Page 14 - January 2007 The Game

14 The Game, January 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
Year of the Guinea Pig:
Chairman/CEO David Willmot Discusses Woodbine’s Pro-Active Year
In many ways, it was another success- ful year for Woodbine Entertainment Group. There was some fine racing, good betting totals, and the sport was promoted aggressively. While racetracks around the world looked on, Woodbine set out on a number of innovative paths.
The most impressive experiment was the installation of the Polytrack. No other racetrack will ever again do what Woodbine did – put down the new surface while still conducting thoroughbred racing. Woodbine tossed the original dirt track onto its harness racing surface and, while that did not create the best of all possible racetracks, it allowed heats to be run, purses to be distributed, and thousands of participants to be paid while the makeover continued.
In November, the Polytrack presented some problems. The main concern was that, with the colder weather, the kickback was more prevalent than had been anticipated. Was the David Willmot disappointed, angry or philosophical about this? Try all three.
“We were disappointed that the track has not performed up to our expectations in colder weather,” said Willmot, “We were angry that we didn’t get what we paid for, but we were philosophical because the Woodbine track was going to be the first of its kind in terms of volume of traffic and variance of temperature.I’m going to withhold judgement until this track has been in for a year under all weather conditions.”
What has been obvious is that, towards the end of the racing season, the fields were larger than last year. The statistics indicate about half a horse more per field (editor’s aside: I bet that half horse and lost by half a length). Is it too early to attribute this to the Polytrack? Willmot doesn’t waffle at all on this one
“Absolutely, definitively, totally,” he emphasizes, “While we’re disappointed with the state of the Polytrack at this time, it is still so much better than the dirt track was both in colder and rainy
weather, that a lot of outfits are staying right to the end of the meet and people are rac- ing their horses. We bet $3 million on Saturday, December 3rd. I can't remember a Saturday in December that we ever did that and it’s all attributable to the big field size.”
Woodbine was also the
first track on the planet to
introduce Trackus, those
dancing numbers at the
bottom of the screen that tell the fan where his horse is during the race. A computer chip in the saddle cloth of each horse pinpoints the exact position, speed and distance travelled. Willmot talks about Trackus with maximum enthusi- asm.
“We were certainly the guinea pig for Trackus,” he says, “Trackus was developed by some fellows out of MIT and with a couple of major horsemen in the US who are involved as investors. I think you will see it at every track in North America within a short period of time. It enables so much more data to ultimately be provided to the betting customer and trainers and owners.”
When Trackus was implemented at Woodbine, Keeneland racetrack watched closely, liked what they saw, and now the Kentucky track is using the same technology. Reports indicate fans and horse people alike are pleased. Willmot says this technology will allow the racing fan to watch a race on a cell-phone because the ‘chiclets’ employ much less
band-width than a full picture.
But telling the race fan the position of
the horses during the race is just a fraction of what Trackus can do.
they took the stance that they were protecting the public. But, ultimately, the CPMA accepted the option of host track rules. There are various rules in every jurisdiction. We're not in Florida because Florida’s regulators haven’t approved it and we're not in New Jersey. We’ve just announced that we will have co-mingled pools in California.”
Willmot saved his stiffest punches for what he considers the biggest threat to horse racing – the proliferation of off-shore wagering sites that can benefit from betting on the horses without bearing any of the costs involved. With no small amount of venom, he refers to these operations as ‘pirates’.
“All we can do at the moment is elevate the importance of the issue in the minds of both levels of government and the participants in the industry,” says Willmot who even stood up at the draw for the Canadian International to express his concerns to the gathered media. Towards the end of the year, the Ontario Provincial government passed a bill making it illegal for any media to accept advertising from illegal off-shore sites.
“We're asking for a level playing field in which they either enforce the laws on the books federally and provincially or allow us to compete with those entities which are currently competing against us,” he says.
“With the internet now, anyone can bet what they want,” he continues, “If you don't offer the customer the choice that they want, they will find the means to bet around you.”
Woodbine might have been a guinea pig in 2006, but it fought like a lion to protect its turf and to enhance its product.
