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Go have a look at The Mitchell Kerr case from Harness racing, that will tell you more on the Ladbrokes Australia and how they made an art of looking the other way.

I think a lot of sports in NZ get what is for them relatively large sums from the TAB, however the issue really is if Mum and Dad are giving your brother 80$ a week pocket money and you $20 a week pocket money, how long before you tap Mum and Dad up for a better share???? And on a global scale many sports are now waking up to the revenue they can generate on selling the rights to bet on their sports to wagering operators, even if the 4.4m for Basketball is correct, if they used the same formula for Basketball as they do for racing maybe Basketball would get 24.4m

The British bookmaking giant behind Ladbrokes and Neds allegedly failed to cut off a customer who punted more than $1 million in a single year despite knowing an internationally wanted criminal suspected of trafficking drugs had transferred money into his bank account. Another customer, according to details filed by the federal anti-money laundering agency with the Federal Court, put more than $20 million through the bookmaker between 2015 and 2022 and was likely a trafficker who was incorrectly thought to own car yards when he was unemployed. Entain’s Ladbrokes is one of the most prominent wagering brands in the country. Getty Over 640 pages, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre has alleged London-listed Entain repeatedly breached anti-money laundering laws and did not bother to put in proper checks on how some of its biggest customers were financing yearly multi-million dollar betting. Although Austrac announced its lawsuit against Entain last year, the new filings are the first time the agency is detailing the company’s wrongdoing. Austrac has alleged that the failings by the company’s board and senior management exposed the company’s banking partners and “resulted in serious and systemic non-compliance … over many years”. Entain is one of the country’s largest online bookmakers and had almost 2 million customers last year with a market share of 17 per cent. It has faced similar lawsuits in the United Kingdom, where it has a market capitalisation of £3.7 billion ($7.6 billion), paying a $29 million fine in 2022 for breaches. In its claim, Austrac alleges Entain’s poor oversight created money laundering risks with at least 17 customers and $152 million. According to the new details, Customer 13 deposited more than $4.2 million into two Entain accounts between 2015 and 2022, and Austrac alleges the company should have suspected his funds were suspicious by 2019. It was then that Customer 13 – names have been redacted in the court documents – provided a bank statement that claimed he had received $150,000 for a “granny flat”. The person who transferred the money was on a “red [international arrest] notice list for serious criminal offences, namely drug crimes and trafficking in a South-East Asian country”. By 2019, Customer 13 was depositing nearly $69,000 a month. The following year, this had increased to $94,000, or $1.1 million over 12 months. “A pattern of large amounts of money being regularly moved … on an ongoing basis is not consistent with the transactional activity of an average gambler and involves heightened money laundering and terrorism finance risk,” documents filed by Austrac with the court read. “The amounts of money being deposited and withdrawn … were materially above average total annual deposits and withdrawals for Entain’s customers.” In 2020, the employee assigned to work with Customer 13 allegedly told Entain that he had “no idea” what his client did for work, although they “believed” that he ran a business when asked about the source of his money. The employee, known as a business development manager, allegedly did not want Entain to contact his client because it might “scare him off”. Business development managers are assigned to high-spending customers and receive commissions for the amount of money they lose. In another matter, Customer 15 was detected depositing unusually high amounts of money from foreign accounts. Austrac alleges Entain Australia chief executive Dean Shannon personally reviewed the account and decided that he was “very low-risk” because he had been wagering for a decade and publicly available information about his wealth matched his spending. Meanwhile, Customer 7 wagered $20.2 million between 2015 and 2022 through two Entain accounts, one with Ladbrokes and the other Neds. Austrac alleges that despite Customer 7 sharing a name with a convicted drug trafficker, Entain did not make proper checks until August 2021. It also alleges Customer 7 displayed unusual depositing and withdrawing patterns from July 2016, and that during the period Entain did not have sufficient information about where the client was getting its money. In May 2018, according to the court filing, an Entain employee advised the company that his customer owned two Sydney car yards. This information was not confirmed and Customer 7 later told the company that while he was a car salesman, he was not currently employed and owned no car yards. By August 2021, when it began inquiries, Austrac was aware that Customer 7 was depositing cash and unemployment payments into its accounts. While it closed the Ladbrokes account the following month, Entain did not close Customer 7’s second account, with Neds, until October 2022. Another client, known as Customer 1, was allegedly the subject of negative press and had been convicted of robbery and being part of a criminal gang that had attempted to recover money from a drug deal. Austrac claims that this information was easily obtainable for Entain from 2008, as were details of Customer 1’s seven-year jail sentence. However, the employee assigned to Customer 1 allegedly asked Entain’s anti-money laundering compliance officer not to contact his client because this could “upset” them, and that they were a “great client” for the company. Customer 17, another client included in Austrac’s claim, wagered $30.8 million through Ladbrokes in five years, at one point depositing $1 million per month. Customer 17 later told Entain he had made a number of successful “speculative investments” that were never verified. When asked the name of the business he had sold, he said that it was “private”. Entain eventually cut off his accounts last year when the company concluded that his wealth did not support his wagering activities. Austrac has pursued several major companies for anti-money laundering law breaches and issued more than $2 billion in penalties since 2015, when it fined Tabcorp $45 million for facilitating dirty funds. The agency has also forced Westpac and Commonwealth Bank to pay respective fines of $1.3 billion and $700 million for anti-money laundering breaches. Stella David, chief executive of Entain, said the company was taking the allegations seriously. It plans to introduce new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance compliance measures by June 2025. “We are committed to keeping financial crime out of gambling and continue to play our part in supporting a well-regulated and compliant sector for our customers, stakeholders and the wider community,” she said. ----- Yes the above is in the past but new indiscretions keep arising. Stella David, chief executive of Entain, said the company was taking the allegations seriously. It plans to introduce new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance compliance measures by June 2025. ---- Obviously well needed

