-Jockey Club Foundation will partner with Little Red Feather Racing and Equibase to sponsor the 'Gamble For Grayson Handicapping Challenge.' The contest will take place Nov. 28 and 29 and will span five graded stakes races to be held that weekend at Del Mar. Representatives of Little Red Feather and Equibase will begin with $500 bankrolls, $100 must be wagered on each race on straight win-place-show bets, exactas, trifectas or superfectas. At the end of the contest, all remaining bankroll and winnings will be donated to Grayson. The team representing...

Prior to the running of the Nov. 7 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, a photo eye at the start of the race was inadvertently tripped, which resulted in an error when attempting to operate the timing system manually causing inaccurate timing for all fractions and the final time of the race. A final time of 1:59.19 was initially provided by Equibase using the available video replay. After subsequent and more detailed review and timing of the race from multiple sources and camera angles, Keeneland and Equibase have determined...

As a service to the industry and in consideration of the economic changes due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Equibase is currently providing monthly reporting of its Economic Indicators Advisories. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year. October 2020 vs. October 2019 Indicator October 2020 October 2019 % Change Wagering on U.S. Races* $929,063,211 $776,071,164 +19.71% U.S. Purses $90,845,317 $91,981,753 -1.24% U.S. Race Days 340 334 +1.80% U.S. Races 2,852 2,754 +3.56% U.S. Starts 22,410 22,176 +1.06%...

With the objective of improving the accuracy of tracking and timing data, officials at Del Mar have re-surveyed the track's turf course with a GPS system that will be in use beginning with the start of the Bing Crosby Meet Oct. 31. In August, the track acknowledged a rash of timing inconsistencies and reported that turf races would be hand timed over the last two weeks of the summer meeting. In conjunction with Equibase and its timing partner Gmax, Del Mar has re-surveyed its seven-furlong turf oval for the different...

James C. Brady, a longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder and officer of The Jockey Club, passed away at his home in Bedminster, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 22. He was 85. On behalf of his brother, Nicholas Brady, a former chairman of The Jockey Club, U.S. Senator, and Treasury Secretary, and sisters Lisa Richards and Eliot Stewart, Brady managed Mill House Racing Stable, which raced prominent runners America Alive (American Chance), Brilliant (War Chant), Trappe Shot (Tapit), and Rattlesnake Bridge (Tapit). Born in New York, N.Y., to parents James C. and Eliot...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) president Josh Rubinstein told the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Sept. 24 that he expects the track will no longer have to rely on hand-timing turf races at its upcoming fall meet because its inaccurate Equibase Gmax GPS timing system has since been tweaked to fix problems that produced numerous wrong clockings throughout the summer season. TDN reported back on Aug. 18 that some dirt and turf final times at Del Mar were mis-clocked anywhere between .07 seconds and 1.19 seconds by the industry's official...

In light of reports questioning the accuracy of the Gmax timing system, which relies on GPS technology, Equibase announced Monday in a statement that it will conduct an "extensive analysis" of the systems that is in place at 11 racetracks and will look to increase quality control efforts with respect to the GPS timers. The accuracy of the GPS method became such an issue for the team putting together the Beyer speed figures that they have been hand timing the races from the Gmax tracks and have been using those...