During its April 18 monthly meeting, the California Horse Racing Commission enthusiastically approved a new horse racing wagering at Santa Anita Park during a time when pari-mutuel betting in the state declined.
The new bet, called “Three in Three”, tasks bettors with picking the top three finishers in three separate races in exact order. Offered in a $1 denomination, it will yield one “big stake” if there is no winner, with five “mini stakes” offered to those who correctly pick eight horses, seven horses and the next ones.
Scott Daruty, president of Monarch Content Management, told commissioners that computer-assisted bettors will not be allowed to bet on the pool. He said officials “didn’t expect it to be a huge success but we wanted to try”.
Content Management Monarch and Santa Anita Park are owned by The Stronach Group, a racing interest group that operates as 1/ST Racing.
The “Three by Three” game, expected to be introduced in the coming weeks, will be available through betting services using AmTote, a tote provider owned by TSG. Tracks in California and Xpressbet, TSG’s pre-deposit betting company, will be able to participate, Daruty said.
While the betting payout is high at 22%, Daruty said: “We believe the effective payout for retail players will be lower given the various guarantees. For example, the main pool will be guaranteed at $10,000 per day.”
He said when other tote companies invest in the program needed to offer betting, they can participate in betting.
CHRB FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 FUNDING
Also on Thursday, CHRB was updated during an April 16 stakeholder meeting on potential modifications to the format in which state regulators will receive budget funding for the fiscal year 2024-25. Southern California routes pay a disproportionate share of their operating costs to CHRB, a pattern they would like to see changed.
“The bottom line is this—the formula we’re using right now, as far as handling,” admitted Larry Swartzlander, executive director of the California Racing Fair Authority, according to (president Del. Mar) Josh Rubinstein: it’s not equal.”
However, Swartzlander cautioned against creating “an unnecessary burden on Northern California if we automatically transition.”
Golden State Racing, will race in Northern California this fall at Pleasanton following the summer fair and TSG’s planned racing shutdown Golden Gate Fields in June, is in the early stages of developing the race.
Stakeholders met on April 16 before the CHRB meeting.
“There is now agreement within the group at the first meeting to reduce the financial year budget formula to the first six months, where there is a greater degree of certainty regarding race days, number of races and handling of predicted,” said Thoroughbred California owner and CEO Bill Nader.
Comments sent to the CHRB were for informational purposes, not intended to inform the board’s action on Thursday.
“Certainly this is not an ideal time, but perhaps because of the difficult economic situation this happened,” CHRB CEO Scott Chaney said. “So hopefully the committee (of stakeholders) will be able to figure something out and the board won’t need to get involved.”
In remarks at the end of the hour-long meeting, Chaney noted in his report that handling rates were down 4% in California during the first quarter of 2024 and that CHRB equine health director Dr. Scott Blea reported seven equine deaths at CHRB facilities in March: four during exercise, one while racing and two unrelated to exercise.
