Breeders Cup Offering New Betting Options
On Tuesday officials representing the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Breeders' Cup announced new wagering propositions, an agreement with two European tracks for promotions and a new ranking system for horses leading up to the World Thoroughbred Championships.
Pending approval by the Illinois Racing Board, a new proposition bet will be offered for the Breeders' Cup called Head2Head. It designates two horses in a match-up in which the bettor must choose which runner will finish ahead of the other.
Match-up bets are commonly available on various sports at legal sports books. The match-ups for each race will be announced at the post-position draw on Oct. 23. The Breeders' Cup this year will be at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.
Also, a "Europe versus America" wager will be available on the three Breeders' Cup turf races.
In an effort to market the Breeders' Cup and other international races, an agreement has been reached with Ascot Racecourse in England and Longchamp in France. Special Breeders' Cup days in Europe will be held to coincide with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.
Youbet.com Has Record Month, Week
Youbet.com Inc. announced another record-breaking week in the wake of the Belmont Stakes. During the week of June 3-9, Youbet recorded another million dollar day and broke its record for weekly handle.
Additionally, Youbet.com made history in May by recording the largest handle and revenue since it began accepting wagers in 1997.
The company's member services department received and responded to a record number of callers, assisting them with a variety of features including opening new accounts and depositing funds into their wagering accounts.
Also in June, TVG optioned to buy a 16.6 percent stake in Youbet.com.
Triple Crown Possibility Draws Interest in US
War Emblem's attempt at the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes drew the highest overnight ratings for any horse race since 1992.
Sarava's improbable win in the race was seen in more than 9 million homes and had a 9.2 rating and 21 share for NBC. The previous high for a horse race was the 1992 Kentucky Derby, which earned a 9.5 rating.
It was also the highest rating for a Belmont race since at least 1990, according to NBC Sports. The highest overnight rating for a Belmont Stakes was a 6.6 and 17 for ABC's telecast of Charismatic's Triple Crown bid in 1999.
The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Each rating point represents a little more than 1 million households. Share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use.
War Emblem was trying to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. Sarava, a 70-1 long shot, returned a record $142.50 for a $2 bet.
Magna Rolls Out New Feature
XpressBet Betty, the English-only voice recognition system that is the latest innovation in home account-wagering technology from Magna Entertainment Corp., was launched last week.
It allows phone bettors to place wagers by simply speaking. It works without need of a live operator.
MEC sent out 20,000 brochures to advance deposit wagering customers announcing Betty's availability.
XpressBet president Ron Luniewski believes once customers become accustomed to using Betty, whose likeness in the brochure is strikingly similar to cartoon characters Jane and Judy Jetson, her phone number is going to become a popular one.
He said the system has been undergoing testing with 8,000 customers in Pennsylvania for the past several months.
Betty updates account information at the beginning and conclusion of each call. In the near future, it will be able to provide live odds, race results and other racing information, Luniewski said.
XpressBet will retain its live operator and touch-dial connections for phone bettors who prefer those methods. And the Web site remains the most popular method of advance deposit wagering.
Popularity of attheraces Exceeds Expectations
attheraces, a joint venture among Arena Leisure, British Sky Broadcasting and Channel 4, recently exceeded expectations for its first set of audience figures.
The audience figures for May 1-18 indicate a single highest audience of 102,171, recorded at 3 p.m. on May 6. An average peak audience of 50,554 was recorded during the period.
Peak viewing has been consistently reached during live afternoon racing between 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Arena said.
Nebraska Snubs Account Wagering
After allowing account wagering in Nebraska for seven months, the state's Supreme Court has ruled that wagering on horse races via telephones violates the state constitution.
In 1992, the Nebraska legislature passed a law allowing telephone wagering. A partnership of five of Nebraska's pari-mutuel facilities, including Atokad Downs, Columbus Races, Fonner Park, Horsemen's Park and Nebraska State Fair Park, began offering account wagering in October of 2001.
Attorney General Don Stenberg challenged the law all the way to the state’s highest court and won.
Stenberg's assistant, Jay Bartel, said the basis for contesting the law was in the language of an amendment to the state constitution that allows pari-mutuel wagering.
Missouri Legislation Fails
Legislation intended to expand the horse racing industry in Missouri failed by a nose in the state Senate last month.
The Senate voted 17-16 against the bill, which had originally addressed background checks for people working in the gambling industry. The horse racing language was attached during negotiations with the House, which passed a separate bill on the topic earlier in the session.
At issue is the number of days that Missouri horse tracks may offer simulcast betting on races telecast from other states.
Under current law, a track may offer simulcast betting only for as many days as it holds live horse races. The restriction is blamed for the failure of any track to survive in the state since voters approved pari-mutuel wagering in 1984.
Betting on simulcast races would be allowed year-round under the measure, which was defeated Wednesday.
Opponents said Missouri already has enough gambling in the form of riverboat casinos on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.