Think old TAB man, he enjoys right handed,,his adulation for all things Auckland is just so unbelievable. Why are they so different there going the opposite way to the rest of us ?

If they continue to now know their customers who are wagering huge amounts they are not doing much with their hands. I don't know what the obsession to compare packer to Entain is? Bizarre.

Heard you do

Actually that brings up a very important point in New Zealand who does what Austrac does in Australia??? And when was the last time they did an audit of NZ TAB, i don't see any mention in the TAB last annual report that they have had the tick of approval, and i think they would have mentioned it if they have,

Entain Australia is a much smaller operation than the casinos or banks or sportsbet for that matter. The bottom line is the stuff about systems is a red herring, what all of these Austrac claims show is that the management culture at all of these orgainisations was one of willful blindness, hell a little outfit in the global scale like Ladbrokes Australia and Neds Australia actually have no excuse as the volume of transactions they are dealing with is miniscule on a global scale, there has been really good software around to manage this for over 15 years. The key has been if the management of the organisation have a culture of compliance first and profit second. I believe the culture set by Dean Shannon was one of don't look to hard profit comes first. Now we see turnover in Australia falling as Austrac has made the corporate bookies look a bit harder and so the dodgy money has been drying up. Funny how Shannon and Co turn up in NZ and our turnover is apparently going up, guess he has figured no Austrac in good old NZ.

Most of the cases mentioned in AUSTRAC's claim go back to 2015. By international standards $15m isn't large. Kerry Packer used to bet more than $500k a hand of poker and $10m+ in a sitting. What also isn't mentioned in the embellished articles is that ENTAIN has been improving their AML systems. Many of the cases date back years and relate to entities that ENTAIN purchased e.g. Ladbrokes. Most of the accounts in question have already been closed as the new systems have come into service. So in terms of "previous similar problems" these statutory issues overlap and isn't as if ENTAIN has been sitting on their hands. If you want to be informed read the 600+ pages of the AUSTRAC Statement of Claim (attached). I'm sure it will keep you excited for days. AUSTRAC CEO v Entain Group Pty Ltd - Statement of Claim (redacted).pdf

They have an interim CEO - Stella David. The EBITDA for the 2024 year is NZ$2.5 billion - so they aren't doing that bad. In fact the majority of financial analysts are saying buy.

Largy Go (Ire) (Poet's Word {Ire}) (lot 8) caught the eye of O'Neill Racing, and was knocked down for a sale-topping £305,000 at the Goffs Aintree Sale on Thursday. Consigned by Newlands Farm, the bay made a winning start to his career with a stylish victory Loughbrick over three miles on March 29. Gordon Elliott was the leading buyer of the next two lots for £250,000 apiece–first Lemmy Caution (Fr) (Tunis {Pol}) (lot 5) and With Nolimit (Fr) (Bande {Ire]) (lot 21)–for a combined £500,000. He also shelled out another £315,000 for Hernando De Soto (Ire) (Affinisea {Ire}) (lot 9) and Sound Judgement (Ire) (Doyen {Ire}) (lot 18) with Aidan O'Ryan. Elliott, who has purchased a pair of Grade 1 winners out of this sale, also shelled out £95,000 for Tip Of The Wings (Ire) (Wings Of Eagles {Fr}) (lot 30). All five had won their debuts. At the close of trade, 28 lots sold of 30 offered (93%) for a gross of £3,571,000. The average rose to £127,536 (+41%) and the median rose 40% to £105,000. A total of 17 horses made six figures or better. Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent said, “Today has been a wonderful result for this sale and it finished less than £100,000 short of eclipsing the booming sale we enjoyed here in 2022. We knew coming into today that we had a strong catalogue and that was echoed by everyone who saw the horses over the last two days. However, we needed to see that talk transpire into action in the ring and we are thrilled with the results which are befitting a sale and race meeting of the highest stature. “This sale has sold some cracking horses over its eight years, four of which have gone on to win Grade 1 races at the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals, and the calibre of horses sold tonight bodes well for the future. We would like to extend our thanks to the vendors who supported this sale and we are delighted to have delivered world-class prices for their horses – we can't do it without you. To our buyers, we extend the very best of luck and we hope to see you in the winners' enclosure here at Aintree in the coming years. As ever, we would also like to extend our gratitude to the Aintree Executive who are so supportive of this fantastic event.” The post Poet’s Word Gelding Breaks £300K Mark As Goffs Aintree Sale Concludes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

