Will Quinella Caper Cause Horse Tracks To Alter Wagering?

Pat Cummings, executive director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, noticed a suspicious wagering activity at Gulfstream Park on Friday, Nov. 11. The quinella pool in that first race at the South Florida track swelled to $24,280. The horses that were supposed to finish first and second did, but the bettors who picked the top two horses to win the quinlla made $42.40 on a $2 bet. Cummings wants the tracks to change the wager types to guard against such manipulation. He wants to see if the track will alter the betting rules.

Gulfstream removed a quinella wager from its betting menu. The bettor placed $18,000 worth of quinella wagers on Miss Grand Slam and recouped that money several times over by betting on a Quinella at offshore sportsbooks. The quinea pool is vulnerable because of low level of liquidity. It's not about the quina but about how the show pool, the place pool and the double pool are manipulated. There have been dozens of examples of this in American racing in the last six to eight months. Gulfstream is in upper tier.

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Darrick Minner's UFC bout attracted a lot of betting before the bout. Several sportsbooks reported suspicious activity to U.S. Integrity, a private wagering monitor. The Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau monitors its member tracks. New York Racing Association offers quinella wagers twice a day. NYRA has no plans to change its wagerting menu.  “The track operators set the betting menu and they need to be offering a series of bets that meet the needs of the customers and provide proper liquidity.”