Marshall Gramm

No industry gathering at which Thoroughbred executives discuss pricing issues is immune from the intertwined topic of death and taxes. In the pari-mutuel world, that means talking about takeout, or, more specifically, how the disparate fees that different classes of bettors must pay for the privilege of placing wagers are killing off smaller-scale casual horseplayers. A Wednesday panel discussion at the Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson was the latest Thoroughbred confab at which the takeout issue got batted around...

Brook Smith and Carrie Brogden have been appointed to the board of directors of Thoroughbred Charities of America, the organization announced Wednesday. Current directors Marette Farrell and Marshall Gramm were named secretary and treasurer, respectively. Smith is a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from Clemson University with a degree in finance, he returned to Kentucky and launched a career in the insurance industry, as a broker with his agency Smith Manus (now Acrisure) and as a partner in Lexon Insurance Group. He is a serial entrepreneur and big supporter...

Trainer John Pimental has been handed a 15-month suspension and a fine of $10,000 for possession of banned thyroid medication, Thyro-L. Though Pimental had a prescription to administer the drug to his pony, the possession of a banned substance is classed an anti-doping rule violation under HISA. That news was one of the rulings posted this week among Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Pimental's case was resolved without a final hearing after he accepted the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) sanctions. Pimental's case...

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...

Michael Lopez, senior director of Data and Analytics for the National Football League, will be the keynote speaker for the 71st Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, The Jockey Club announced today. The conference will be held at the Saratoga Springs City Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. ET. Chairman Stuart S. Janney III will preside over the conference and give insights on activities of The Jockey Club and the future of the sport. Lopez will discuss how data is...

Ten Strike Racing's Eyeing Clover (Lookin at Lucky), unbeaten in two lifetime starts, could make his stakes debut in the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct. The Brad Cox trainee opened his career with a 1 1/2-length victory going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park Dec. 31 and aired by 9 3/4 lengths going that same distance in a Fair Grounds allowance Jan. 28 (video). A win in the one-mile Gotham could earn Eyeing Clover a trip back to Oaklawn for the Apr. 1 GI Arkansas Derby, according to Ten...

In partnership with Mill Ridge Farm and In the Money Media Network, Marshall Gramm of Rhodes College will be releasing interviews from his "The Economics of Racetrack Wagering Markets" course to benefit the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. The 10 interviews, recorded in the spring of 2022, were conducted with handicappers, figure makers, horsemen and more to provide valuable insight into the sport of horse racing. "I've never had a course before where I could reach out to knowledgeable experts to aid in helping my students more understand racing," Gramm said. Sponsorship...

Lindsay Schultz checked a lot of boxes. She is a graduate of the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program, moved on to the prestigious Godolphin Flying Start program, managed Glen Hill Farm in Florida and worked as an assistant to Tom Proctor and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Yet, she admits to being nervous and not knowing what to expect when she decided last fall to go out on her own as a trainer. Maybe she shouldn't have been. Less than a year after opening her stable, Schultz, 34,...

Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), which raises funds and distributes those funds to Thoroughbred-related charities, announced Monday five new additions to its Board of Directors: Leah O'Meara, Andy Hils, Erik Johnson, Marshall Gramm, and Marette Farrell. They join current board members Mike McMahon (president), Nathan McCauley (vice president), Davant Latham (secretary), and Lesley Howard (treasurer), as well as Bob Beck, Bing Bush, Lesley Campion, Bob Edwards, Terry Finley, Brant Laue, Jaime Roth, and Anna Seitz. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis, Herb Moelis, and Dan Rosenberg are directors emeriti. "We are delighted...

Using information from the Trakus chart of the GI Kentucky Derby, horse owner, college professor and horseplayer, Marshall Gramm has found that fourth-place finisher Honor A.P. (Honor Code) may have actually run faster than any of his rivals. According to Trakus, Honor A.P. traveled 6,712 feet or 49 feet further than race winner Authentic (Into Mischief). Tiz the Law (Constitution) also lost some ground and traveled 23 feet further then Authentic. For all three horses, their average speed was 37.8 miles per hour. Gramm took an even deeper look into...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? My way to horse racing was fairly unconventional. I grew up Washington DC in the pre-cable television era. Cable didn't come to DC until the late 1980s, so my access to sports was fairly limited....

Editor's Note: the following is part of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation's weekly `Free-Data Friday' series. #FreeDataFriday-VOLUME 18: GRAMM: THE ONE WAY TO ENSURE RACING'S LONG-TERM SURVIVAL While this weekly feature has routinely covered issues related to data horseplayers consume or are offered at outrageous price points, the economist inside of this horseplayer, horse owner and breeder is left to ponder how the greater racing industry has collectively ignored years of troubling trends in the data the industry reports itself. After a modest uptick in annual wagering on Thoroughbred races from...