Race 7 at yonkers last night

[thaskalos]

The drug-testing laboratories are ill-equipped, and the suspicious payoffs are ignored.

It's a wonder that the game is still "basically honest"...given these unfortunate circumstances.

[DeanT]

HANA sent a formal letter to the powers that be, and will report on what's going on ASAP.

https://twitter.com/HplayersAssnNA/s...26719308234752

[Zapper]

Originally Posted by ishman17

nope, i could see this payout maybe if it was a sears/brennan combo....maybe...and even at that it's still to low. Pantaleano is a decent driver at places like freehold but he is not a top driver at yonkers. if the race was not fixed...which it may not of been....someone knew something at some point....the exacta pool was the only pool that was suspect as the win and the tri and the p4 pools were all right on. i did not bet this race so i did not get a chance to see the will pays for the exacta...i wish i did,i would be curious to see if that was the will pay for the 8/3 combo the whole time or if it changed to 85.00 right before the race....or after.

I am not stating that He did but you are familiar on why JP got tossed from Ohio right?
I have heard of numerous times that both he and Baggit were called into the FH judges office for what they call race fixing out there.Didn't jimmy recently serve days at FH for this?

[Zapper]

I bet you a hand full of tickets were cashed by drivers (cough cough).

[ishman17]

Originally Posted by Zapper

I am not stating that He did but you are familiar on why JP got tossed from Ohio right?
I have heard of numerous times that both he and Baggit were called into the FH judges office for what they call race fixing out there.Didn't jimmy recently serve days at FH for this?

Hi Zapper, someone did mention that in this thread...but i did not know that about JP before this thread started.

[Just a Fan]

Getting tossed out of Northfield might have been the best thing that ever happened to Jimmy P.

[Phantombridgejumpe]

C'mon now.

I know it isn't 1/1, and the original race posted seems odd I'll admit, but if you think a huge % of races are fixed stop playin.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Phantombridgejumpe

C'mon now.

I know it isn't 1/1, and the original race posted seems odd I'll admit, but if you think a huge % of races are fixed stop playin.

Well...at least you admit that the original race posted seems "odd" to you. That's a start, I guess.

Do you want to know what seems odd to me?

It seems odd to me when I see other horseplayers offering lame excuses whenever a gross injustice such as this takes place. Lame excuses like..."well, it could be that an 83-year-old bettor bet a $250 8-3 exacta box on his 83rd birthday."

Another thing that seems odd to me is that, whenever players rightly express outrage over occurrences such as this, we can always count on another "horseplayer" to climb aboard...and tell us that we should stop betting horses, instead of complaining about these scandalous payoffs.

It seems mighty odd to me to see players defend the "game" at times like these.

[Zapper]

Barred Northfield Park driver offers to take polygraph test

01/21/04

Bob Roberts
Plain Dealer Reporter


Jim Pantaleano, barred from training and driving his stable of 26 harness horses at Northfield Park, is so determined to prove he had no part in the controversy that surrounds exacta and trifecta payoffs of a race last week, offered Tuesday to take a polygraph test.

Tom Aldrich, Northfield's chief operating officer, called Pantaleano's attorney, Tom Sicuro, and told him that the track "wasn't interested."

"I've known Jimmy for 20 years," said Sicuro. "He would never fix a race. He would have abided by the polygraph results. The test would have proved he was innocent."

Pantaleano, 41, has been a driver-trainer at Northfield since 1982. He began his career at the Ohio 8 harness oval as a busboy in the clubhouse.

On Friday, Pantaleano and another driver, Randy Tharps, were told by management that it no longer wanted to do business with either of them. According to Pantaleano, who spoke to Tharps, neither was told the reason for their ejections.

Calls to Tharps by The Plain Dealer were not returned.

The action by Northfield came less than 48 hours after payoffs were so low on a sixth race of Jan. 14 that Northfield's judges launched an investigation into the running of the race and the subsequent pari-mutuel prices.

