Derby Preps this weekend
risky101
Senior Member
How many derby preps this weekend? Whats the names...? I will be in las vegas this weekend so not much time to watch races but i do want to watch a few...
Comments
I have some bad news for you though (and for me, especially):
Richard Eng @RichEng4ProPick · 13h 13 hours ago
FYI to Nevada horseplayers: Signals from GG, GP, LRL, MED, TB, TuP, SA will be dark until further notice. No betting, no video, no audio.
What? That sucks.
Since November, the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association has been trying to reach an agreement on a new deal with Monarch Content Management, which owns and operates several racetracks across the country, including Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., and Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The original agreement expired in December, but Monarch agreed to keep the signal on as long as negotiations continued in good faith.
The extension expired Tuesday, and with the two sides unable to strike a deal, the Pari-Mutuel Association decided it would pull the plug on the signal. Tracks affected by the decision included Tampa Bay Downs in Florida and Turf Paradise in North Phoenix, both of which ran Wednesday.
Tracks that will have no signal Thursday include thoroughbred racing at Gulfstream along with the Meadowlands harness meet in New Jersey. Fridays racing at Santa Anita along with Laurel in Maryland and Golden Gate Fields in Northern California also will be impacted.
I want to make it clear we were not the ones who turned off the signal, MCM president Scott Daruty said Wednesday. That was their decision, not ours. We even told them they can continue to take bets on our tracks. So Im somewhat baffled by their decision.
Daruty said the race books were not being hit with a rate increase by his company. But theres a provision in the previous contract that called for a monthly fee of $120 per each of the 85 participating casinos to be paid to Monarch. According to Daruty, that fee, which totals approximately $490,000 over a four-year period, has not been paid.
Were offering them the same rate theyve been paying the last four years, Daruty said. Were not asking for an increase. What we are asking is that they pay the fee which is part of the previous deal. Im even willing to forget about what they owe us as long as they pay us the fee going forward.
I mean, come on. One hundred twenty dollars? Thats peanuts. I think theres people on the Pari-Mutel side who dont understand our side of it. To me, this is all about their thinking they have leverage.
Patty Jones, executive director for the Parti-Mutuel Association, wouldnt confirm that the race books stopped showing the signals. Nor was she able to corroborate Darutys figures regarding the fees.
I cant get into the details of the negotiations, Jones said Wednesday afternoon. But we want the fairest deal that can be made and that negotiations remain ongoing (with Monarch).
The going rate the race books pay varies from track to track. Its as little as 3 percent with the lower level tracks to as much as 4.25 percent for the higher-profile tracks.
Monarch is not seeking a rate increase. But it is balking at the Pari-Mutuel Associations insistence that it sign a three-year deal at the current rate.
According to figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, $344.2 million was wagered statewide on horse racing in 2014, a 1.4 percent increase from 2013 when $339.9 million was bet.
As for a long-term deal the books are seeking that locks in the rate, Daruty said it doesnt make good business sense to concede on that issue.
Were not doing that, he said. What business would allow itself to agree to get locked in like that?
In addition to Monarch, the Pari-Mutuel Association is trying to come to terms with the New York Racing Association. That contract expired in December, and the two sides have been working through an agreed-upon extension that has kept the signal from Aqueducts winter racing meet intact. That extension expires at the end of February.
Jones said the two sides have agreed in principal on a new deal, but she wasnt giving out details.
Nothing is signed yet, she said. We want to wait until (NYRA) signs off it before anything is announced. I hope well have news on it next week.
It's back.
dont know how the FOY horse got a 95???
Would truly be a victory for the little guys in racing.