Changes for the "bettor" at the upcoming Spa meet

We are less than one week away from the beginning of the Saratoga race meet. There is a lot of new things beginning with the shift from Belmont Park to upstate with most of them will affect the "bettor". The first change came this past Wednesday, when the NYS Racing and Wagering Board gave the ok to NYRA allowing uncoupled racing entries. This means that race entries that do not have "common" ownership but the same trainer can now be two different betting numbers. If the owner places two horses that run in his name only in the same race, they will still be a coupled entry. This change has been long overdue for the betting public and will give the opportunity for better value with these type horses running as two different entries.

It was also announced this past week where NYRA has abandoned the Security Barn that was put in place five years ago when oversight committee recommended this during the state investigation of NYRA operations. This comes as NYRA faces shortfalls and more financial problems on the horizon. The security barn was originally put in place to prevent horses from being tampered with on the day they were going to race. Horses were moved from their own barn to this security barn 6 hours before their respective race. In some instants, the horses got upset because they were taken out of their own element. Even in rare situations the horse would react so bad, it would need to be scratched or would have a poor effort once the race was run. So, it comes to no surprise that many of the horsemen are very happy that the security barn has gone the way of the dinosaur.

With the removal of the security barn, NYRA will step up their testing and drug related issues when it comes to the thoroughbreds that race at all three NYRA tracks. They have expanded and enhance a in-house drug testing program to detect illegal performance-enhancing substances in thoroughbred race horses by utilizing state-of-the-art science, technology and procedural processes. The expanded program includes random out-of-competition testing designed to effectively deter the use of blood doping agents such as Erythropoietin (EPO), bronchial dilators and other emerging threats. Out-of-competition testing will focus primarily on claimed horses and horses shipping in and out of NYRA tracks or running in stakes races. NYRA will also initiate an “in-today” process which will identify all horses in their stalls that are running in a NYRA race within 24 hours. This will afford NYRA the ability to monitor horses the day prior to and in the hours leading up to a race. NYRA will continue testing for illegal levels of total carbon dioxide (TCO2 “milkshaking”) through an “assembly barn” where all horses entering a race will be required to report just prior to moving to the paddock for saddling. Even though one phase of racetrack security has been eliminated, steps have been taken to make sure that ALL horses racing at NYRA are under safe standards protecting the bettor and equine animal.