NYRA Refunds Wager; Previous Pool Being Investigated

The New York Racing Association reported significant integrity issues—specifically past posting—in its "Cross Country" Pick 4 wager Oct. 13 featuring races from Belmont Park and Yonkers.

What NYRA didn't report is that a similar two-track, Pick 4 wager six days earlier is being investigated for a similar issue.

NYRA said Oct. 13 that all wagers made on Saturday's Belmont-Yonkers Pick 4 will be refunded after it was determined that bettors wagered after the start of the first leg in the sequence, Race 7 at Yonkers. The NYRA release said it was determined that a "stop betting" order at its tote provider, AmTote International, for the separate pool wager was not applied ahead of the first race in the sequence, leaving the pool open.

NYRA issued the statement on the problem at 8:44 p.m. EDT, and BloodHorse could not reach anyone at AmTote at that hour for comment.

The problem Saturday is similar to a problem reported by at least one bettor during NYRA's Belmont Park-ParisLongchamp Pick 4 Oct. 7, which started with the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). A bettor at TwinSpires.com noticed a potential problem and said he was able to put wagers through after both the first race and second race in that sequence.

The bettor told BloodHorse he was only looking to confirm the problem and immediately canceled both wagers. The bettor contacted TwinSpires.com about the problem.

While the bettor wished to remain anonymous, he did provide BloodHorse his betting record that included a time-stamped record of canceled wagers after both the first and second races in the sequence had been run. Bettors are not allowed to wager or cancel Pick 4 wagers after races in the wagering sequence have started.

Spokesmen for the New York Racing Association and the New York State Gaming Commission both said in the days after the Oct. 7 wager that there was no evidence of past posting—wagers made after the start of a race or, in this case, the start of the first race in the sequence. On Oct. 14 NYRA director of communications Pat McKenna said no money came into the Oct. 7 pool late.

The NYSGC official did not respond to BloodHorse inquiries asking when the stop wagering command was issued for the Oct. 7 wager.

The Oregon Racing Commission, which oversees most of the advance-deposit wagering handle in the country, is investigating what happened Oct. 7 in the Belmont-Longchamp pool. After seeing the record of the bettor's canceled wagers, ORC executive director Jack McGrail confirmed that his staff, led by ADW supervisor Connie Winn, will investigate the potential problem.

"Obviously, this is a matter of serious concern and will be thoroughly reviewed," McGrail said. "There are multiple parties involved, including ADWs, tote, account holders, perhaps even PMU (French pools). Incident reports should be generated by some or all of these parties. This is a highly unusual event given that redundant protections are ordinarily built into the system."

AmTote has not returned a phone call from BloodHorse about the Oct. 7 issue.

NYRA has offered a number of "cross country Pick 4s" this year. For both the Oct. 13 pool with Yonkers and Oct. 7 pool with Longchamp, Belmont served as the pool host. Saturday's Pick 4 with Yonkers saw $12,409 wagered, following the $63,527 wagered into the Oct. 7 Pick 4 with Longchamp.

For the Oct. 13 pool, NYRA said it would refund all wagers. No such refunds have been made on the Oct. 7 pool, where NYRA officials said they found no evidence of wagers coming in after the start of the wager. In the Oct. 13 pool, NYRA said some wagers were made after the start of the first race, but they were not winning wagers.

"Wagering on the Belmont-Yonkers Pick 4 was stopped during the running of the Harry Harvey Invitational Trot (first race in the sequence, at Yonkers), with some wagers entering the pool late," NYRA said in a statement. "None of the wagers made after the Belmont-Yonkers Pick 4 closed would have been successful. However, in an effort to be fair to all bettors, the Belmont-Yonkers Pick 4 gross pool of $12,409 has been refunded. 

"Players that purchased winning tickets will be contacted and paid the full amount. Those players that correctly played the winning sequence of 1-6-5-2 will be paid $1,250.75 for each $0.50 ticket."

BloodHorse was able to reach the NYSGC late Oct. 13. The regulator did not directly answer whether it would review all of NYRA's two-track Pick 4 wagers. Asked if the regulator would review these wagers, spokesman Brad Maione responded by email, "NYRA issued a press release on this today. We have no comment."

That NYRA release only addressed the problem with the Oct. 13 wager and does not say whether any previous multi-track Pick 4s will be reviewed for any problems.

The winning payout for the Oct. 7 Pick 4 wager with Longchamp for $0.50 was $87.50, which doesn't seem obviously out of line considering the low odds of the winning horses in the sequence.

The Belmont-Yonkers Pick 4 included the $1 Million Yonkers International Trot and the $250,000 Harry Harvey Invitational from Yonkers along with the $200,000 Pebbles and $100,000 Floral Park Stakes from Belmont.

The Pick 4 with Longchamp, promoted as the Transatlantic Pick 4, included the $500,000 Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) and $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) from Belmont along with the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) and Prix de l'Opera Longines (G1) from Longchamp.