Speaking during the California Horse Racing Board’s remote reference pari-mutuel and betting committee meeting, an Xpressbet executive said the pre-stake betting platform has begun to offer alternatives. for large race bets.
Traditional California facilities now allow alternatives, although some ADW companies do not. Not all bettors choose to offer fallback options when betting on multiple races, even when available.
The addition of the betting platform Xpressbet, which took place over the past month, in response to a slam dunk ahead of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) on 5 November at Del Mar. Later that afternoon, an on-site veterinarian soon scratched Godolphin’s skin Modern game . He was eventually brought back into the race and competed only for the money, winning the race, but bettors that included him in their bets did not receive the winnings. The winning prize is returned to the horse that comes second on the line, Tiz the Bombas if Modern Games weren’t in the race.
While many bets on Modern Game have been returned, many Pick 4, Pick 5 and Pick 6 bets including Modern Game received the final favour, Gold Dakota , in place of Modern Game unless another horse is named as an alternative when betting. Those tickets that were favorites by default became losers as Dakota Gold finished the table.
Boos echoed throughout the Del Mar stands a few minutes after the race.
Xpressbet official Gene Chabrier, vice president of legal affairs and business development, said it was too early to say how well their new service would be received, offered through AmTote. .
“We haven’t actually marketed it yet. So people are just casually seeing it,” he said.
Other ADW providers do not have a mechanism to offer alternative bets, with some awareness of execution time and costs.
Xpressbet’s service was among a number of scratch-related topics brought before the committee, led by commissioners Dennis Alfieri and Damascus Castellanos.
CHRB CEO Scott Chaney and CHRB public information officer Mike Marten noted challenges to other proposals the regulator received in the wake of the case’s response. Those include bringing a horse that was scratched by mistake back into the race, leaving a scratch even after making a mistake, or offering a consolation reward. All have downsides, they say.
Regarding the consolation bonus, J. Curtis Linnell, executive vice president of the Department of Purebred Racing, told the committee that one obstacle would be “not the tote companies themselves but the deals. industry protocol that we use to send bet data between different systems.”
Pat Cummings, executive director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, proposed to the committee the settlement of all multiracial bets. Such action can occur by declaring a race such as the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf a no-bet event or, as Marten suggests, a reward for “all” in the bet. affected. Profits will be lower in both cases as more tickets generate rewards.
Cummings admits his proposal sounds like an impressive move, but it offers the best protection for customers.
“The threat of having to pay back all bets should serve as a full check on the certainty of officials on the day,” Cummings said.
Chaney noted that the circumstances at Breeders’ Cup included “too many veterinarians and not an appropriate power structure.”
Chaney said in discussion with Cummings. “I think you’re right to point out that it’s extremely rare. Unfortunately, we’ve done it on a fairly large scale.”
The full CHRB meets on March 17 with a report from the betting committee and pari-mutuel is a topic on its agenda.