As with many of the journalists writing these articles they tend to embellish the facts. The person referred to in this article who allegedly knew an alleged asian drug trafficker opened an account in 2015 and it was closed in 2022. AUSTRAC expected ENTAIN to match foreign news reports to the trafficker who allegedly deposited money in the account holders bank account. The ladbrokes account had a turnover of about $9m in 7 years. The second example is similar however as these articles tend to do they infer the turnover was the amount that was allegedly money laundered when the amount is considerably less than that. AUSTRAC have a dedicated team that has access to a considerable amount of financial data that ENTAIN doesn't. In terms of perspective the Statement of Claim against ENTAIN pales in comparison to the likes of SkyCity, SportsBet, and Westpac. One punter at SkyCity had a turnover of nearly $2 billion! Westpac was fined $1.3 billion for 19 million individual breaches of the act.

Racing industry participants are invited to the latest Speaker Series, a popular event hosted by the Thoroughbred Club of America (TCA) and which will feature HISA's CEO Lisa Lazarus as the guest after a day at the races at Keeneland. Lazarus will give a presentation discussing the first years of HISA and how to navigate the coming years. Scott Hazelton will moderate a panel discussion, which will include Dale Romans, Steve Asmussen, Elliot Walden, Dr. Stuart Brown, and possibly others, including Mark Casse. A question and answer session will follow. The Speaker Series evening will be held Wednesday, Apr. 23 at 5:30 p.m. ET at the TCA facilities on Rice Road in Lexington. The event is open to all active industry participants and it is free. The post Lazarus to be TCA Speaker Series Guest after Keeneland Races Apr. 23 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Tenma, with a record of four wins in five starts, is the even-money, morning-line favorite in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) April 5 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

After seeing her unbeaten streak come to an end in the Honeybee Stakes (G3), last year's Demoiselle Stakes (G2) winner Muhimma will try to return to her winning ways in the rescheduled Ashland Stakes (G1) April 7 at Keeneland.View the full article

West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, and CJ Stables' Statesman has won his last two races and steps up in class for the $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack.View the full article