Woodbine Entertainment Chairman and CEO David Willmot
“Trackus will tell you exactly how many feet each horse travelled,” says Willmot., “The speed each horse runs each fraction is available as opposed to just the leader’s time and trip handicappers will know the exact distance every horse in the race travelled and they’ll know precisely how much each horse trailed the winner by.”
Trackus will also impart impeccable accuracy to hors- es’ workouts. When a trainer brings his horse out in the morning, he will be given a chip, the identity of the horse will be corroborated, and that horse’s time will be
absolutely accurate.
“We’re using only two cylinders of an
eight-cylinder engine,” explains Willmot, “Much more is in the works.”
There was also a very interesting period early in 2006 when Woodbine took out full-page ads in the Daily Racing Form asking fans to support the track in its efforts to enter into co-mingled pools with American racetracks. To say the least, this was confrontational politics because the Federal body that controls wagering at racetrack (the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency) was not particularly willing to provide Woodbine the necessary paperwork to enable co-mingled pools. Woodbine’s aggressive argument paid off.
“We took the stance because it was so clear that was what our customers wanted,” explains Willmot, “Our frustration with the CPMA came because
Scharfstein Shuffles off to Saskatchewan
May 4, 2006 was a terrific day at Woodbine for jockey Jill Scharfstein. In the 5th race she gave longshot Dear Brutus a great ride, bringing the maiden gelding off the pace for an easy three length win. When the race was declared official, Dear Brutus lit up the tote board, paying $140.80. $56.60 and $20.70. That was the highest $2 win payoff at Woodbine in 2006.
Dear Brutus was one of two assignments that day for Scharfstein. In the 8th race, she was partnered with Bet On Boston which, like Dear Brutus, was trained by Janet Bedford. Bet On Boston also benefited from a smart ride, skimming the rail around the far turn, taking the lead and opening up by several lengths in the stretch, then hanging on bravely to prevail by a neck at odds of 6-1.
Unfortunately that turned out to be Scharfstein’s best day on the job in 2006. When she put on her silks for four longshots on December 10, the final day of racing, she had already made up her mind that her career as a jockey had come to an end.
“I’m going to med school starting on January 3,” she said, surprising her interviewer.
Scharfstein, 24, simply realized that finishing 31st in the jockey standings, with only 6 wins from 111
mounts, does not spell a lucrative career.
“I don’t want to be 34 and in the position I’m in
now,” she said, “I didn’t make enough money. Is the writing on the wall bold enough that you’re going to listen to it or avoid it? I’ve played with the best now and I’m not willing to go down the ranks and live in the trenches.”
To many, this will be a significant loss to Ontario racing. Scharfstein weighs about 105 pounds, but she’s got a ton of personality. With her sense of humour and charismatic energy, she needed only to pile up the wins to make herself one of those characters that the racetrack could have promoted and exploited. Unfortunately, the good horses just weren’t forth- coming for her.
Scharfstein will now pursue her other dream, one that will have her fixing bodies instead of risking hers. She will begin in pre-med at the University of Saskatchewan and, in her typical smiling, way, finds the upside in that.
“That’s home for me. My family is all there, so I have a nice place to stay.”
Riding race horses was clearly a great adventure for
Scharfstein, even if she didn’t become a star at the track. The memorable afternoon she had in early May just might turn into something longterm.
“Bet On Boston was a blast,” she says, “I hope to take him home with me when he retires. I’ll have him shipped to Saskatchewan – my little remembrance of the racetrack.”
For the record, Scharfstein’s last career ride was on Judith Pottins’ Ma Peche. It was perfectly fitting that Ma Peche was the longest price in the allowance field of fillies and mare running a mile and a sixteenth. And Scharfstein came very close to closing out her tenure with a mind-blowing payoff. Ma Peche was far behind for most of the race, but caught fire late and was flying in the stretch. Gary Cruise and Go Marching won it by a length, but Ma Peche was in a photo that didn’t favour her. She was beaten two noses for second and third and finished fourth at 79-1.
So this ends the story of, perhaps, North America’s only Jewish female jockey. Hardly a sad ending, though. In a few years, ex-jock Jill will be known as Dr. Scharfstein. -PG