Marshall Gramm

According to the annual Thoroughbred Economic Indicators report released Monday by Equibase, the total figures for two of the sport's most important categories declined in 2025. Thanks in part to handle being down 7.32% in December, handle for the year was down 2.10% when compared to 2024 figures. A total of $11,028,652,933 was wagered in the U.S. as compared to $11,265,666,064 in 2024. Handle peaked in 2003 at $15.18 billion. When factoring in inflation, betting handle has fallen about 57% over the last 22 years. The year 2025 marked the...

With what feels like the culmination from years of mounting pressure, the volcano of opprobrium over Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) erupted this summer, spilling all over the industry. The debate around CAW players typically surrounds the 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 many pools in the final seconds of betting-sometimes leading to extreme late odds changes-as well as the attractive rates and rebates offered to them which are unavailable...

Ben Bernhard, Shannon Griffin, and Mandy Pope have been named to the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Charities of America. The three newly elected directors join current board members Carrie Brogden, Lesley Campion (vice president), Marette Farrell (secretary), Torie Gladwell, Marshall Gramm (treasurer), Ryan Mahan, Mike McMahon (president), Dan Metzger, Leah O'Meara, Liam O'Rourke, Morgan Richardson, Cathy Shircliff, Brook Smith, and Jesse Ullery. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis and Dan Rosenberg are directors emeriti. Thoroughbred Charities of America was formed in 1990 by Allaire duPont and Herb and Ellen Moelis...

After growing clamor among horse players about the role that Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) players had in driving a spate of marked late odds changes at Del Mar this summer, track officials announced Tuesday that starting this Thursday, they would close CAW access to its win pools at two minutes before the off time. "I'm really pleased. This is a stepping stone to getting things right as it effectively creates a retail only pool, and it stabilizes prices," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor at Rhodes College in Tennessee and...

Last month, Rhodes College economics professors Marshall Gramm and Nick McKinney published in these pages a study showing the estimated impacts at Aqueduct over the past four winters from CAW players during the last cycle. They found that since 2022, the percentage share from last cycle monies wagered into the Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta and Early Pick 5 pools (among others), had grown significantly. There was a problem, however, with the study: unbeknownst to Gramm and McKinney, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) had switched to a new Tote operator in...

Last week, economics professors Marshall Gramm and Nick McKinney published a study in these pages showing the impacts at Aqueduct the past four winters from CAW players during the last flash across all the pools. According to that study, the percentage share from CAW players of monies wagered last-minute into the Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta and Early Pick 5 pools (among others) had jumped significantly between 2022 and 2024. In light of that published study, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has issued a statement explaining that, in the fall of...

Editor's note, by Dan Ross: Despite the New York Racing Association's efforts in recent years to limit Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) participation in the Win, Late Pick Five, and Pick Six pools, the influence these teams exert in terms of last-cycle betting impacts appears to be growing in several other key pools, according to research conducted by economics professors Marshall Gramm and Nick McKinney, both of Rhodes College in Tennessee. Indeed, they found that since 2022, the percentage share from CAW players of monies wagered last-minute into the Exacta, Trifecta,...

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...

No industry gathering at which Thoroughbred executives discuss pricing issues is immune from the intertwined topic of death and taxes. In the pari-mutuel world, that means talking about takeout, or, more specifically, how the disparate fees that different classes of bettors must pay for the privilege of placing wagers are killing off smaller-scale casual horseplayers. A Wednesday panel discussion at the Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson was the latest Thoroughbred confab at which the takeout issue got batted around...

Brook Smith and Carrie Brogden have been appointed to the board of directors of Thoroughbred Charities of America, the organization announced Wednesday. Current directors Marette Farrell and Marshall Gramm were named secretary and treasurer, respectively. Smith is a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from Clemson University with a degree in finance, he returned to Kentucky and launched a career in the insurance industry, as a broker with his agency Smith Manus (now Acrisure) and as a partner in Lexon Insurance Group. He is a serial entrepreneur and big supporter...

Trainer John Pimental has been handed a 15-month suspension and a fine of $10,000 for possession of banned thyroid medication, Thyro-L. Though Pimental had a prescription to administer the drug to his pony, the possession of a banned substance is classed an anti-doping rule violation under HISA. That news was one of the rulings posted this week among Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Pimental's case was resolved without a final hearing after he accepted the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) sanctions. Pimental's case...

According to data released Friday by Equibase, handle in 2023 fell by $447,759,362 for a decline of 3.7 percent. Had handle not rebounded in December, which saw a 6.62% increase, the figures would have looked much worse. Outside of the COVID year of 2020, this was the steepest decline based on percentage of handle since 2011. A total of $11,658,624,859 was wagered in 2023. "I think we got quite a blip coming out of the pandemic when we were the only game in town," said Marshall Gramm, an economics professor,...