Challenges: Martin Panza

MARTIN PANZA, Senior Vice President, Racing Operations, NYRA

What is the most pressing problem that needs to be tackled in racing, and how would you solve it?

Racing has argued for years about various problems, whether we are talking about the use of race-day medication, optimum takeout rates, lack of marketing, the age of our clientele or the age of many of our facilities; the only thing perhaps we can all agree upon is that there is no shortage of problems to choose from.

The true question is: which ones can we actually fix? And if fixed, what impact will they have on helping to grow the industry? Does the elimination of race-day Lasix fix our industry? Canterbury Downs recently lowered takeout for their summer meeting and lost money doing it (I am not against takeout reduction but it is not the final solution). Can tracks find a return on marketing dollars in cities such as Los Angeles or New York that will justify the expense? Have racetracks ever been an entertainment option for the youth of our country? Probably not. It seems as though we have been talking about the same problems for many years with little progress being made, the result usually being a division of our industry depending on which side of the fence one has chosen to sit.

Here is my most pressing problem the industry faces today: “AVERAGE STARTS PER RUNNER PER YEAR.” It is one we never talk about, symposium after symposium or meeting after meeting. Nobody owns it. Yet the effects are so broad. To me, it is racing's dirty little secret. The aunt who drinks too much, the brother with the drug problem….shhhh!!! Every track in the world is concerned about field size; those are discussions we constantly have. This is more about our product itself. The horse we are breeding and training and racing today.

From 1950-1970, the average starts per runner for a year had a range of 10.88-11.33. From 1970-1985, the range dropped to 10.23-8.28. From 1985-2000, the range further declined to 8.28-7.10. Since 2006, the average range has never been above 6.37. 1n 2015, the average starts per runner was 6.18 starts for the year.

To understand the ramifications of this, one can just look at the numbers. In 2015, we had 53,365 individual starters in the U.S. and Canada. There were 42,219 races offered with 329,974 starters in those races for an average field size of 7.82 horses per race. Taking the total number of starters and dividing it by the individual starter number gives us an average starts per runner of 6.18 for the year.

If we increased the starts per horse per year from 6.18 up to 6.68 (half a start more per year), field size grows to 8.44 from 7.82.

If we increased the starts per horse per year from 6.18 up to 7.18 (one more start per year), field size grows to 9.07 from 7.82.

Go back 20 years to 1996, and the average starts per runner per year was 7.59, which would equate to an average field size of 9.6 starters per race by today's standards.

Increased field size generates more handle which in turn generates higher purses. Higher handle makes for more profitable racetracks, more funding for gaming commissions, for drug testing, more money for breeding funds, more money to be spent on the various industry needs and requirements. Most importantly, an owner can only recoup his expenses when in fact his horse actually starts. More starts provide better earning potential for the owner, trainer and the jockey. It is a very simplistic approach.

How do we attract new owners into the game when a horse only runs 6.18 times a year? How do we keep our existing owners if this number continues to decline? This is a very bad business model that is simply not sustainable.

As an industry, we all share in the responsibility for this problem. That said, shouldn't we as a group admit it is a problem and try to begin to find ways to rectify the situation by working together?

What do you think somebody from the outside looking in–somebody not involved in racing–would say the problem that most needs solving is?

My non-racing group of friends will quickly identify some of the basics. Gee, your facility is very old and lacking the modern elements of most professional sports franchises. Why is your race card so long? Most sporting events run 2-3.5 hours at most. Why do you run weekday afternoons when everybody is at work?

We are an industry of traditions that are hard to change. Some things we can fix, such as the Stronach Group's efforts to modernize their facilities. NYRA is looking for long-term solutions with the Governor's office for the revitalization of some of New York's aging facilities. Del Mar and the Kentucky tracks have done some wonderful things over the years to improve their facilities. Churchill Downs seems to be renovating something every year. Those are all positives.

Racing is essentially a jobs program. Racing on weekdays is a necessity. Can lights be added and night racing be used on weekdays? I think these are things we need to look at. Churchill Downs has done some wonderful things with their night racing programs. It makes sense to operate when you have the ability to attract the highest number of patrons.

Number of races per card is a tad tricky. In Europe, 6-7 race cards are very common. Japan, on the other hand, at JRA tracks may run 12-14 races on a Saturday or Sunday. Since each race is almost an individual game, it is difficult to compare race cards to sporting events. We are in the gambling business and I know of very few casinos that are only open a few hours a day. But from the entertainment side of things, it can be difficult keeping the average fan's attention for extended periods of time. From the jobs program side of things, we have to offer enough races for horseman to make a living and have opportunity.

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