TDN Writers' Room Podcast, Episode 34 with guest Pat Cummings | April 29, 2020

Thoroughbred Idea Foundation executive director Pat Cummings joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland Wednesday to discuss a wide-ranging assortment of macro issues the sport is facing, and how it can be more efficient post-pandemic. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Cummings was asked about last week's #FreeDataFriday white paper posted by the TIF, in which he focused on the shockingly small percentage of purse money that is derived from wagering dollars.

“It's been happening like this for a very long time and the situation has really just worsened bit by bit year after year,” he said. “I think as an industry, the topic has generally just kind of been kicked down the lane, and it didn't help that most jurisdictions have been supported with some sort of revenue from casinos … You look at a place like California and it's a jurisdiction that has not had any influence of casinos. Even still, they've made things work over the years, [but] only about 4.4% of total handle actually goes to prize money.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers previewed the action-packed stakes weekend coming up at Oaklawn and, in the West Point News of the Week, analyzed the implications of the decision by Fasig-Tipton to condense all of its summer yearling sales into one auction.

Read full synopsis on the TDN.