New U.S. racing league takes its cue from 2 international models
If the idea of the new National Thoroughbred League sounded vaguely familiar, that is because the concept was born overseas.
The Racing League in Australia and Racing League, without “the,” in England and Ireland were started in 2021. Each includes fledgling horses grouped into teams of trainers and jockeys competing in time periods that generally do not clash with traditionally big racing dates.
The U.S. answer was introduced Tuesday with investors such as Randall Lane of Forbes and celebrities Rick Ross and Nelly being recruited to buy 36 “high-allowance, low stakes-level” horses and race them on a series of weekend cards from September to December. The 2023 version of the NTL is intended to be staged at five racetracks starting with Kentucky Downs on Sept. 2 and 3 and then Emerald Downs on Sept. 15 and 16, Meadowlands on Oct. 14, Southern California on Nov. 10 and 11 and a championship card Dec. 31 at Tampa Bay Downs.
The plan is to have six teams led by owners who have a stake not in the horses but in the company running the NTL. Each race card would include three races open only to NTL horses with maximum fields of six. Takeout from normal betting on each race would go to the track and the NTL horsemen.
Teams have been designated as the Los Angeles Shamrocks, Nashville Dreams, the New Jersey Thunder, the New York Knights, the Seattle Gems and an unnamed side in Philadelphia. A points system will be used to determine the champion that would be rewarded with a top prize of $1 million.
While similar, the international versions of this league have different points of emphasis.
In the middle of its third season in Australia, The Racing League revolves around attracting new owners to the sport. Buy-ins begin at US$170 for one share of all seven horses on any given team. Teams represent the three eastern states that have the nation’s biggest cities. The New South Wales Tycoons include Sydney, the Victoria Husslers take in Melbourne, and the Queensland Rogues have Brisbane.
Twenty trainers are listed in Australia’s TRL, including Peter Moody of Black Caviar fame and 145-time Group 1 winner Gai Waterhouse. The 2023 championship will be decided Oct. 21, the same day as the US$9.8 million Everest and the Group 1 Caulfield Cup.
With jockey Frankie Dettori on the marquee, Racing League in the U.K. and Ireland is more about attracting fans and a TV audience to weeknight races. Each of the seven teams has 12 to 26 trainers, seven jockeys and one media personality serving as the manager who drafts the riders. The teams represent the four directional corners of England as well as Ireland, Scotland and Yorkshire. London is part of the South England team, and Wales is grouped with West England.
Racing League cards will be run this summer at six Arena Racing Company courses in the U.K. on five Thursday nights and one Wednesday. Dettori, who announced plans to retire in November, will ride for the East England team. For most of the competition, each team will enter two horses in 42 turf handicaps at distances ranging from five furlongs to nearly two miles, meaning at least 13 would-be starters per race. With more than $2.5 million in purse money, races will be worth an average of about $60,000.
Racing League was introduced in England in 2019. It was supposed to start in 2020, but then came COVID, so it got started in 2021.
If there are parallels to other sports, the Australia league is similar in concept to the Big Bash League and Indian Premier League in cricket and the U.K.-Ireland circuit like World Team Tennis. Throw in the new U.S. league, and all three can draw parallels to LIV Golf, the fledgling tour operated by the government of Saudi Arabia.
Tickets have been put on sale for the NTL cards at Kentucky Downs and Meadowlands with prices ranging from $95 to $395.