What's Going On Here : calder

Under the Sun - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:18:00 GMT

Unless you stand a stallion in Florida, regularly breed and/or race in the state, or stable at Calder Race Course, you probably didn’t pay much attention to a news release regarding juvenile racing at the South Florida track and the Florida Stallion Stakes series.

But you should pay attention, because the Feb. 13 announcement shows what can be accomplished in a fragmented industry when members of various interest groups sit down and decide to find a way to benefit everyone at the table.

Increasing purses for juvenile races at Calder and boosting a series that rewards the offspring of the state’s stallions helps every segment of the industry in Florida. In a recessionary time, some of Florida’s leaders have come up with their own stimulus package.

Thirty years ago this spring, Ocala, Fla., farm owner and breeder Dan Lasater approached then Calder president Kenny Noe Jr. with an idea to promote the stallions at his farm. Track management expanded the idea, and the Florida Stallion Stakes was born.

Stallion owners would pay an annual fee of $2,500, which would allow their foals to be made eligible to the series of races. Foals would be made eligible through subsequent payments by their owners. That first year, 101 stallions were nominated, and by the time those foals were ready to compete at Calder in 1982, 400 juveniles were eligible. This year, more than 1,500 progeny of 140 stallions are eligible. (The final number could change, since payments are still due for the 2-year-olds.)

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association (FTBOA), Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (FHBPA), and Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), which owns Calder, each will contribute $100,000 to the purse structure of the series starting this year. In addition, an agreement was reached to increase the purses for 2-year-old maiden races at the track, and possibly allowance races as well.

The agreement also will change the dates of the three legs of the Stallion Stakes, something that has been needed for some time. As it is,
the final races in the series are run too close to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships to allow a horse to compete in both, essentially penalizing Florida-sired horses. Having paid their nomination fees over a year and a half, horsemen of course want to participate in the Stallion Series, but then are not given enough time to turn around and compete on racing’s biggest stage. Now, the final races will be three weeks prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

The Stallion Stakes series has only two requirements, that the sire stand in Florida and that the nomination fees be current. The foal need not be born in Florida, and there are no supplemental entries. So, an owner may buy a Florida-sired horse at auction or purchase a mare carrying a Florida-sired horse and have a runner eligible to the program.

The timing of the announcement was critical, coming just days prior to the start of the juvenile sale season in Florida. The state has always been known for its many training centers, 2-year-olds in training auctions, and juvenile racing. Certainly giving buyers more reasons to consider Florida-sired sale horses will strengthen confidence in the product during uncertain economic times.

Florida has always been an excellent place to breed, raise, and race a horse (and not just because of its weather). The state, with about 600 farms and training centers, ranks second each year to Kentucky in number of foals, has produced the second-highest number of Breeders’ Cup winners, and is the birthplace of six Horses of the Year and a dozen Hall of Fame members.

As part of the recent agreement, an eight-member committee will be appointed—two members each from stallion owners, the FTBOA, FHBPA, and Calder—to continue examining ways to improve the Stallion Series and the overall product.

Leaders should lead or get out of the way. Florida’s leaders are leading.

Cup Cuts - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:24:00 GMT

The first Breeders’ Cup was held at Hollywood Park Nov. 10, 1984. But in January of that year, long before the first event day, nominators began receiving checks from another of the fledgling organization’s programs, the $10-million Premium Awards.

Calder Race Course was the first track to run a stakes enriched with supplemental monies from the Breeders’ Cup, with 428 stakes at 85 racing associations in North America designated to receive funds to boost their stakes programs.

An examination of the percentage of non-restrictive stakes at each track determined the allocations, with Breeders’ Cup and track officials then determining which races would have their purses increased. Nominated horses would run for the entire purse; non-nominated horses only for the money from the racing association.

In addition, foal and stallion nominators would receive awards, a way to earn back a portion of the dollars breeders pay to fund the Breeders’ Cup.

Over the ensuing decades, the Premium Awards program has been worth a varying number of dollars, enriched different numbers of stakes, and was even sponsored for several years by Budweiser. Now, it has been discontinued.

In a memo to racing officials Dec. 11, Breeders’ Cup senior vice president Pam Blatz-Murff cited “anticipated losses in nominations revenue and the worldwide economic downturn” as causing a decrease in Breeders’ Cup revenue in 2009 of more than $10 million. The stakes program was cut, as was, the memo said, “more than $5 million in television and marketing spending.”

With premium stakes allocations now withdrawn, racing offices, Blatz-Murff said, should “rewrite your condition and stakes books to reflect this change.”

What a week for racetracks. In addition to the Breeders’ Cup bombshell, Santa Anita announced a 10% across-the-board purse cut and Calder was forced to eliminate three grade III $100,000 stakes races. This all comes on the heels of November’s significant drop in handle.

