Flatter: Yes, I buy the account of the Tampa tote turmoil

Las Vegas

When I saw Steve Byk preparing Thursday for his annual marathon of livestreams at the National Horseplayers Championship, I had to bring up the elephant in the mega-ballroom.

“Is it true Marty McGee made a big bet when he was down there, and that was what crashed the totes at Tampa Bay?” I asked.

My sarcastic posit evoked a wan grin.

“That was something,” Byk said, acknowledging the crash but not any actual bet from the turf writer turned jockey agent. “That was unforgettable.”

Then, being me, I had to be a smart ass, repeating a line I already put in my podcast. Because if there is anything I am good at doing, it is wearing out a joke until, as David Letterman said years ago, “I hear it on buses.”

With reports this week that Lumen was the internet-service provider that crashed to bring down the house that Tampa Bay Downs was trying to build, I suggested it would be appropriate if the Seattle Seahawks completely dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a home game next fall.

“Why is that?” Byk said, as if scripted to do so.

“Well, the Seahawks play their home games at Lumen Field. It would be fitting if Tampa Bay came into Lumen and got shut out.”

If this had been 40 years ago, Doc Severinsen would be playing “Tea for Two,” and I would be doing the ol’ soft shoe. Besides, the Seahawks and Buccaneers do not meet in the next regular season.

Even 1,700 miles against the jet stream from Oldsmar, Fla., the ripple continues to be felt from what happened last weekend. Or what did not happen. The estimated $5 million in revenue that never crossed the wagering threshold. The bets that were missed when the Tampa Bay Derby was run for purse money only. The get-even finale was not run at all. The fallow cancellations of horizontal wagers that were live going into the biggest race on the track’s calendar.

“It cost me a $4 Pick 4,” said Kevin Costello, who is being celebrated this week as the first two-time winner of the year-long NHC Tour. “I basically got the money refunded, which was unfortunately, because I felt the last two races I had over a barrel.”

Yes, it looked bad. Disgraceful, really. But please. Can we just stop with the “no sport is more disorganized than racing” riff? I will see you racing and raise you boxing.

The social-media reaction was comically predictable, and I was watching live via the track feed in real time as the whole thing unfolded. When Jason Beem made the first announcement of the tote delay before the Florida Oaks could be made official, it was not long before we saw a Xweet that said, “D-level track. WTF?” Another wrote, “Joke of a racetrack.”

Then when it became apparent the problem was not just at Tampa Bay Downs but also briefly at Gulfstream Park and Laurel Park and Santa Anita. Out came the pitchforks and torches pointed toward Stronach, whose AmTote technology was the common denominator between all the tracks affected.

“It was Stronach’s fault for the (bleeping) tote system they sell to the tracks,” one wag wrote, not necessarily using bleeping. “Stronach Group is trying to kill horse racing singlehandedly,” said another, without parentheses.

By the time the dust on the main track settled, AmTote and Roberts Communications Network put out their joint news release blaming the third-party provider that turned out to be Lumen.

“Everyone needs to stop blaming AmTote,” said Todd Roberts, he being the Roberts boss.

When I read that, I thought back 14 years to when Jay Leno was about to snatch “The Tonight Show” back from Conan O’Brien. He pleaded, “Don’t blame Conan.” And Letterman had the proverbial field day.

Don’t blame Conan. No, we mustn’t blame Conan. And don’t blame AmTote.

As clumsy as the spin was in that news release, I found it difficult to buy into the attendant cynicism that there was something more nefarious going on. Or that there was some bigger bumbling. That does not mean I want to deny the crowd that wants a full-scale investigation. It simply means I think we already know what happened.

When Facebook and Instagram stopped working 10 days ago, there was an outcry in social media that it was a conspiracy designed by someone to interrupt Super Tuesday. I don’t know if it was alleged to be Biden or Trump or Haley or Zuckerberg or Nostradamus. But the “there ought to be an investigation” bleats were loud.

Sometimes, technology fails. Even the best of it. Hardware wears out. Software has glitches. I firmly believe that was what happened last weekend. If some investigator from, say, the central office in “Citizen Kane” comes up with a bunch of rogue guys who pulled off something like the Fix 6 from the 2002 Breeders’ Cup, well, shame on me.

Operator error? Sure. That could be. So fire everyone with a pulse who was near the hard drives that day. Then fire their bosses. Then fire the designers. If that is what makes everyone feel whole, that sounds just ducky.

This quest for perfection is a chase of windmills. Remember when the NFL officials went on strike at the beginning of the 2012 season? The Fail Mary, that alleged touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Golden Tate, hastened the dismissal of the scab refs and the return of the union crews. And so it was that controversies of this sort never would happen again in the NFL.

How did that work out?

“I think horse racing in general has taken a little bit of a bum rap on this one,” said Paul Matties Jr., the NHC Hall of Famer who won the national contest in 2016. “I think they handled it pretty well. You can make the argument that Tampa Bay shouldn’t have even run the Tampa Bay Derby. I don’t think they should’ve, frankly.”

That last part is worthy of debate. But the rest of it? Come on.

Right now, lacking anything but innuendo, the flame throwers who toss around demands for a better world like Henry VIII supposedly chucked chicken bones need a tamping tool. My favorite cry was for Tampa Bay Downs in particular and racing in general to spend a gazillion dollars on crash-proof software. Yeah, right. I am sure that would not raise takeout.

Oh, yes. I should mention that my podcast on which Costello and Matties made their comments is sponsored this week by 1/ST Bet and Xpressbet, both owned by Stronach. I made my thoughts about this known on X in the heat of the crisis last week, so I will declare that relationship had no bearing on my opinion. It would, however, be wrong if I did not mention that, so have at me.

It also would be wrong if I did not mention that NBC’s Steve Kornacki, who was on the pod last week, told me Sunday he did not give up on Tampa Bay Downs.

“Just hit the Tampa Pick 5,” he said in a text.

If he did not collect, well, you can have your investigation. And as for any big, on-track bets from Marty McGee the next day, he was back home in Kentucky by Sunday.

Onward.

Ron Flatter’s column appears Friday mornings at Horse Racing Nation. Comments below are welcomed, encouraged and may be used in the feedback segment of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod, which also is posted every Friday. Accommodations for Horse Racing Nation coverage of the National Horseplayers Championship were provided and paid for by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.