Page 16 - March 2008 The Game
P. 16

16 The Game, February 2008
Park Stud Lineup Cont. from pg.14 Awaiting the  rst crop of any stallion
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
will generate excitement and anticipation. When it comes to Survivalist’s  rst foals, the feeling
is magni ed. Importing the Gotham Stakes and Wood Memorial runner-up into Ontario was viewed as a major coup. Survivalist is as blue-blooded as an equine beast can be. His dam is a full-sister to world-class Seeking the Gold.
Henny Hughes earned a higher  gure. Each of the four stands for a stud fee at least four times higher than Survivalist.
yearling sale proved that Byrne wasn’t off the mark with his Tomahawk assessment.
to Hall of Fame trainer Roger Att eld for $110,000, increasing Tomahawk’s average to $48,905.
Sold on his appearance and his impeccable breeding, the local
market was very responsive to the son of Danzig, perhaps the most proli c sire of sires. Survivalist, who stands for $10,000, covered 70 mares, 61 of which are pregnant.
“Never,” he af rmed. “Not with a number of yearlings (that high).”
“His book of mares was so strong for a book in North America, never mind Canada,” said Byrne, referring to Survivalist’s Comparable Index (C.I.), which measures the average earning power of a group of individuals as compared to the overall average.
Park Stud welcomed Tomahawk to its stallion barn in 2004 and began offering him to the Ontario market in 2005. He bred his  rst crop of mares in 2005 and the resulting offspring will be running this year.
of Katebyrne, sold to D. Morgan Firestone for $150,000.
“My son Warren has been working on the website for awhile,” said Byrne, adding that one of the pages is a list
of the signi cant individuals that have stood at Park Stud or that Byrne has consigned. “There’s a bit of history there. I had to be reminded of some of
The C.I. of the mares bred to Survivalist’s was 2.22, which is  fth highest among 2007 freshman sires. Only the mares bred to Bernardini, Bluegrass Cat, First Samurai and
At the time of the acquisition, Byrne had high expectations for the son of Seattle Slew, stating that his foals would sell well. The results of the September 2007 Canadian-bred
On September 4, of the 16 sons or daughters of Tomahawk in the Select session, 15 were sold at an average price of $41,833. Fifteen days later, Byrne had a Tomahawk colt in the Keeneland September Sale. He sold
it.”If Tomahawk’s two-year-olds break running and Survivalist’s foals look the part, it won’t be long before new generations of stars  ll the site with tales of their success.
After his
Ontario duties were completed last spring, Survivalist was asked to work overtime in South America.
Byrne said he cannot recall a stallion in the Ontario market ever making such an impact with his  rst crop.
“We leased him
to Argentina,” said
Byrne. “He was
very well received.
He bred 90 mares,” said Byrne, adding that the deal will be four years long.
The very  rst Tomahawk through the ring, a son
Just in time to keep track of the Tomahawk juveniles as they embark on their racing careers, Park Stud is on the information highway, having unveiled a new web-site (parkstud.ca) at the end of December.
Tomahawk in the summer at Park Stud
The second Tomahawk was a  lly out of Miss American Mink attracted an $80,000 bid. A second colt, out of Ascot Wedding, sold to Bill Farish for $115,000.
“He had a banner year with his year- lings,” said Byrne. “He’s proving to be extremely popu-
lar now because people have seen this. Everybody is calling about him now.”
The average breeder turned a sizable pro t, considering each only had to ante up $8,500 for Tomahawk’s services.
HBPA Ontario Update
HBPA Administrative Of ces: 135 Queen’s Plate Drive, Suite 370, Toronto, Ontario M9W 6V1 Phone: 416-747-5252
Report from the Executive Director - Nick Coukos
Last month, on behalf of the HBPA I was honoured to sit on a panel with Scott Daruty, CEO of Tracknet Media (Churchill and Magna) and Gary Sproule, CEO of YouBet at the NCLGS conference to address the issue of “Re-de ning pari-mutual simulcast, Who Wins? Who Loses?”
These locations are often referred to as “NTBAs” which are de ned as organizations that do not conduct or facilitate live thoroughbred racing and accepts wagers on thoroughbred simulcast races. Exam- ple of NTBAs are: Advance Deposit Wagering Companies (Youbet, TVG, etc.), Rebaters, Casinos, and non thoroughbred racetracks.
Although the topic of discussion was an important exchange, so to
was the importance of educating the audience in attendance on the
critical simulcast factors facing the thoroughbred industry in this day
and age. NCLGS stands for the National Council of Legislators from
Gaming States. The legislators in attendance are elected state of cials
who deal with gaming issues with the ability to legislate change in law.
To get our message out at such a venue of course was not only necessary, but extremely timely with the prospect of national horsemen pushing for a change in the economics of our revenues through thoroughbred simulcast wagering.
The effect of this shift to NTBAs is of course quite signi cant to our purse revenue streams. Using a 21% blended, average takeout rate the commission to the NTBAs is $1.05 Billion based on the $5.01 Billion wagered in 2006. An estimated average host and other fees of 3.5% or $175 million to support live thoroughbred
The essence of the problem lies in the fact that industry stakeholders do not see eye to eye on the current pari-mutual simulcast revenue model. We as horsemen, view the current model as outdated and imbalanced, since its pricing is based
on a fee structure initiated more than 20 years ago. To understand the imbalance shift, let me give you the short version of the HBPA presentation.
racing was paid to our industry by NTBAs. The NTBAs retained $877 million after paying the host and other fees or 17.5% of the handle. If the same amount was wagered at our thoroughbred racetracks, we estimate at least $801 million would be retained by thoroughbred racing. Our position of course is that the gap, between the $175 million that NTBAs are paying to support live thorough- bred racing and the $801 million thoroughbred racing would receive if the same wager were made on-track, is too great and must be closed.
Since 1996, total thoroughbred US handle has increased by 27% (2006 numbers). Live on track handle has decreased by 43% ($1.256 Billion). Off-Track handle has increased by 51% ($4.414 Billion). In 2006, Off-Track handle totals $13.10 Billion of which $8.09 Billion is bet through thoroughbred tracks and $5.01 Billion is bet locations that are not thoroughbred racetracks.
To such end, it is safe to conclude that thoroughbred racetracks cannot con- tinue to charge the same fee to betting systems not conducting live thoroughbred racing as they charge other thoroughbred racetracks. For thoroughbred racing
to survive long term, a change in our industry  nancial model must be made. We need to stop the tail from waging the dog. NTBAs must not generate more revenue than horsemen and tracks on simulcast wagering.
HBPA Trainer Testing Schedule 2008
HBPA Woodbine Backstretch Office Hours
The HBPA Backstretch of ce at Woodbine is now open Monday to Friday from 7am to 3pm. The of ce will be open seven days a week at the start of the 2008 racing season in April.
The HBPA Administrative Of ce will remain open during regular business hours throughout the winter months.
Applications for Trainer and Assistant Trainer testing are due two weeks prior to the test date. Only complete applications will be accepted. Applications will be available at the Woodbine HBPA Backstretch Of ce February 1, 2008. HBPA Trainer and Assistant Trainer Testing Schedule 2008:
May 28, 2008 - Both Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks
July 9, 2008 - Both Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks
March 26, 2008 - Woodbine Racetrack April 23, 2008 - Fort Erie Racetrack
September 24, 2008 - Both Woodbine and Fort Erie Racetracks
For more information contact the HBPA Back- stretch Of ce which re-opens at 7am February 29, 2008, 416-675-3802.
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