Tom Rooney

One bill designed to restore the gambling losses tax deduction to 100% is languishing in committee and has, for all intents and purposes, politically flat-lined. The giant tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in July caps gambling loss deductions to 90% of winnings (from 100%)--a provision set to go into effect next year. Industry leaders have warned this rate change could hit horse racing hard through reduced revenues from gambling dollars. Those jurisdictions with no supplemental purse revenues, like California, are especially vulnerable to the...

The 55th annual Eclipse Awards will return to Florida in 2026 and will once again be held at The Breakers Palm Beach, with the ceremony to be held Thursday, Jan. 22, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF), and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) announced Tuesday. "We are ecstatic to return to The Breakers Palm Beach for our fourth year in a row," said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. "Celebrating the success of racing's human and equine champions is the highlight of the year,...

Godolphin took home both the National Owner of the Year and National Breeder of the Year prizes at the 40th annual TOBA National Awards in Lexington, Kentucky, which were presented across two days of ceremonies, according to a press release from the organization on Saturday. The National Awards Luncheon honored 2024 state and Canadian breeders at Godolphin Sept. 5, while the 2024 National Awards Dinner was held at Fasig-Tipton Sept. 6. TOBA 2024 award winners included: National Owner of the Year and National Breeder of the Year: Godolphin; National Small...

The NTRA's Tom Rooney has a lot to deal with in Washington right now, arguing on behalf of the racing industry for immigration, tax relief, and tariff relief. He appears on the TDN Writers' Room, presented by Keeneland, as the Gainesway Guest of the Week to discuss what progress is being made in Washington on those issues. Rooney was asked first about the new 30% tariffs recently announced by Donald Trump on racing-heavy regions like the European Union, Canada, and Japan, and how that would affect racehorses. The tariffs are...

Tom Rooney, President and CEO of the NTRA, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss implications of 'The One Big Beautiful Bill' Act for the industry.

The One Big Beautiful Act (OBBBA), passed by Congress and expected to be signed into law by President Trump, makes permanent 100% bonus depreciation, an important incentive for Thoroughbred breeders and owners, but also has negative implications for gamblers that are concerning to the industry. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill on Thursday, and now the bill heads to President Trump's desk to be signed, which is expected to happen on Friday, July 4. The bill extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts, approves hundreds of billions of dollars on...

The version of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by the Senate earlier this week contains a tax provision that could prove prohibitive to gamblers, with ramifications for horse racing's bottom line. In the Senate's version of the bill, deductions for gambling winnings will be limited to 90% of annual losses. Currently, gamblers can deduct 100% of wagering losses (below a net profit) for any given year. As NBC Sports describes it, "$100,000 in winnings against $100,000 in losses will be treated for tax purposes as if the losses...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is actively supporting the Regulation Advancement for Capital Enhancement (RACE) Act of 2025, the organized announced in a press release Monday. Introduced by congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) earlier this month, the a bill aims to simplify the registration process required by the Securities and Exchange Commission in order to allow more Americans to invest in the industry through fractional ownership of Thoroughbred racehorses. "Thanks to companies like MyRacehorse, thousands of people across the country get to experience the excitement of owning a winning horse," said...

by Sue Finley and Dan Ross Few commercial sectors appear immune from the current administration's sweeping import tariffs, and that includes horse racing's biggest Saturday of the year, with Japan's participants in the GI Kentucky Derby potential targets of the trade war. Stressing a general air of uncertainty surrounding the tariff specifics, Matt Haug, general manager of International Racehorse Transport (IRT), said that, as he and his customs broker understood the situation, the Japanese-trained Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah) is exempt from any tariff being a U.S.-bred runner. For foreign-bred horses--like...

Thomas Meis and Mallory Baker will be joining the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA)'s Washington, D.C. office, and Steve Driskill will be promoted to Vice President of NTRA Advantage-Equine Discounts. Driskill has been a member of the Advantage team since its inception in 2002. He replaces Fritz Widaman, who has joined the new Maryland Jockey Club. Driskill started his career in horse racing at Remington Park. Baker joins the NTRA's Washington, D.C. office in the newly created position of Horse PAC® coordinator. Previously, she's worked as an associate for The...

Dan Piazza, a financial advisor from Chicago, won the 26th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship at the Horseshoe Las Vegas held from March 14-16, and took home $825,000, an Eclipse Award as 2025 Horseplayer of the Year and earned a return trip to next year's NHC, according to a press release late Sunday from the NTRA. Sticking to his strategy throughout the contest, Piazza prevailed by amassing a mythical bankroll of $356.52. "I didn't try to do anything different and didn't get me out of my comfort zone," he said. "That...

Amid the fluid nature of the threatened 25% tariff on Canadian goods (those subject to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) entering the U.S. set to be enacted on April 2, one confusing aspect has surrounded just how long a horse entering the U.S. from Canada can reside in the country before a tariff will be imposed. As per the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, "We believe that horses from Canada can enter the United States for extended periods without paying duties under certain conditions," said Tom Rooney, president and chief...