Last week, the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) announced a roughly $15-million, two-year "purse enhancement" program as part of an agreement with TVG, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing. The reason for the new program is simple: an unprecedented betting shift toward ADW platforms over the past 11 months has hit the California purse account hard. Not just the purse account. This shift has similarly clobbered several key industry programs that rely heavily on wagering made at brick and mortar venues. The Southern California Stabling...
Like an overzealous professor, the pandemic has taken a bright red marker to the status quo, with the racing industry very much on the receiving end of this economic revisionism. When it comes to California alone, startling betting patterns have emerged with potentially serious ramifications for the long-term sustainability of the sport in the state--that's according to handle and purse data from the first eight months of the past three years put together for the TDN by the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). Among the key takeaways is this: While...
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