When President Donald Trump announced sweeping updates to the United States' global tariff structure Wednesday evening, there was some good news for the Thoroughbred racing industry, according to an analysis by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society of the fact sheet which accompanied the announcement. Horses eligible under the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) will continue to cross the U.S.-Canadian border duty-free, according to the CTHS. As outlined in the fact sheet: “For Canada and Mexico, the existing fentanyl/migration IEEPA orders remain in effect, and are unaffected by this order. This means USMCA-compliant goods will continue to see a 0% tariff…” Under the USMCA,Thoroughbred horses (classified under Codes 0101.21.00 for pure-bred breeding animals and 0101.29.00.20 for others used for racing) retain their status as duty-free goods, ensuring uninterrupted cross-border movement vital to the industry. In the CTHS analysis, horses from the U.S. will also be able to travel to Canada without a tariff. “In response, Prime Minister Carney has announced that the Government of Canada will be responding to President Trumps tariff orders by matching the U.S. approach with a 25% tariff on all vehicles imported from the U.S. that are not compliant with USMCA,” said the CTHS in a statement. “There being no reference to any other counter tariffs, this would indicate that Canada, like the U.S., will maintain the status quo as it relates to the USMCA agreement.” The full document is available here. “This is exceptional news for our community,” read a statement from the national board of directors of the CTHS. “The continuation of duty-free transport recognizes the long-standing and mutually beneficial relationship between Canadian and American Thoroughbred breeding and racing operations. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the many industry members, organizations, and government officials in both countries who voiced the importance of this issue. Your dedication and collaboration were instrumental in protecting the interests of our cross-border industry. We also express our deep appreciation to U.S. businesses and officials who engaged with our concerns and understood the economic and cultural significance of our thoroughbred trade.” The CTHS urged those shipping horses across the board to continue to carry appropriate documentation when transporting horses, including proof of foaling location (USA or Canada), and to notify the CTHS if they encounter any issues at the border. The post Some Good Tariff News: Canadian Horses Will Continue to Cross Border Duty Free appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Amid the embattled economics of horse racing, more and more attention has been placed upon Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) players. One such focus has surrounded whether these behemoths of the betting pools are contributing their fair share back to the sport. That's the case certainly in California. Last year, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) became the first regulator of a major racing jurisdiction to really dig down into the issue during a public hearing–one that later led to a published Q&A. The scrutiny that California has received hasn't always sat well with some industry leaders, who say they feel unfairly victimized due to CAW data published by the state unavailable in other jurisdictions–a valid point that paints a damning picture of the way key CAW data (from an industry standpoint) is shielded from view almost universally around the country. On the flip side, a strong argument can be made that because California doesn't enjoy the same purse subsidies enjoyed elsewhere, how it manages its wagering monies–and it's CAW play in particular–is that much more important if horse racing is to stand a chance at economic sustainability in the Golden State. There's way less wriggle room, in other words, to get the formula wrong. Has the scrutiny California received over the past year or so led to actionable change? Yes and no. At Santa Anita, the impacts from a set of rate hikes among CAW players–which includes a slight drop in CAW play–has been met with approval in various quarters, while at Del Mar, a titan of the CAW world still wields a seemingly lop-sided influence on the pools. Marshall Gramm, a professor of economics at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and a professional gambler, said the outsized impact at Del Mar from one Elite Turf Club player (who wagers under the moniker Elite 17) is fiscally risky. “For one player to be so powerful, I think it's a huge concern,” he said. Primer First, however, here's a CAW primer. The debate around CAW players typically surrounds the major edge they wield over regular gamblers thanks to their use of sophisticated technologies that allow them to precisely read the markets and to place massive wagers across nearly all polls in the final seconds of betting, as well as the attractive rates and rebates offered to them which are unavailable to the average punter. When “rates” are mentioned, what is meant are “host fees.” This is a charge wagering outlets pay to track operators for the contractual right to import a simulcast signal. A wagering outlet could be another racetrack, an ADW platform (like FanDuel), or a CAW platform (like Elite Turf Club). Experts say that CAW host fees for the premium tracks typically vary between 6% and 8%. After breeders' premiums and other minor deductions have been removed, host fees are roughly split 50/50 between the track and the purse account in California. Rates, therefore, are vitally important for industry stakeholders to know. The amount CAW players are “rebated” can be broadly calculated with this simple equation: Rebate = Takeout minus host fee (plus any other associated minor fees). The smaller the host fee and the larger the takeout, then the bigger the rebate. Last year, the TDN revealed how in 2023, Elite 17–one of more than a dozen individual Elite Turf Club players–enjoyed a noticeably more favorable rate than those other players that year. Owned by The Stronach Group (TSG) and the New York Racing Association (NYRA), Elite Turf Club is a CAW wagering platform that makes up a significant portion of Del Mar's handle. But the favorable rate that Elite 17 enjoyed gave the betting breakdown of Elite Turf Club's ledgers that year a lop-sided look. Indeed, Elite 17's play constituted nearly 47% of Elite Turf Club's total handle on Del Mar in 2023, according to data obtained by TDN. This was no small amount of money–Elite 17 wagered some $53 million on the track alone that year. Elite 17's predominance wasn't always so pronounced. As recently as 2021, Elite 17's play had constituted just over 36% of Elite Turf Club's total handle on Del Mar. That year, two players–Elite 17 and Elite 2–reportedly received similarly favorable deals. By the time 2023 rolled around, Elite 2 reportedly declined that deal, which would have necessitated making a “substantial seven-figure up-front payment.” The Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), which has the final say over such deals, was critical of the way Del Mar–along with other tracks–had for years offered special rates to some of the sport's biggest