by Nick Salvi, for Tioga Downs

Nichols, NY — Tioga Downs’ application to reduce the take-out on all wagers to the minimum allowable by New York State statute for the 2010 live racing season was approved at the New York State Racing & Wagering Board’s monthly meeting.

The reduction for each pool is as follows: WPS from 18 percent to 15 percent; Daily Double & Exacta from 20 percent to 17 percent and all other wagers from 25 percent to 21 percent.

This reduction is in direct response to the concerns of horseplayers nationally over the price of bets on all of horse racing. Tioga management has entered into an exchange of ideas with the Horseplayers Association of North America and continues a running dialogue with that organization in an effort to better serve our primary customers. The Southern Tier Harness Horsemen’s Association has given its support to the project and continues to demonstrate a forward thinking attitude toward racing promotion.

Tioga management considers this initiative as a pilot program to determine if a reduction in pricing will stimulate handle as demonstrated in a number of surveys and studies regarding the topic. It is their hope that all simulcast partners will support the action by offering Tioga racing to their customers. The cost of the signal to all outlets and decoder costs have been discounted to help negate any reduction in revenue to those simulcast partners.

“I would like to thank the Tioga Downs horsemen for supporting this pilot program and the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for supporting our initiative as well. We will continue to engage and listen to our customers needs and wants as we try to improve the overall business at both Tioga and Vernon Downs,” said Jason Settlemoir, VP of Racing.