The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity of horse racing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA has offices in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

, and Rye Brook, New York. Historically, it is the marketing departments of the individual tracks, not the national marketing campaigns, which have attracted a fan base. In 2012, the radio campaign by advertising agency, DeVito/Verdi, led to an increase in a younger, more affluent fan base, and won the Mercury awards for the best radio campaign. The current President and CEO of NTRA is Tom Rooney, a former member of Congress from Florida.

History

Founding and early lobbying

The NTRA was formed in 1998 with

startup funding Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...

provided by

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, i ...

Limited, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, The Jockey Club, Keeneland Association,

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

and the National Thoroughbred Association. It replaced the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America as the sponsor of the

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, " ...

awards in 1998. Beginning in the late 1990s, the NTRA operated a number of lobbying campaigns in Washington, D.C. They NTRA registered a "hard money" political action committee with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

on July 14, 2000, with the organization quoting that "a $1-million PAC is a necessary complement to the NTRA's federal lobbying efforts."

Online wagering - Federal authorization

On December 15, 2000, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

passed a package of

appropriations bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

s which included an amendment to the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA), a bill first enacted in 1978. The NTRA had been a key lobbying team behind the new legislation, and the IHA Amendment was signed by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

on December 22 and clarified that the US horse racing industry could conduct interstate

simulcasting Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

and "commingling of pools and account wagering," so long as the states where the activity occurred permitted such activity. This legislation confirmed that Internet-based wagering related to horse racing was legal, so long as the wagering business could confirm the identity and age via closed-loop authentication. Separate gambling legislation known as the

Federal Wire Act The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text: Several legal opinions and rulings ...

that historically prohibited any betting over state lines via technology stayed intact, with horse racing becoming the sole exemption for federally recognized online gambling in states that authorized the activity.

Federal tax relief

Beginning in 2002 the NTRA lobbying team advocated for H.R. 4474, which gained bipartisan support for its proposal to eliminate the 30% tax that the U.S. government then placed on all international bets. This legislation was signed into law in by President George W. Bush October 22, 2004. In 2006 the NTRA lobbying team secured an additional exemption for horse racing in the

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) is United States legislation regulating online gambling. It was added as Title VIII to the SAFE Port Act (found at ) which otherwise regulated port security. The UIGEA prohibits ga ...

, signed by President Bush on October 13, 2006.

Marketing and advertising

Historically, it is the marketing departments of the individual tracks, not the national marketing campaigns, which have attracted a fan base. In 2012, the radio campaign by advertising agency,

DeVito/Verdi DeVito/Verdi is an American-based advertising and public relations company, headquartered in New York City, formed in 1993 by partners Sal DeVito and Ellis Verdi when founding partner and Creative Director, John Follis, left Follis/DeVito/Verdi to ...

, led to an increase in a younger, more affluent fan base, and won the Mercury award for the best radio campaign. In September 2017, two of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's radio ads, created by DeVito/Verdi, won "Hall of Fame" awards at the 2017 Clio Awards show. The Hall of Fame selections are for "outstanding work from the past that has stood the test of time and cemented a place of honor and respect in the hearts and memories of consumers and advertising professionals alike".

Tracks

Northeast

* Aqueduct (Ozone Park, NY) *

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

(Elmont, NY) *

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

(Farmington, NY) 'Inactive''* Monmouth Park (Oceanport, NJ) 'Inactive''* Saratoga (Saratoga Springs, NY) *

Suffolk Downs Suffolk Downs is a former Thoroughbred race track in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The track opened in 1935 after being built by Joseph A. Tomasello for a cost of $2 million. It was sold in May 2017 to a developer who plans to crea ...

(Boston, MA)

Midwest

* Canterbury Park (Shakopee, MN) * Indiana Grand (Shelbyville, IN)

South

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was p ...

(Louisville, KY) * Fair Grounds (New Orleans, LA) *

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group, is a Thoroughbred race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Thoroughbred horse racing occurs year-round, defined by three distinct race meets ...

(Hallandale Beach, FL) * Keeneland (Lexington, KY) * Kentucky Downs (Franklin, KY) * Laurel Park (Laurel, MD) *

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

(Baltimore, MD) * Turfway Park (Florence, KY)

West

* Del Mar (Del Mar, CA) * Golden Gate (Albany, CA) * Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, CA) *

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

(Arcadia, CA) * Sunland Park (Sunland Park, NM)

Canada

* Woodbine (Toronto, ON)

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , title = Fiftieth Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing , url = http://www.jockeyclub.com/roundtable/pdf/roundtable_02.pdf , publisher = The Jockey Club , date = August 18, 2002 , access-date = 2014-07-06 {{cite news , title =Horse Racing Nuzzles Capitol Hill , first =Shalaigh , last =Murray , newspaper =

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, date =July 25, 2003 {{cite news , title =Edited Press Release: Horse PAC Increases Size of Board of Directors , url =http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/31944/horse-pac-increases-size-of-board-of-directors , newspaper =

The Blood-Horse ''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.

, date =January 27, 2006 , access-date = 2014-11-30 {{cite news , title =Gambling ban falls short again , first =Mike , last =Brunker , url =http://www.problemgambling.com/net_gambling_falls_short.html , publisher =

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

, date =December 27, 2000 , access-date = 2014-11-10 {{cite news , title =Odd Befellows on Internet Betting , first =Peter H. , last =Stone , newspaper =

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...

/ Lobbying and Law , date =June 14, 2003 {{cite news , title =Elimination of Withholding Tax Becomes Law , first =Tom , last =LaMarra , url =http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/24974/elimination-of-withholding-tax-becomes-law#ixzz3Kt89lM7V , newspaper =

, date =October 22, 2004 , access-date = 2014-11-30 {{cite news , title = Bush Signs Internet Gambling Bill That Includes Horse Racing Exemption , url = http://www.hbpa.org/HorsemensJournalDisplay.asp?section=3&key1=8364 , newspaper = The Horsemen's Journal , publisher = HBPA.com , date = Winter 2006 , access-date = 2014-11-30 {{cite web, title=NTRA, url=http://www.ntra.com/, publisher=NTRA, access-date=16 July 2013

External links

The NTRA official website
1997 establishments in the United States Horse racing in the United States Sports governing bodies in the United States Sports organizations established in 1997