Tdn Q&A: Frank Stronach
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FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 NYQUIST KEEPING TEAM O=NEILL CALM TDN Q&A: by Ben Massam FRANK STRONACH Five days after capturing the GI Kentucky Derby and three days after arriving at Pimlico Race Course to begin preparations for the May 21 GI Preakness S., Reddam Racing=s Nyquist (Uncle Mo) continues to take everything in stride. Speaking on an NTRA teleconference call Thursday afternoon, trainer Doug O=Neill reported that all signs point to Nyquist Nyquist | Mike Kane being a happy, healthy, and spry horse [video]--qualities that give the trainer and his team a decidedly calm mind set heading into the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Cont. p4 Frank Stronach | Horsephotos IN TDN EUROPE TODAY On Wednesday, The Stronach Group (TSG) unveiled the concept of the Pegasus World Cup (PWC), a $12-million race-- AL SHAQAB SEEKING CLASSIC DOUBLE billed as the world=s richest--to be run Jan. 28, 2017, at Chris McGrath catches up with Al Shaqab Racing’s Harry Gulfstream Park. Herbert ahead of a potentially big weekend for the operation in The 1 1/8-mile dirt event will be funded by the sale of 12 France. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. individual $1-million ownership Ashares@ that entitle any horse (not just a specific nominee) to a spot in the starting gate. The shareholder is free to lease, contract or otherwise sell the privilege to start in the race, and will be further entitled to share equally in 100% of the net income from PWC handle, media rights, and sponsorships. On Thursday morning, Frank Stronach, the founder and honorary chairman of TSG, granted a brief phone interview to TDN=s T.D. Thornton to follow up on some key points about the PWC. An edited transcript follows. TDN: You=re in both the business of running racetracks and breeding/racing horses. How much of this idea is based on wanting to try something new versus recognizing that the industry is in need of a paradigm shift of the way we put on the show? FS: I bought my first yearling nearly 50 years ago. I own racetracks. I just like to do things that will be good for horse racing, exciting for horse racing. Any business, whatever you do, it=s always nice if you can be innovative. Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Friday, May 13, 2016 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Assistant Editors Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Kusch Sr. Ad Coordinator/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Brittlan Wall @bwallTDN August Pons @APonsTDN Alexa Reisfield GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (Uncle Mo) jogged two miles the wrong way at Social Media Strategist Pimlico Thursday as he prepares for the next step in his Triple Crown try next Nichola Henry @NicholaHenryTDN Saturday | Maryland Jockey Club [email protected] Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes FINLEY: BETFAIR: WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE 6 [email protected] Bill Finley discusses the difficulties he has experienced Director of Information Technology using the new Betfair exchange in New Jersey. Ray Villa [email protected] TODAY’S GRADED STAKES WORLDWIDE INFORMATION EDT Race Click for TV International Editor 10:00a Prix Texanita-G3, MSN ---------------- ----- Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] 11:05a Yorkshire Cup-G2, YOR ---------------- ----- European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 7 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • MAY 13, 2016 TDN: For the past decade or so, racetracks have been paying exorbitant appearance fees and bonuses to attract marquee horses. Does the PWC signal a fundamental shift, so that owners of star horses might be expected to commit money up front in order to cash in on a potentially bigger payday on the back end? FS: No, no. I think the basic idea was, we will set up a corporation and incorporate it as 12 shares. And for a million bucks you can buy a share. And if you haven=t got the right horse, you can make an arrangement. You can lease the spot [in the starting gate] to somebody, or do a joint venture, or split the purse with another owner. There=s a wide variety as to what you could do. TDN: Do you anticipate selling out all 12 PWC shares? Are there contingency plans for under subscriptions? FS: Under subscriptions are not a problem. In the case that not all the shares are sold, we just will pick them up. There will be 12 horses in the starting gate, no question. TDN: How about over subscriptions? Do you envision there could be a secondary market created in which owners who bought shares early will sell them for a profit as the race approaches? FS: I=m quite sure that in some cases, that will happen. TDN: At what point is the $1 million due? FS: I think the timetable is about towards the end of June or early July. TDN: Explain the rationale for scheduling the race at Gulfstream in January. FS: First of all, we do not want to conflict with the Breeders= Cup, because they=re putting on a great show. And we do not want to conflict with the G1 Dubai World Cup. I think those are great programs, and we didn=t want to interfere. That=s why we picked the [January] time. It=s a quiet time in racing. And if you have a great horse that could be a stallion, there=s still plenty of time [to both run in the PWC and retire the horse to stud] for that particular breeding year. TDN: How about concerns about conflicting with TSG=s own traditional winter Grade I stakes races for older dirt horses, like the Donn H. or Santa Anita H.? FS: They go on. That=s not a problem. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 7 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • MAY 13, 2016 TDN: This is clearly an out-of-the-box concept. Are there TDN: What is your long-term vision for the PWC? If we were some out-of-the-box revenue-generating ideas that might be to have a conversation five years from now about it, what tapped to go with it? would you expect we would be talking about? FS: The revenue stream goes 100% to the shareholders. I don=t FS: We hope that the race could carry on for a long, long time think there=s a huge risk. I think hopefully the race will get very or forever. popular, that it will be, to a great extent, self-funding. The media rights, the betting handle, the marketing rightsY It=s the richest race in the world, so it should attract a lot of attention. We do hope that the television broadcasting companies will want to Nyquist cont. from p1 participate in that. AHis appetite was great, his coat looks good,@ O=Neill reported from Baltimore. AElias [Anaya], his main guy, was all smiles. We TDN: What sort of feedback have you gotten from owners tacked him up, Jonny [Garcia] got on him and jogged him two and horsemen? miles [Thursday]. He was full of energy and loose, and looked FS: I spoke to a lot of owners, over the last few months I fantastic. So we=re very happy with the way the morning went.@ bounced some of the ideas off them. Management has a whole O=Neill outlined his plans for the coming weeks, a schedule flood of people being interested with questions and answers. The that calls for Nyquist to jog and gallop on alternating days. With people which will subscribe to the shares will have an automatic no serious workouts on the horizon, the four-time Breeders= right to participate in the future [runnings] of this race. Cup-winning conditioner said that his primary goal is to preserve his trainee=s current level of fitness. TDN: At some point you must have run Afor instance@ AIt=s just maintenance mode,@ the trainer explained. ARight numbers to give potential share buyers an idea of what type of now, we=re just trying to keep him healthy, happy, keep him in returns they might expect. Can you discuss some ballpark the feed tub and keep his appetite strong. Coming back on short financial expectations? rest, the Kentucky Derby was the equivalent to about three or FS: We have some ideas. But I hope and I think that the race four workouts, so he should be ready.@ will get a lot of attention, that a lot of horsemen will participate O=Neill has been in this position before, having brought fellow in it. Reddam colorbearer I=ll Have Another (Flower Alley) to Pimlico in 2012 on the heels of a convincing 1 1/2-length score at TDN: Do you see the aggregate amount of profit that owners double-digit odds in the Derby. Not nearly as accomplished as will share from this concept as being a greater amount of Nyquist as a juvenile, the chestnut benefitted from a stout money than what a racetrack would expect to generate from training regimen, and in response, delivered his fourth paying for and marketing a $12 million race by itself? consecutive win by a hard-fought neck in the Preakness.