N.Y. Gaming Commission declines to address rules on quarantine

The New York Gaming Commission on Monday declined to take any action on a request from trainer Ken McPeek for the commission to examine the rules of entry at the tracks operated by the New York Racing Association so that horses coming out of quarantine would be eligible to enter races prior to the quarantine expiring.

Earlier this year, NYRA’s stewards denied the entry of seven horses trained by McPeek because entries were due for the races prior to a quarantine on his barn being lifted. McPeek had sought to enter the horses in races that were being run on Aug. 1, the date the quarantine was lifted, and on Aug. 4 and Aug. 5.

The gaming commission said in a written response to McPeek that it would not issue a judgement in the matter or provide any relief because doing so would constitute an “advisory opinion, which is not allowable under the facts and circumstances of this matter.” It also said that it would not consider any changes to the rules in place at NYRA tracks because “such relief is beyond the scope of the proceeding.”

McPeek’s horses were put in quarantine because a horse in the barn where he was stabled tested positive for equine herpesvirus during the lucrative Saratoga Race Course meet. None of McPeek’s horses tested positive during the 21-day quarantine.

Also at the commission meeting, the commission said that it will begin to examine a rule that requires horses ridden by married jockeys to be coupled for wagering purposes. Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have removed the requirement, but she said in her veto note that she wanted the gaming commission to examine the feasibility of changing the rule.

At the start of the meeting, which was conducted by conference call, the commission granted nine licenses to mobile sports-betting operators, including FanDuel, the parent company of TVG.

The commission also adopted language into its rules for sports betting that will allow the licensees to offer a “shared wallet” that can be used to make horse racing wagers through the NYRA Bets platform.

David O’Rourke, the chief executive officer of NYRA, said after the meeting that he anticipated starting discussions soon with the licensees to enable the NYRA Bets platform to appear on the operators’ mobile apps. NYRA already has a business relationship with one of the operators that received a license on Monday, BetMGM.

“This is big news not just for us but for horse racing,” O’Rourke said. “This is going to open up a lot of distribution and access to a lot of sports fans. These guys are going to be spending very heavily on marketing, and getting that shared wallet was big.”