The Stronach Group, an organization that COO Tim Ritvo said isn't afraid to go out 'on the ledge' when it comes to testing new ideas in horse racing, launched the Pegasus World Cup in 2016. For 2019, the series has expanded to include lucrative races on dirt and turf.
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Introduction of the Horse Racing Roulette wager followed at the current Santa Anita Park meet. That concept could be in for even faster growth coinciding with the upcoming Pegasus.
Horse Racing Roulette, similar to the casino game, made its debut at Santa Anita Park on opening day Dec. 26 and was available on track and through Xpressbet, The Stronach Group's advance deposit wagering service. With the third Pegasus World Cup coming up Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park, Ritvo said Horse Racing Roulette could make its Gulfstream Park debut around the same time.
'Stronach Group, we think we're a large market share of the industry, so we think just sitting still and not trying new things and allowing things just to be status quo hurt us,' Ritvo said. 'We need to be successful. We need to be innovative. We don't want to sit back and be stagnant. The competition has already got a good jump on us in lots of new entertainment dollars.'
Horse Racing Roulette, presented to The Stronach Group by Cantor Gaming, works by placing horses into three different groups – red, black or green. The morning line favorite is usually be part of the red group, while the green group is mostly comprised of longshots. Players win when a horse from the designated color group they bet finishes first. The field requires a minimum of six horses, and it's a $2 minimum wager.
The takeout is 15.43 percent, the same as Santa Anita's win, place and show pools. But, as a recent story in The Thoroughbred Daily News points out, the takeout when playing roulette in Las Vegas is a much more friendly 5.26 percent. By law, Santa Anita cannot further lower the takeout on a pari-mutuel racing wager.
In addition to expanding to Gulfstream Park, horizontal and vertical Horse Racing Roulette wagers are also being considered.
Ritvo also said The Stronach Group welcomes all interested Advanced Deposit Wagering services to write software that incorporates Horse Racing Roulette.
'Obviously, we want line of distribution, and it's good for the industry,' he said, 'so we love sharing the new things we're doing.'
Although Ritvo noted Horse Racing Roulette has received positive feedback from novice players, not all experienced handicappers agree. The payouts are smaller than the traditional win pool due to less risk, and handicapping Horse Racing Roulette requires less skill.
'The culture in the racing business is anytime you change something, people aren't accustomed to change,' Ritvo said. 'We're trying new things not to be offensive to any of the existing players. We're just trying to create new things to bring new players in. Everybody has a different idea on how to do that, but we're going to try a bunch of things.
'We have thick skin,' he added. 'Sometimes you get attacked for trying new things. The bottom line is, we'll try them. If they work, great. If they don't, then we'll try something else.'