Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) is looking forward to presenting the Breeders’ Cup, Thoroughbred racing’s championship event, set for Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 from Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky at all of its outlets, including Woodbine Racetrack.
Canadian content for the 32nd edition of horse racing’s year-end title extravaganza includes Woodbine-based horses Conquest Daddyo, Catch A Glimpse and Riker, plus Canadian-bred standouts Judy the Beauty and Private Zone.
This year, the Breeders’ Cup has introduced an increased, standardized revenue sharing model for all participating racetracks and betting outlets in the hope of keeping the year-end spectacle a leading thoroughbred racing event.
This concept has created serious challenges for the participation of Canadian racing and wagering entities.
In the United States, taxes are primarily applied to the winnings from customers. In Canada, there are significant taxes and mandatory deductions made as a percentage of every wager, illuminating the differences in the two models.
“The introduction of this increased revenue sharing model which is also, in 2015, being applied at the racetrack with the lowest takeouts in the industry has led to a very difficult decision,” said Sean Pinsonneault, WEG’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer. “It is at the point where the economics of this arrangement no longer make any sense and that is not sustainable.”
In order to offer the Breeders’ Cup at Woodbine and its outlets across all platforms, WEG must increase the takeout on some betting pools to accommodate the boost in the revenue share to the Breeders’ Cup.
“The Win wager, which is most played by our fans, will have the host track takeout matched, but most other bets will have an adjusted takeout to try and offset some of the increase in the revenue share, allowing us to also maintain access to our rewards program for HPIbet customers,” said Pinsonneault.
HPIbet is WEG’s account-wagering platform.
Since common pooling with U.S. tracks began in 2005, WEG has been attempting to match the host track takeout on most pools. This effort has resulted in millions of dollars in benefits to customers.
“Woodbine Entertainment Group is quite sensitive to the needs of horseplayers – our own Win takeout on the Woodbine Thoroughbred product is a low 14.95% – but we simply cannot match the takeout percentage offered at the Breeders’ Cup,” said Pinsonneault. “Being transparent with the horseplayer through this process acknowledges another natural demand of the core customer.”
“Breeders’ Cup understands the Canadian racing entities’ taxation model is different, but we feel this standardized revenue sharing model is for the betterment of the program and in fairness to our domestic partners, we cannot make an exception in our approach,” said Breeders’ Cup’s CEO Craig Fravel. “Woodbine Entertainment Group has been a terrific partner for decades and we look to continue this relationship for many more.”
Takeout rates for Keeneland’s Breeders’ Cup card at WEG outlets for Friday and Saturday are as follows: Place & Show 18%; Exactor, Double, Super Hi-5, Pick-4, Pick-5 20%; Triactor, Superfecta, Pick-3 27%.
Win (16%) and Pick-6 (19%) will be matched at the Keeneland rate.
Fans can sign up for a free HPIbet account by visiting HPIbet.com to take advantage of the site’s points and cash incentive program.
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