EN/DE: How US Greyhound Racing Works ? / Wie funktioniert das Greyhound Racing in den USA ?
Verfasst: Do 8. Feb 2018, 13:30
A Simple Primer --- How US Greyhound Racing Works
Many people who have adopted retired racing greyhounds, don’t entirely understand how racing works.
Of course, it starts with the greyhounds themselves, and the people who breed them. Racing greyhounds are all registered with the National Greyhound Association, of which their breeders are members. The NGA is the official breed registry, maintains the "studbook" (detailed breeding records), conducts inspections of breeding facilities, and has the power to revoke membership within it, for humane and ethical violations of its rules.
There are some breeders who keep and control very large colonies of breeding females and sires, and who raise hundreds of greyhounds each year. There are others who have much more modest operations, and there are others, still, for whom breeding is not the sole source of their income, and who may have second careers, apart from racing.
Some breeders have contracts to race at certain tracks, and breed mainly to supply their own racing enterprises. There are others who don’t have racing enterprises, and who breed to “lease” their dogs to a racing kennel(s), which may or may not be a subsidiary of another breeding operation.
The typical leasing agreement is 35% to the kennel, 35% (or slightly more) to the owner, with the rest kept by the kennel for training services, upkeep and veterinary costs. Owners do not pay a weekly or monthly fee to the kennels they race with. In the US, you have no "right" to race your own greyhounds under your own brand. You must have a contract to race at any track, anywhere. That involves maintaining a large string of racers, and usually owning a breeding facility. Short of that, you must lease your greyhounds to a kennel that does have a contract.
Twice a year the NGA holds a competition for sapling greyhounds, who are almost ready to go to the racetrack and begin their careers--after which an auction takes place. Those who are not breeders, as well as breeders, can bid on any greyhound they like, and if they are the highest bidder, they purchase that greyhound for themselves. They may have their own racing enterprise, or they might be an independent owner. It doesn’t matter.
All racing greyhounds are owned by either a racing kennel, a group, or by individuals.
The racetracks do not own the greyhounds.
The racetracks simply contract kennels to supply them with greyhounds, and ordinarily provide housing space on premises, for which the kennel ordinarily pays rent/utilities as part of the deal. When a kennel owner signs a contract to race at a track, he/she guarantees that they will keep an “active list”—which is a mandated number of greyhounds, fit for racing at all times. Failure to sustain that active list can be cause for the track to revoke the kennel’s contract to race.
So the kennels are responsible for providing the greyhounds, and the tracks provide the kennel space, security and the racing venue—the racetrack itself.
It is the job of the racetrack management to actually manage the racetrack and the racetrack surface, as well as the lure, and whatever outbuildings there are for the dogs. The kennels have no access to the racetrack, other than to provide greyhounds to race on it. The racetrack’s management is also the entity which promotes and advertises what they offer—or not.
The racetrack also handles all the money the public wagers on the races. Here in the US, we use the Pari-Mutuel system of wagering, where all wagered monies are pooled, and where the public bets against one another. The racetrack has no interest in whether you win or lose your wagers, they simply handle the pools, sell the tickets, and pay out to those who hold winning tickets after the race is official. The more money that is wagered, the more money the tracks, kennels and states make.
The odds you see on the tote board, reflect what they call the “takeout”. They are not fixed, and they fluctuate as betting ensues. The “takeout” is a pre-deducted percentage of each dollar wagered, from which the track, the kennels and the state derive their income. The takeout is split—usually unevenly—among the track, the state and the aggregate kennels, with the larger percentages ordinarily taken by the state and track.
Some racetracks, because they were already licensed Pari-Mutuel facilities, requested and have been given special privilege to conduct casino style games in addition to their racing programs. To receive this preferential treatment, they agreed to share a certain percentage of the casino wagering revenues with the racing kennels, knowing that the wagering handle on the races would be negatively impacted by the on-site competition for the wagering dollar. These tracks now would like to renege on that revenue-sharing agreement, and keep all the casino monies to themselves. This desire on the part of those “racinos”, is commonly known as “decoupling”.
The state is the regulatory authority. They inspect the kennels and the racetracks, via appointed Racing Commission or other Gaming Commission officials called “judges”, and the office of the state veterinarian, who usually consults with the track veterinarian on matters of greyhound well being.
The Clerk of Scales has a list of every greyhound’s set weight. The trainer sets the greyhound’s racing weight. Once it is set, the greyhound must weigh in for racing, within one and one half pounds of that set weight, either up or down, or he/she will be scratched (disqualified from racing that day or night). The trainer may revise the greyhound’s set weight after a race, one pound, up or down, at a time. This assures that greyhounds are being fed properly, and that no one is tampering with their weight in order to affect performance.
The track vet’s job is to observe and if necessary, to inspect each and every dog who is racing on any given day or night, to make sure that they are well, fit, and sound enough to race. He has the authority to “scratch” (refuse to allow the dog to race) any greyhound at any time, who does not meet that criteria, in his opinion.
The racing judges have the right to fine and/or suspend, via commission hearings, for any alleged rule-breaking, either on the part of the tracks, their employees, the kennels, and their employees (trainers and assistants) and associates, the latter of whom are those persons who own dogs which are leased to a kennel.
The greyhound trainers all work for individual kennels. They are not track employees, but they must be licensed by the state. The “trainer of record” -- the one listed in the racing program -- is the legal “sole insurer” of the dogs in his kennel. This simply means that he is the responsible party for seeing to it that all rules, welfare protocols, environmental mandates and procedures are followed, to a “T”.
The Racing Secretary is employed by the track, and he is the person who “cards” the racing performances, draws up the races, and oversees the impartiality of competition, and the drawing of post-positions. He makes sure the greyhounds are in their proper grade. The grading system is comprised, usually, of five grades:
Grade M is for maidens, that is, greyhounds who have never won an official race.
Ordinarily, the other grades are Grade D, Grade C, Grade B and Grade A, with the latter being the top grade, where only the very best dogs compete. Grade S is for “stakes” races, which are usually added prize money events. Grade T is for mixed grade races, where the Racing Secretary selects the participants, usually only done when entries are scarce.
Each time a greyhound wins a race, they advance a grade. When they finish worse than 3rd, three times in a row, they drop down a grade. There are local variations of this system, for example, at some tracks, a greyhound who has finished no better than 3rd, one time in 5 races, may also drop a grade. Nevertheless, the grading system insures that greyhounds of equal recent form and ability are competing against one another.
The track General Manager and/or Director of Racing is the person who sets the agenda at the racetrack, and who can ultimately exert great influence over which kennels will have their contracts renewed, which might be told to move on, and which kennels might replace them.
COPYRIGHT, 2015
Dennis McKeon