CAW players, who are often called the “whales” of the betting pools. “With the benefit of hindsight, it has been the wrong deal for over 10 years and this is why we need a market correction,” wrote the organization's president and CEO, Bill Nader, who only joined the organization in late 2022. Last year, however, little had changed, with Elite 17 still wielding the same lop-sided impact on CAW wagering. According to 2024 data obtained by the TDN, the amount Elite 17 wagered constituted 46% of the overall handle that Elite Turf Club players placed on Del Mar's product–what amounted to $63.4 million of a total $138.1 million (including Breeders' Cup play in the fall). Nader said the rate that Elite 17 paid last year had increased slightly from 2023–in line with a slight rate hike for all CAW players at the track–but that it still remained lower than rates for the other Elite Turf Club players. Is this a healthy dynamic? Handle at the track's flagship summer meet dropped off noticeably last year from the year prior, which the track said was due in part to new restrictions on CAW play. But could the special deal that Elite 17 continued to get also be depressing overall wagering on the track's product among price-sensitive gamblers? Indeed, Elite 2's wagering at Del Mar dropped off by over $32 million between 2021 (when this player reportedly received a favorable rate) and 2023 (when they didn't). Track management did not answer directly. “Del Mar will continue to work with industry stakeholders to maximize handle from all segments of the parimutuel market and help to generate important purse funding that is crucial for California racing due to the lack of supplemental purse funding sources available in other states,” the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club wrote in response to a string of questions sent to the club's president, Josh Rubinstein. “We implemented measures in the last year to reduce late odds fluctuations that were a source of frustration for some players and we plan to continue those efforts,” the DMTC added. Nader said the question was tough to answer definitively. “I'm not sure I can really answer that,” he replied. Gramm, however, contends that Elite 17's predominance at Del Mar is likely to have a negative impact on wagering among both CAW players and the retail side. “I think in some ways it's even worse to have one monolith team,” said Gramm, who said he uses computer technologies to aid his betting (as many retail players do), but does not wager though a CAW platform. “The regular players are struggling as it is. But if you've one team with a separate deal and they're crushing other CAW players as well, I don't think it's a good thing. Not a good thing at all,” he said. Especially when factoring in the rate at which some of these teams are winning. According to wagering reports reviewed by the TDN, some Elite Turf Club players can win at an average rate in excess of 105% in some pools, even before their rebate is factored in. At this rate, the profit margin would be much better than many investment accounts. In effect, this suggests the effective takeout rate for non-CAW players can be greater than the published rate, reducing the average gambler's opportunity to churn more bets. Santa Anita The landscape appears slightly different at Santa Anita, where all CAW players saw their rates hiked uniformly before the start of the current meet on Dec. 26, said Nader. At the SoCal track, it's now pretty much a “level playing field” for all CAW players, said Nader. “Return to purses has increased considerably,” he said, estimating that increase to around $1 million annually from the CAW rate hike. How has this played out in numbers? Compared to the same first-quarter period in 2023, there have been 4 extra cards this current meet and 67 additional races run (amounting to a nearly 18% increase in races). This includes 70 new races restricted for the northern California inventory. According to the TOC: Total Handle is up 12.4% California ADW and Brick and Mortar is up 15.8% Out of State ADW and Brick and Mortar is up 16.3% CAW is down 1% Average handle on a NorCal restricted race is $643,573, while average handle on a non-restricted race is $836,217. While overall handle has been impacted by cancellations brought on by the wildfires, Nader sees the rate hike–which he said precipitated the slight decrease in CAW play–as having an overall healthy effect on wagering at Santa Anita. “It is refreshing to see the growth from ADW and brick and mortar handle in California and across the country,” Nader added. Scott Daruty, president of TSG's Monarch Content Management and Elite Turf Club, has a dual reading of the numbers. “If you want to raise pricing because you want to bring the percentage of the pool down, then I think this was the exact right move,” said Daruty. This is no moot point. If CAW players become too big a percentage of the pools, their impacts are magnified and they essentially “cannibalize” the markets. In the past, Nader has pinned this tipping point at about 25% of the betting pools. Industry reform advocate Pat Cummings's June 2023 report found that back then, CAW play in California often surpassed that benchmark. In some jurisdictions, they make up over 40% of the pools. According to Daruty (who spoke before last weekend's numbers were in), CAW play has made up around $19.9% of the overall handle during the current Santa Anita meet. However, Daruty said he also believes the rate hike was unnecessary. Even without it, he said, there would have been an increase in both retail play and CAW play anyway by virtue of the improved product at Santa Anita this meet. Indeed, average field size has jumped this year from last by nearly 8%: 7.5 this year versus 6.96 in 2024. “If you're trying to make more money, which is a valid goal–we're in a struggling industry–then raising the price I think is the wrong approach,” he said. Gramm sides with the TOC, in that he sees the numbers out of the current Santa Anita meet as justification for the rate hike. “The market response makes sense,” he said. “If the CAWs are charged more, their handle's going to be down. And if they're a smaller part of the pool–even if you don't necessarily know it–more money's going back to ordinary players, who may be incentivized to bet more.” At the same time, Gramm said more needs to be done to narrow the gap between retail players and the professional teams. Though incremental steps have been taken to curb last minute odds changes in California, more needs to be done to better stop that in all the pools, Gramm said. Perhaps even more importantly, lowered takeout is a tactic that would help all gamblers, but retail players especially, who should be the core focus of track operators, he added. “North of 20% [blended takeout] for recreational players is still too high in the environment we're living in now, where there are tremendous other betting opportunities,” said Gramm. “We're just in a more competitive landscape,” he added. “And so, I think we need to price our recreational players a little more competitively, and I do think they'll respond very favorably to that.” The post Update on CAW in California: Rate Hikes and One Dominant Player appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

