Tote Malfeasance

Real Writing on Racing 💯

Today’s piece will be relatively brief but I felt it’s important to address the disturbing matter of last weekend’s fiasco at Tampa before it recedes in our minds as the inevitable next racing disaster grabs our attention. For those who don’t know what happened (read the DRF coverage), due to what’s been reported as “connectivity issues” at some mid-Atlantic wagering hub, a wide swath of tracks served by AmTote (operated by parent company 1/ST) had their wagering cut off late Saturday afternoon. This issue created a domino effect of problems that most negatively impacted Tampa Bay Downs and its signature race, the Tampa Bay Derby. That ‘50 point to the winner’ Kentucky Derby prep was delayed 40 minutes with the horses in the paddock and ultimately run as a non-betting affair after the previous race, the Florida Oaks was unable to be declared official due to the tote malfunction. For most of Saturday night and into Sunday morning those holding physical tickets on the races were unable to cash them in and the vast majority of bets made via ADW accounts were in limbo with almost no comment about anything from anyone in any official capacity. When it was finally figured out late Sunday morning the end result of refunds and consolation payoffs created more consternation and a poorly constructed ‘pass the buck’ press release from Roberts Communications didn’t help matters much.

We aren’t here to discuss the mechanisms of the tote system because for the vast majority of us, how the betting sausage is made isn’t of interest. What we will point out is how the continued failures of what everyone in the know calls an “antiquated system” is a glaring indicator of a lack of commitment by major racing companies towards the actual racing ecosystem. At this point, in the face of ever increasing competition in a tech dependent gambling world, what else would you call it? How are we still operating tote systems that regularly have issues, with little transparency about how those issues came about or what is being done to fix them? How are we operating tote systems that cause massive late odds changes because the bets are filtered in so slow in comparison to every single other electronic transfer that we are associated with? How is it that ADW’s go offline on major race days so often that it’s almost expected at this point? How is it happening in 2024 that you can make a bet at a simulcast outlet, walk away with a ticket and still not ultimately get paid for that bet if the tote system has some sort of issue in the meantime? What could sour you on betting horses more than getting a refund on a winning bet rather than getting paid on it, because of some “commingling” or “communication” issue by the bet takers vendor?

The fundamental requirement of bet takers is that people get paid when they make a winning bet!

How is it that two decades have passed since the Breeders Cup Pick 6 scandal where someone from the tote company rigged tickets after the results were in to cash for big money, yet literally no one has any faith that this isn’t possible again? Late odds changes during the running of the race are the scourge of the player regardless of how much the racing nerds try to make sense of it. It’s a tote issue. ADW’s not working, often for long periods of time on big event days is a tote issue. Still having to accept the post time favorite in horizontal bets when there are late scratches is a tote issue. Essentially CAW’s themselves have become a tote issue.

Yet has ANYONE in this industry given you a single morsel of confidence that these items are being addressed or will be addressed in any wholesale or effective manner anytime soon? Is it far fetched to believe that racing’s tote system could become the target of ransomware hackers on a major event day like Kentucky derby day or Breeders Cup? The answer unequivocally is no. Of course you could rattle off a laundry list of other problems that the racing industry faces that get that same level of aloofness from our racing leadership. Oh sure the suits will give us the usual drivel about hearing us and they are investigating or looking into or discussing or studying the issue of the hour….but what ever really gets done?

From our view? Nothing.

Transparency is not “Yes we are aware of the issue and we will investigate the cause and come up with solutions…” because we hear that all the time and the cause and effect is usually the opposite of transparency. That’s called damage control but the end result is rarely anything palatable for the aggrieved parties which in this business might be owners or trainers or breeders or jockeys or backside employees or frontside employees or bettors or anyone else involved with the industry.

In the end what most of us want is simple. We’d like to have an industry that produces a competitive racing product that operates in a fashion that feels fair for all involved, including the horses. We’d like to be treated with respect regardless of our role in the game whether it be as a wagering customer or horsemen or racing official or any other position. We’d like the racing side to still matter to the tracks and its suits because it sure doesn’t feel that way much too often. We’d like to see regulators do their damn jobs about a million times better than they do now when ludicrous stewards decisions are the norm and drug testing is misguided toward creating an illusion of competency with nonsensical positives rather than focusing on the actual bad guys. The bar for racing is set so low at this point it’s baffling that the suits and track management and other mostly ineffectual organizations STILL can’t clear it.

How much enough really is enough? This isn’t Wall Street. This isn’t the NFL. An old friend told me more than once, “nobody needs to own a racehorse”, and he is 100% correct about that. No one needs to bet on them or breed them or follow them from near or far either. Racing for the vast majority is a choice and it’s one that is getting tougher and tougher to select. This is still a great game but it’s diminishing, that trend is accelerating and no amount of hollow statements from the suits or having fancy parties or any other nonsensical scheme is gonna change it until heads roll and we start seeing things tangibly get better.

Good luck to us…