Global Symposium on Racing: Pool manipulation can give industry a black eye

TUCSON, Ariz. – Pat Cummings, the executive director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, told an audience at the Global Symposium on Racing on Wednesday that bettors have manipulated U.S. pari-mutuels pools “more than 50 times” in the past six months.

The question is, What to do about it?

First, it’s critical to know what is happening. In most cases, a bettor or group of bettors are targeting small pari-mutuel pools to depress the payout on a long-odds result – say, a 50-1 shot finishing in the money – in order to boost the pari-mutuel payouts on a more likely result. The bettors score on the race when they cash bets they have placed at offshore books that pay out at the inflated track prices. An example of this occurred at Gulfstream Park on Nov. 11.

It's not illegal, per se, to manipulate a pari-mutuel pool in this way, and Cummings and other racing officials have said there is no evidence that any racing licensees have conspired with the manipulators to gain a result. Also, when the scheme works, ironically, the people who bet legitimately through the pari-mutuel system on the targeted result often profit significantly by the manipulation through higher payouts. Also ironically, when the scheme doesn’t work, bettors get lower payouts than they deserve.

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But Cummings said at the symposium panel, titled “Illegal Betting’s Threat to the Racing Industry,” that pool manipulation incidents do have significant impacts on racing. First, they introduce suspicion about the integrity of the targeted race itself. Second, they introduce doubts about the integrity of the pari-mutuel wagering system. Third, they allow manipulators to have a “free ride” in the system they are manipulating to their benefit.

Finally, Cummings said, being able to manipulate a pool surely leads the manipulators to ask whether they can ensure the correct result by bribing a jockey or trainer.

“What’s an extra $500 to make sure they don’t run in the money?” Cummings asked.

Because the bettors nearly universally target small pools, Cummings advised tracks to eliminate bets that do not have high handles, citing, specifically, the rolling doubles popular at many tracks and show bets that rarely attract more than a few thousand dollars. Cummings also said that the racing industry should consider offering fixed-odds betting to reduce the opportunities for pool manipulation, at least in the straight pools.

“We have to rethink the way we are doing this, because every small pool is an opportunity to manipulate a pool, corrupt a participant, or corrupt a result,” Cummings said. “You don’t want a bad name associated with your product, and every time someone manipulates a pool, and it’s noticed, it’s bad for your product.”

Cummings also said that stewards should increase their vigilance over the pari-mutuel pools in their jurisdictions, be able to spot the manipulation, conduct appropriate investigations, and advise management on how to avoid the incidents.

The offshore books tat the players use to cash their bets are increasingly popular sites for illegal betting schemes, according to another panelist, Martin Purbrick, the chairman of the Asian Racing Federation’s Council on Anti-Illegal Betting. According to a recent study conducted by the council, betting at illegal sites was up 64 percent from 2019-2021, while betting through legal sites was up 36 percent.

“That’s where customers are going, because that’s where the action is, obviously based on prices and promotion,” Purbrick said.

More diversity needed

Racing companies and organizations, historically white and male, need to diversify their workforces, and they need to begin to do that immediately, participants in another panel on Wednesday said, and that’s not just because it’s the right thing to do – it’s also because it makes business sense.

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Ray Daniels, the co-founder of a Louisville-based organization supporting “pipelines” for minorities into the racing and breeding industry – who is also a trustee at the University of Louisville – said that the makeup of student bodies at universities is increasingly “black, brown, and female.” With unemployment at historically low levels, Daniels said, employers are scrambling to get the best workers, and college graduates are now demanding that companies not only have diverse workforces, but that they support policies that promote diversity.

“There’s a huge workforce battle out there that is being waged on a daily basis,” Daniels said. “We are talking about a highly educated work force, and they are the ones making the decisions about where they want to work.”

Daniels’ comments came during a panel entitled “Expanding Racing’s Reach: Strategies for Inclusion and Diversity.” Panelists included Dora Delgado, the chief racing officer for Breeders’ Cup; Naomi Howgate, the head of diversity and inclusion for the British Horseracing Authority; and Amy Zimmerman, a senior vice president at Santa Anita Park.

Delgado also noted the unwillingness of the next generation of workers to tolerate sexism or racism in the workplace. If those workers are unsatisfied with a company’s policies or practices, she said, “they are going to exit.”

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