When the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984, its championship event day consisted of seven races with purses totaling $10 million. In 1999, the Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT) was added, and the purses rose to $13 million. In 2007, flush with money from rising stud fees and profitable investment accounts, Breeders’ Cup expanded, adding three races and changing the event to stretch over two days. This year, the program expanded to 14 races featuring purses worth $25.5 million.

Now, with the stock market in turmoil and stud fees falling, Breeders’ Cup officials were forced to make some hard decisions. But it is difficult to know the full financial picture, because though funded for 25 years by breeders, the Breeders’ Cup does not issue an annual report to the industry.

Unfortunately, in deciding where to cut costs, the Breeders’ Cup has opted to cut a program that stretches across North America and rewards more nominators and horsemen in favor of two days of racing and a total of 14 races.

The Breeders’ Cup is one of the few ideas in racing that has actually endured, but it has not caught on with general sports fans. Few know it by name and the television ratings have never taken off. The Classic (gr. I) will never replace the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) as the race non-racing fans can identify with.

On the other hand, the stakes program was a way to enhance stakes at large and small tracks alike. Whether the race was increased from $20,000 to $25,000 or from $200,000 to $300,000, it was a chance for eligible horses to earn more and for owners, breeders, jockeys, and trainers to be rewarded for supporting the program.

Racing secretaries and stakes coordinators are understandably disappointed by the decision. Many breeders will be, as well. Tough times lie ahead for breeders. Now they have fewer chances to recoup some of their nomination money.

Scaling the event back to one day to save the Premium Awards would have helped more horsemen.

Contract Heat - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:53:00 GMT

Calder Race Course and Ellis Park have little in common…until you look beneath the surface.

Located in South Florida on the Miami-Dade/Broward County line, Calder is part of the sprawling metropolitan area known as Miami, Fla. Driving east takes one to the Atlantic Ocean, the drive time for the short distance determined only by the congestion and traffic lights.

To the naked eye, Ellis Park appears to be in Indiana, only because one must travel over a bridge to reach Kentucky. Ellis, too, is situated near a body of water, the Ohio River, which separates Evansville, Ind., from Henderson, Ky. There is nothing sprawling or metropolitan about the area.

A couple of things they have in common, this time of year at least, are heat and humidity. The purchase of a beer from an outdoor vendor gives one six or seven minutes for consumption before the elements turn the frosty beverage warm to the taste.

Calder is known for being adjacent to Dolphin Stadium, home not only to the NFL team, but also the Florida Marlins and University of Miami Hurricanes.

Ellis Park, affectionately called the “Pea Patch,” is home to an infield known for its soybean crop.

In 2007, Calder raced 172 days; Ellis Park 46. Calder allows those horsemen wanting to race year-round in South Florida a place to do so; Ellis allows those horsemen wanting to stay in Kentucky from the Fourth of July to Labor Day a place to do so. Calder is owned by Churchill Downs Inc.; Ellis was owned by Churchill until the fall of 2006, when businessman Ron Geary purchased the facility.

This year, Calder and Ellis have had one important thing in common—difficult negotiations with horsemen over simulcast contracts. Under the Interstate Horseracing Act, tracks may not send their signals out of state without the approval of the local horsemen’s group. With 85-90% of handle now wagered off-track, the lack of a contract has meant a huge loss to Calder and a similarly anticipated decrease to Ellis.

Figures show Calder’s handle off 73% during the 45 days of the contract dispute.

Few tracks today draw significant on-track crowds. In keeping with a silly CDI policy not to announce numbers, Calder does not provide attendance figures, but previous meets showed average daily turnstile counts at about 3,700. Ellis reported about 2,700 patrons per day last year.

Many horsemen’s associations have begun using the new Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group to negotiate contracts on their behalf, as is the case in Florida and Kentucky.

On July 5, the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association announced it had struck a deal with CDI on contracts covering purses and pending slot machine revenue. But there is no deal on advance deposit wagering, meaning Calder could send its signal to out-of-state tracks, and receive signals as well, but its races could not be wagered on through ADWs.

At Ellis, Geary said he would not open the track, and indeed missed the July 4 opening. The track will open July 11 after he agreed to the split THG officials have been pushing for—one-third to purses, one-third to the track, and one-third to the ADW provider. The 6% to purse accounts is up from the 2.5% Geary said owners and trainers had been receiving.

No businessman is in business to lose money. Geary said Ellis lost $2.7 million last year, and will lose money this year.

So why agree to the one-third, one-third, one-third split?

For one, because it is the right thing to do, providing more money from handle back to the purse accounts of those supporting the meet. For another, higher purses means more horses, which means more handle.

Yes, Geary and others in Kentucky are banking on getting slots. But if the deal signed in Kentucky is indeed precedent-setting, that will be a good thing for horsemen throughout the country.