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HANDICAPPING INSIGHTS APRIL 25, 2014 by Dick Powell Remember the "Fix Six" scandal from the 2002 Breeders' Cup? Three unscrupulous individuals with access to the tote system went into the betting system and changed their Pick Six ticket so that the first four horses won and then used all the horses in the last two legs. When Volponi upset the Classic at 43-to-1 odds, there was only one winning ticket, which made it easier to track down what exactly happened. Eventually, the perpetrators were caught and the racing industry knew they had a perception problem on their hands. None of the race results were affected but the confidence in the wagering system was shaken. So what did the racing industry do? They paid former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani $3 million to conduct a study on what was wrong and how to fix it. Giuliani had just left being mayor and had founded a security-consulting firm. After 9/11, he was a nation-wide household name and in the white shoe world of racing "leadership," this was considered a good idea. They actually thought that John and Jane Bettor would suddenly have their confidence in the wagering system restored and the racing industry could dodge the bullet of the scandal. Giuliani's team came up with some obvious computer security issues and racing wound up dislocating their collective shoulders by patting themselves on the back. Now, we have another scandal. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had an agent infiltrate the Steve Asmussen barn and came up some amateurish video and audio proof of severely damaging practices. Racing is in another crisis and they can't play, nor afford, the Rudy card so what to do? It didn't take long but the answer came recently when it was proposed by The Jockey Club that a bunch of owners and trainers will now voluntarily submit veterinary records on their horses competing in graded stakes races. The records will cover the prior 14 days and will be available on the day of the race at least two hours before the race. All I can say is WTFWDDD, which is a combination of WTF and Derrick Coleman's famous "Whoop de Damn Do!"
Not all the news in racing has been bad. The New York Racing Association implemented an improved high-definition of the broadcast of their races and the results are stunning. Blown up to full-screen, the live broadcast of their races on their web site is spectacular. They also unveiled a channel on the Roku system, which enables you to watch a high definition stream of the races from NYRA on your high definition television. Right now, a channel surfer sees sports being televised in beautiful high definition and then when they come across horse racing, the picture looks terrible. With NYRA, joining Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds in broadcasting in high definition, at least our game is trying to keep up with the technology available.
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