the Tab had a near perfect 'launder money bet' earlier this year on NFL, about 6 weeks out from the superbowl, you could bet either conference to win and 1.90, just keep betting both sides!

The weather-delayed Appalachian Stakes (G2T) on April 8 for 3-year-old fillies looks about as competitive as a race can be.View the full article

7th-AQU, $86K, OC80k/C, 4yo/up, 1m, 4:22 p.m. ET. A debut winner by 3 1/2 lengths over the slop at Churchill Downs last summer, STAR OF WONDER (Uncle Mo) earned a 'TDN Rising Star' for the effort. The WinStar homebred then cleared an allowance condition under the Twin Spires in mid-September, and broke through on the main track there in late November when he faced optional claimers for the second time. Back on the tab at Payson Park by Feb. 1, the colt hails from the same Brad Cox shedrow as his multiple Grade I winning older half-sister Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil). TJCIS PPS The half-brother to Shedaresthedevil, #10 Star of Wonder wins impressively on debut in R8 at Churchill Downs under Flavien Prat for trainer @bradcoxracing! @WinStarFarm @SienaFarmKY #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/vwLokuvzmI — TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) June 2, 2024 The post Friday Insights: Star Of Wonder Shoots For 4-Year-Old Debut At Aqueduct appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

A special Belmont Stakes Racing Festival three-day admission pass is now available at nearly 200 Stewart's Shops throughout the greater Capital Region, the New York Racing Association, Inc. announced in a press release Thursday. The pass includes general admission to Saratoga Race Course for three of the five days of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival: Thursday, June 5, Friday, June 6, and Saturday June 7–Belmont Stakes Day, featuring the third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown–for $99. The admission pass, which represents a savings of 15 percent based on individual day pricing, is available exclusively at participating Stewart's Shops, while supplies last. “Stewart's Shops has become synonymous with convenience for local horse racing fans by offering access to NYRA Bets gift cards, Saratoga season passes and Post Parade programs,” said NYRA Vice President, Sales and Hospitality, Kevin Quinn. “Our longstanding partnership with Stewart's Shops has now expanded to include three-day passes for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, providing fans the opportunity to enjoy multiple days of the event at a reduced price.” The post NYRA Partners with Stewart’s Shops to Offer Special Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Admission Pass appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

"Inside Churchill Downs," the popular weekly horse racing radio show, returns for its 11th season April 4 at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN Louisville's ESPN 680/105.7.View the full article

