NYRA Launches Starter Loyalty Program

Airline travelers have frequent flyer programs, and beginning next month, New York horsemen will have a rewards program of their own. The New York Racing Association is poised to implement a loyalty program that will award added purse money for each runner in a non-maiden race making five or more starts at NYRA tracks in a one-year period.

Called the 2018-19 Starter Loyalty Program, the innovative system will offer four levels of rewards based on an individual horse's starts at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course. It is designed to boost year-round participation in NYRA races and reward horsemen who race in New York throughout the year.

"It's a huge benefit to people who stay with us all year. If their horse gets five starts by the end of the summer, then all fall and winter they are running for increased purse money," said Martin Panza, NYRA's senior vice president of racing operations. "If we just raised purses $1,000 a race, it wouldn't help because we know 15% of the trainers earn 85% of the money. This is designed so any trainer can benefit. If you run your horses here, you will benefit, and maybe this will get people thinking twice before they ship out-of-state to run. If you are a trainer, now you are just penalizing yourself and your owner by doing that."

As for the specifics of the program, beginning April 2 and continuing through April 1, 2019, horses who make their fifth and sixth starts at NYRA tracks will achieve NYRA Silver status and will run for an added 5% in purse money in all races except for maiden races. After that, there's a NYRA Gold level for starts seven through nine with 7.5% more in purse money, followed by NYRA Platinum with a 12.5% bonus for starts 10-11, and finally NYRA Diamond for starts 12 or more with an extra 15% in purse money.

The enhanced payouts will be limited to the top five finishers in a race, with the exception of certain stakes where purse money is offered through eighth place, and will not be extended to breeders' purse supplements. 

"I commend NYRA and Martin Panza in particular for thinking creatively to create real incentive programs that get people to run at NYRA tracks. That's what we all want, whether you are a horseman, or a member of NYRA management," said owner Joe Appelbaum, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "Anyone interested in New York racing wants to see more racing, bigger fields, and bigger handle because of the bigger fields. I think it's great to see NYRA think creatively and try new things, especially those with the direct benefit of getting horses to run more often and increasing field size." 

A condition of the ground-breaking program is that while maiden races will count toward a horse's number of starts, the purse rewards will only be paid out on races for winners, including stakes.

Panza, who said the program was the brainchild of owner/breeder and NYRA Board of Directors member C. Steven Duncker, views it as an appropriate way to reward smaller stables who support winter racing and rely heavily on the coldest months of the year to stay afloat financially.

"This is a way to reward smaller trainers who are loyal to the program, and incentivizes and rewards trainers who run horses here. We want to reward loyalty. That's a sensible way to conduct business," Panza said. "Hopefully, now some owners will notice that some trainers run a horse nine times a year, and their horse runs three times a year. They might be training nicely, but you can't make any money training. It's good for any track to have horses run more."

Appelbaum also saw merits in rewarding horsemen for their perseverance and continued support of the sport during the duress of winter months in frigid New York.

"I agree that they should reward people who race in New York all year," he said. "It is important from a loyalty standpoint, and to keep our races filled all year. Everybody loves Saratoga, but no one wants to see four-horse fields there, and there are plenty of claiming races and New York-bred races at Saratoga. If we don't give those outfits with claimers and state-breds a chance to earn significant purse money, it's foolish to think they'll be around in the summer to run their horses. I think Martin is right on to reward these horsemen."

Trainer David Donk, who maintains a stable in New York throughout the year, was intrigued by the program.

"Winter racing is important to New York racing, and I suppose any way they can tinker with getting more participation can't hurt," said Donk, who has 41 starts from a combined 20 horses at Aqueduct this year, winning eight times and earning $306,125. "My business model is that I stay here all year, and my clients want to race all year, so you always like to see new ideas that can improve the product and increase the number of horses who run."

The creation of the rewards program comes at a time when NYRA has faced a difficult winter due to a rash of weather-related cancellations, two barns that were quarantined, and a struggle to fill races. For example, during four days of racing from Feb. 8-11, there were only 197 starters in 33 races at Aqueduct for an average of 5.96 starters per race. After starting March with 117 starters in the first 18 races of the month (6.5 per race), the totals increased from March 3-11 with 332 starters in 46 races for an average of 7.2 per race, thanks largely to the March 10 card with 87 starters in 10 races (8.7).

Since the NYRA starts in the program are transferrable, if a horse is sold or claimed, Appelbaum believes the program will make New York-based horses more valuable and will spur heightened interest in claiming horses as the year progresses.

"Come late summer and early fall, the claiming game will get really interesting, because you'll be counting a horse's starts and seeing what purses and rewards they are eligible for," he said. "It could make a significant difference and create a lot more interest in some horses."

Panza said there are safeguards to prevent owners and trainers from running their horses excessively or in ill-advised spots to accrue starts. Any race in which a horse loses by 25 or more lengths, or is placed on the vet's list for being lame or unsound, will not count for rewards purposes. Also, while a horse can run multiple times during a month, no more than two starts during a 30-day period will count toward the Starter Loyalty Program.

"It's a competitive world, and whenever money is at stake, there's all sort of incentives for people to play with the margins, but Martin has put in some good safeguards. It's a creative program and a thoughtful one on the horse welfare end, too. I'm sure we'll all keep an eye on it to make sure no one abuses the rules," Appelbaum said. "Hopefully, no one kills the golden goose."

Going forward, Panza is confident the program will prove to be popular, and the lure of extra cash will eventually warm the hearts of some previously resistant owners and trainers to the possibility of racing on a year-round basis in New York.

"After (Duncker) presented us with the idea, we ran about three years of stats to see what it cost. It will be in the millions, but the more and more we looked at it, the more it made sense. You should reward the people who stay with you. If you want to run out of town, fine. Next year, we might tweak it so that if you run out of town, you lose a start, but we'll run it for a calendar year and see what happens. The purses at Aqueduct are already better than virtually anyone else, and this will only make racing here all year even more attractive."