ADW Company Voices Concern to CHRB

Ed Comins, the president of advance-deposit wagering company and racetrack operator Watch and Wager, expressed concern over his company's standing in California Jan. 26 during a California Horse Racing Board session at Santa Anita Park.

The concern stems from Monarch Content Management, an arm of The Stronach Group, not allowing Watch and Wager's ADW platform to offer wagering on Monarch tracks to California customers. Monarch similarly does not allow the ADW BetAmerica to offer wagers on Monarch tracks to California customers.

According to The Stronach Group website, Monarch tracks include Santa Anita, Del Mar, Gulfstream Park, Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park, Lone Star Park, Golden Gate Fields, Los Alamitos Race Course, the California Authority of Racing Fairs, Portland Meadows, Meadowlands, and Monmouth Park.

Watch and Wager operates the Standardbred harness racing at Cal Expo in Sacramento.

"Our business is rather small, but it has had a material impact on our California business," Comins told the CHRB during a discussion about ADWs providing financial information to the board as requirement for licensing. "I'm very, very disappointed in the situation as it currently stands. We are a racetrack operator in the state and we did sign a long-term deal with our landlords at Cal Expo for five years until 2022 in a good-faith gesture and we've supported the track for a very long time.

"I'm not saying and I'm not threatening anything at all, but if this situation continues, then my board back in London will have to take a long, hard review at our Californian strategy."

In December, The Stronach Group executive Scott Daruty said Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields would exclude Watch and Wager and BetAmerica from taking wagers on races at the two racetracks for customers in California, but did not indicate that policy would also include other Monarch tracks.

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After hearing Comins' statement, CHRB members also voiced concerns.

"I'd direct (CHRB counsel) Phil (Laird) to get involved, because of the interconnection between the parties," said CHRB member Madeline Auerbach. "It doesn't pass the smell test at this point, and I hope you guys resolve it. I don't know what is going on and I don't want to know, but I'd sure like to see it resolved."

CHRB member George Krikorian also voiced unease.

"It seems like a conflict of interest to me," Krikorian said in reference to the relationship with The Stronach Group's racetracks, content management, and its own ADW, Xpressbet.