Fridays don’t get much bigger than Cambridge’s Night of Champions. Tonight’s 10-race card will get underway at 5.08pm , with the two biggest races, the $600,000 TAB Trot at 7.49pm and the $1m The Race by betcha at 8.52pm. The night will have a strong trans-Tasman theme including The Locomotive versus Oscar Bonavena, and Leap To Fame and Don Hugo vs the likes of Merlin, Don’t Stop Dreaming and Republican Party. Leap To Fame needs personal best performance in The Race by betcha By Michael Guerin The hero of harness racing is going to have to produce the best winning performance of his career to win in the $1million Race by Betcha at Cambridge tonight. That hero is Leap To Fame, a genuine cast-iron champion, winner of 49 of his 62 starts and almost everything you could want in a pacer. He has won most of the races that matter in Australia, shattered records and conquered hearts. Tonight he will need to do something he hasn’t done before. He will, almost certainly, need to sit parked outside another great horse and crush him to win. That is the accepted speed map for tonight’s 2200m slot race, that Leap To Fame from barrier seven will work forward and sit parked outside leader Don Hugo from barrier 2. No shock in that. About the only gift Leap To Fame wasn’t given is gate speed and that coupled with a series of dreadful draws means he has done more than his share of sitting parked in our best races. But here is the shocking, and thought-provoking, part for punters: He almost always gets beat when he does. Larry, as he is affectionately known, has sat parked in seven races at the highest level and been beaten in five. The only exceptions was when he won a somewhat below par Miracle Mile last year when Sooner The Better even gave him a scare late and in the 2024 Blacks A Fake when he sat parked outside the enormously inferior Hi Manameisjeff. So how can clearly the best pacer in this part of the world get beaten so regularly when asked to race outside the leader? Welcome to modern harness racing. As the breed has refined, gear and tracks improved the best harness races have become punishing affairs. Most are won by horses on the markers or, when things get crazy, swoopers. Few, very few, are won by horses sitting parked. Leap To Fame is THE living example of that. Examine the five times Leap To Fame has sat parked and been beaten and you find the leaders were been Swayzee (twice), Rock N Roll Doo, Catch A Wave and in last month’s Miracle Mile, Don Hugo. So every time the champ has sat parked outside a Grand Circuit winner in a major race, he has been beaten. Every time. That is not to say it will happen tonight and if almost any other horses was drawn to lead tonight you would be happy taking the TAB’s $2.30 quote that “Larry” could sit parked outside them and put them to the sword. Tonight his issues are two, or maybe threefold. If he can crush Don Hugo, no small feat, Leap To Fame could still be left a sitting duck for stalkers Merlin or Don’t Stop Dreaming, who aren’t as good as him but might not have to be. But first he has to get past Don Hugo, a Eureka, Inter Dominion and Miracle Mile champion driven by a freak in Luke McCarthy and one who could cover 6-8 less lengths than Leap To Fame. Don Hugo isn’t as good as Leap To Fame either but that isn’t the point. The point is, actually the question is, do you really want to take $2.30 for a horse to do something it has only successfully achieved 28.4 per cent of the time? Of course you do. Because you want to see Larry win. You want to witness greatness and feel that rush. Possibly, maybe probably, he will give that to us. But wanting doesn’t produce winning. And very rarely, as it turns out, does sitting parked in $1million races. LARRY’S PARKED PROBLEMS : Leap To Fame’s record when parked out in the highest level races March 2025: 2nd to Don Hugo in Miracle Mile Feb 2025: 2nd to Swayzee in Hunter Cup July 2024: 1st in Blacks A Fake, beating Swayzee. March 2024: 1st Miracle Mile beating Sooner The Bettor. Oct 2023: 3rd to Act Now in Victoria Cup. Sept 2023: 2nd to Encipher in The Eureka July 2023: 2nd to Swayzee in Blacks A Fake Oscar Bonavena can “definitely win” – Mark Purdon By Michael Guerin At least Mark Purdon knows it can be done. The genius trainer of New Zealand harness racing proves just how bad he is as being semi-retired by having runners in both slot races at Cambridge tonight: Oscar Bonavena in the $600,000 TAB Trot and Chase A Dream in the $1million Race by Betcha. He co-trains both with son Nathan and the two horses, are different ends of their careers, face a similar challenge tonight, both expected to have to come from off the speed to run past the all-conquering Australians. Oscar Bonavena looks likely to be midfield at best in the TAB Trot with Purdon loathe to rush him off the gate from barrier three because of his hit-and-miss mobile manners. Chase A Dream has drawn one on the second line with the best Purdon can hope for in the pace being three deep on the markers with Don Hugo being attacked to create late gaps. Both horses swooped to win their warm up Flying Miles last Friday and in the brief history of the big-money slot races at Cambridge, Purdon is the only driver to come from back in the field at the bell to win one. He came from last to win the first running of the Pace with Self Assured, the subsequent two editions being won by the leader Copy That and Merlin coming out of the one-one last year. The only running of the TAB Trot saw Just Believe sit parked last year to beat the leader, with the elite horses usually making Cambridge feel smaller than most 1000m tracks. “I’d love to be able to use Oscar early from barrier three but I really don’t think it is the best thing to do with some of the issues he has had early in some mobile races this season,” admits Purdon. “He is at his most potent when driven for speed so I hope they go hard early and we get a sit handy to them. “He can definitely win because he is really well.” Chase A Dream benefitted from a tougher training regime last week to improve dramatically but his task, and that of all the horses who get back in the Race by Betcha, is a daunting one. Not only do they have to hope for a brutal pace to soften the leaders up but gaps on a track that rarely sees the best fields break up over 2200m and a home straight that will disappear below their hooves very quickly. If Purdon is going to become the first driver to win two Cambridge slot races, Oscar Bonavena is by far his best chance of pulling it off. Early tactics key in TAB Trot By Michael Guerin Chris Svanosio is going to do something he doesn’t want to do at the start of tonight’s $600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge. Because he knows if he doesn’t do it the slot race could be over as soon as it has begun for Arcee Phoenix. The Victorian horseman, universally known an Snooze, realises he can’t be caught napping at the start of the 2200m mobile because if he is Arcee Phoenix will lose his crucial tactical advantage over fellow Aussie and likely race favourite The Locomotive. Arcee Phoenix has drawn barrier 4 and The Locomotive barrier 6 and most expect one of the pair to lead after 400m. Whoever does becomes the horse to beat, covering less ground and able to dictate to their rivals. So what is the problem? “I have spent the last two years trying not to rush him off the gate,” sighs Svanosio. “I have looked after him in most of his races early to keep him balanced and then let him work his way into the race. “In some of those races he has still been able to work his way to the front and he is a very good front runner but he hasn’t been really buzzed off the gate. “But if I let Brad [Hewitt, driving The Locomotive] get straight past us then that gives the advantage to him. “So I might have to roll the dice this week, try to get him out as fast as I can and see what happens.” While that is a key tactical admission and full of logic the richest race of a horse’s career is a tricky time to be seeking new weapons for their arsenal. Arcee Phoenix has plenty of experience, starting in this race last year and two Group 1s at the NZ Cup meeting. He finished fourth in all three. With the champion Just Believe retired he is one of those bidding for his crown. The price of the crown may be early balance and poise under pressure. Whether he can pay that price could decide tonight’s race. Even if Arcee Phoenix learns his new trick quickly Hewitt has made it clear he intends to press on, full of confidence his Inter Dominion winner will handle a dogfight into the first bend and come out the other side trotting. With the fastest Kiwi on the front line, Muscle Mountain, drawn widest it seems certain one of the two big gun Aussies will eventually lead, wresting it off more than likely Queen Elida. That will make the winner of the early battle the favourite to win the war but the uglier it gets inside the first 600m, with anything below 43 seconds for that opening sectional considered detrimentally fast, the better the chances of the locals. Oscar Bonavena would love to watch an early fireworks display before putting a dampener on it later and under those circumstances he would become the horse to beat. Bet N Win felt the biggest loser from the draw, being the only horse on the second line, but driver Bob Butt gets the chance to sum up early whether to stay on the markers and wait for gaps if the pressure get ramped up or slide into the running line if it doesn’t. Either way, he is going to have to try adopt a new racing style to win tonight, just like Arcee Phoenix. Whereas The Locomotive and Oscar Bonavena will just need to be themselves and the race should come to one of them. Will “the Menangle boost” be a thing at Cambridge? By Michael Guerin A thing without a name could be a crucial factor in tonight’s two mega money slot races at Cambridge. Since it is as yet un-named, we will call it the Menangle boost. It is the boost in performance horses get after regular racing at the Menangle track outside Sydney, the hardest harness racing in this part of the world. Menangle is like nothing else in Australasian harness racing with the searing miles and relentless style turning those who can handle it into fitter and therefore faster horses. Since Menangle opened in 2008 a disproportionate number of Grand Circuit races have been won by the New South Wales horses who are most exposed to its rigours. “It is definitely a factor,” says champion horseman Luke McCarthy, who has Don Hugo in tonight’s Race by Betcha. “I notice it when I take horses who have been racing well at home [Menangle] up to the Brisbane winter carnival. They get back to the 1000m tracks and just fly around them.” Don Hugo could do just that tonight, with all of his three career highlights being major Menangle wins and he could feel very bold whizzing around Cambridge against the marker pegs tonight. Another Menangle regular is The Locomotive, favourite for tonight’s TAB Trot and his trainer-driver Brad Hewitt agrees with McCarthy that those who can handle Menangle thrive away from it. “It makes them so fit because the racing is so hard,” says Hewitt. “I was in the Inter Dominion Pacing Final with Captains Knock back in December and I have never been in a race like it. We went absolutely flat out all the way. “It makes them better horses when they go back to normal races.” Plenty of the best horses in tonight’s two slot races have raced at Menangle recently, with Leap To Fame, Don’t Stop Dreaming and Merlin also competing at the Miracle Mile carnival last month but the longer horses are exposed to the 1400m track the better they seem to become. The markets suggest the Menangle boost may be a very real thing at Cambridge tonight. View the full article

