horseplayers

Equibase has enhanced its premium past performance product to include conditional formatting, the online source for horse racing data said in a release on Thursday. In addition to traditional past performances, the new version includes key points such as the highest speed figure in the race, the highest win percentage in the race for the trainer and jockey, and the highest lifetime earnings. "Traditional past performances can be overwhelming, especially for new handicappers," said Chris Dawahare, vice president of data operations and digital services for Equibase. "The new enhanced option...

The official betting tournament of the 'Run for the Roses'--the Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge (KDBC)--is returning to TwinSpires.com with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000, Churchill Downs said in a presser on Thursday. The first official KDBC Qualifier Tournament will take place on Sunday, Oct. 27 featuring the opening day card of the fall meet at Churchill Downs and a series of feeder tournaments will begin on Saturday, Oct. 12. Leading up to the Kentucky Derby Day program, the schedule will include 24 KDBC qualifier events, with each qualifier supported...

AmWest Entertainment LLC, the operator of AmWager.com, has received a license from the California Horse Racing Board and is now available to Golden State residents, the betting platform said in a release early Thursday. Horseplayers in California who are 21 years and older can now place wagers on over 450 U.S. and international tracks through AmWager's interface, which brings the number of states that the site is available in to 31. "Expanding into California is a significant milestone for AmWager, and we are excited to bring our premier wagering platform...

A deal that Del Mar has made with a titan of Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) provides a rare glimpse into the tremendous sway that individual players can wield over track and racing officials, the potentially lopsided economic ramifications of such deals, and the tremendous pressures that California executives are under with competing jurisdictions that enjoy purse subsidies not available in the Golden State. It also turns a spotlight onto a world largely hidden from the public eye-one that industry leaders are generally loathe to discuss publicly, and in which just...

With $800,000 and the Horseplayer of the Year Eclipse Award to the winner, the official prize structure of this weekend's 25th National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas was posted in a Friday release by the host of the contest, the NTRA. At the conclusion of the Final Table on Sunday, total cash prizes offered over the three days come to $3,013,550. The top 77 are guaranteed money with that final finisher receiving $10,150. The top five payouts are: First Place--$800,000 Second Place--$250,000 Third Place--$200,000 Fourth Place--$150,000 Fifth Place--$125,000 Along with...

It's the meet that keeps getting bigger, richer and better every year. During the seven days of racing that makes up the Kentucky Downs meet, there will be 11 stakes races worth at least $1 million and it looks like the all-turf establishment is on track to set another handle record. How has Kentucky Downs done it? Ted Nicholson, the track's vice president of racing joined the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland to talk about one of the sport's great success stories. He was this week's Green Group...

It was back in 2004 that Brent Sumja made a career decision. He was among the leading trainers in Northern California, but wasn't following his true passion. That was playing the horses. So he disbanded his stable and set out to be a professional handicapper. It went well. He played the races regularly and also focused on the handicapping tournaments. In 2014, Sumja won five tournaments in a four-month span from May to September to clinch the title of 2013 Daily Racing Form NHC Tour Champion and the first prize...

A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed the class-action lawsuit against trainer Bob Baffert and Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), that was initiated by a group of horseplayers who alleged negligence, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment because their losing pari-mutuel bets on the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby weren't honored as winners after Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for and was subsequently disqualified for a betamethasone overage. The July 20 order tossing the case out of United States District Court, Western District of Kentucky (Louisville Division), could have ramifications on a...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and Caesars Entertainment have announced an agreement which establishes Bally's--the soon-to-be renamed Horseshoe Las Vegas--as the host site of the National Horseplayers' Championship through 2026. This year's event will take place Mar. 10-12, 2023. "We are delighted to secure a multi-year extension and continue our partnership with two iconic brands--Caesars and Horseshoe Las Vegas--to host hundreds of horseplayers in the heart of the Las Vegas strip at the world's most prestigious horse racing handicapping contest," said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. "We're pleased...

Breeders' Cup launched the second season of HorsePlayers Happy Hour Tour ("HorsePlayers Tour") hosted by In the Money Media (ITMM). The Horseplayers Tour will begin Thursday, June 2, at 2 p.m. ET, and will coincide with the HorsePlayers Happy Hour livestream every Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, featuring ITMM's Matt Bernier and Peter Fornatale. The HorsePlayers Tour kicks off on June 2 with a $20 feeder contest on HorsePlayers.com, where sign-ups are currently live. Breeders' Cup will donate all proceeds from the HorsePlayers Tour online contests to the Thoroughbred Aftercare...

   This is Part 3 of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation's (TIF) series "Wagering Insecurity."    Faced with remarkable competitive pressure from the rise of legal sports betting, horse racing is at a crossroads.    Confidence amongst horseplayers and horse owners is essential to the future sustainability of the sport. Efforts to improve the greater North American Thoroughbred industry will fall flat if its stakeholders fail to secure a foundation of integrity, along with increased transparency of the wagering business and its participants over time. Achieving this is growing increasingly difficult...

Amongst serious horseplayers, takeout rates in pari-mutuel pools are a frequent discussion. It should be a focus of breeders, owners, trainers and track operators. Unless they are serious bettors too, takeout rates rarely "get a run" from those constituencies, though. Our recent #FreeDataFriday piece highlighted the impact of various takeout rates on win pools at three different tracks. The higher the rate, the lower the return to winners--and thus, the less they would have to churn through the pools and start another cycle of betting. Recently, a few bettors lamented...