By Michael Guerin Who Sunnys Sister is at Addington tonight and who she is in a month time could be two vastly different things. Which is driver John Dunn’s way of warning you to be careful when the Group 1 winner returns in the opener, the IRT.Your Horse.Our Passion Mobile Trot tonight (5.21pm). While the Addington card plays the supporting role to the very serious stuff at Cambridge it does see the return of a high class trotter who could well be taking on some of those in tonight’s TAB Trot in just a month’s time. Sunny’s Sister is more than just retired champion Sundees Son’s little sister, she is the Oaks and Derby winner of her year who looked set to make an open class impact until a bone chip in her fetlock saw her sidelined last spring. That was taken out and she returns in a winnable race to start the night at Addington but with Dunn worried she has only had one soft trial. “She won it but they only went like qualifying speed so she can’t be at peak fitness,” says Dunn. “We are going into this race hoping she goes well and then improves and we can look at the races up north, possibly culminating in the Rowe Cup. “But she isn’t in that form yet so she will be driven for speed this week and trying to divebomb them. “She won’t be taking off and trying to be her big brother.” They could see Sunnys Sister as vulnerable if one of her better rivals, like Mr Love, could get forward and into a dominant position with the pair clearly standing out under the mobile conditions. Dunn says the team, officially trained by father Robert and wife Jenna, is getting its mojo back after a slow patch. “We have little things going wrong and horses out of form and it means I haven’t been able to drive them as I like, which has been very frustrating. “But I think they are turning the corner now.” One horse Dunn says punters can jump on tonight with a degree of confidence is Tyron’s Strapping Lad (R3, No.2), who stormed home for second fresh up last Friday. “He was a horse we liked last season and he has come back well and he is also on trial for a trip north so he would want to go well, which we think he will.” He also expects improvement from smart filly Queen Tyron (R2, No.3) who was highly rated by the stable last season before sidelined by injury. “Her fresh up run will have improved her so she will be hard to beat so we have some good chances to start the night.” The stable also have Frazzled in Race 5 but in a strong enough field to test her while later in the night the highlight will be the $20,000 Stevie and Maree Thank Their Clients Pace, a rare Addington mobile mile. That could suit Dunn’s hard-running Who’s Delight if he can get across to the markers, sometimes easier said than done from the off mobile mile start point on a bend. View the full article