Trot In Harmony, winner of the race, was 60-1 in the wagering. Fugeddaboudit, the runner-up, was 21-1, and Freezer Burnt, 28-1, was third.

The winning exacta, for selecting the first and second place finishers, paid $219.60, while the trifecta (top three finishers) paid $3,956.20.

Both Pantaleano and Tharps drove in the race in question. Tharps was in the sulky of Two A T, the 3-5 wagering favorite, who finished sixth. Pantaleano drove Arnie's E-Mail, a 5-1 shot who finished fourth.

Cliff Nelson, executive director of the Ohio State Racing Commission, said he was focused on the trifecta payoff.

"I'm more concerned with that," said Nelson. "I thought there would be $1 or $2 worth of winning tickets. But there were $16 in winners."

If the trifecta had been hit by a bettor with a single $2 ticket, the payoff would have been more than $30,000.

Sicuro is not only Pantaleano's attorney, he also owns harness horses. Arnie's E-Mail, the horse that Pantaleano drove in the sixth race of Jan. 14, is owned by Sicuro.

"She's very temperamental and that night she raced as she has been of late, which is flat."

Tharps, 40, has now been barred at Northfield twice in less than two years. In July of 2002, he was suspended for a year and fined $1,000 after an inspection of his barn uncovered needles, syringes and a cattle prod. Tharps appealed the suspension and fine.

He then reached a settlement agreement with the Ohio State Racing Commission, having his suspension reduced to 90 days and his fine increased to $5,000. He returned to racing at Northfield in February of 2003.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plai...1277294940.xml

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Zapper

Barred Northfield Park driver offers to take polygraph test

01/21/04

Bob Roberts
Plain Dealer Reporter


Jim Pantaleano, barred from training and driving his stable of 26 harness horses at Northfield Park, is so determined to prove he had no part in the controversy that surrounds exacta and trifecta payoffs of a race last week, offered Tuesday to take a polygraph test.

Tom Aldrich, Northfield's chief operating officer, called Pantaleano's attorney, Tom Sicuro, and told him that the track "wasn't interested."

"I've known Jimmy for 20 years," said Sicuro. "He would never fix a race. He would have abided by the polygraph results. The test would have proved he was innocent."

Pantaleano, 41, has been a driver-trainer at Northfield since 1982. He began his career at the Ohio 8 harness oval as a busboy in the clubhouse.

On Friday, Pantaleano and another driver, Randy Tharps, were told by management that it no longer wanted to do business with either of them. According to Pantaleano, who spoke to Tharps, neither was told the reason for their ejections.

Calls to Tharps by The Plain Dealer were not returned.

The action by Northfield came less than 48 hours after payoffs were so low on a sixth race of Jan. 14 that Northfield's judges launched an investigation into the running of the race and the subsequent pari-mutuel prices.

Trot In Harmony, winner of the race, was 60-1 in the wagering. Fugeddaboudit, the runner-up, was 21-1, and Freezer Burnt, 28-1, was third.

The winning exacta, for selecting the first and second place finishers, paid $219.60, while the trifecta (top three finishers) paid $3,956.20.

Both Pantaleano and Tharps drove in the race in question. Tharps was in the sulky of Two A T, the 3-5 wagering favorite, who finished sixth. Pantaleano drove Arnie's E-Mail, a 5-1 shot who finished fourth.

Cliff Nelson, executive director of the Ohio State Racing Commission, said he was focused on the trifecta payoff.

"I'm more concerned with that," said Nelson. "I thought there would be $1 or $2 worth of winning tickets. But there were $16 in winners."

If the trifecta had been hit by a bettor with a single $2 ticket, the payoff would have been more than $30,000.

Sicuro is not only Pantaleano's attorney, he also owns harness horses. Arnie's E-Mail, the horse that Pantaleano drove in the sixth race of Jan. 14, is owned by Sicuro.

"She's very temperamental and that night she raced as she has been of late, which is flat."

Tharps, 40, has now been barred at Northfield twice in less than two years. In July of 2002, he was suspended for a year and fined $1,000 after an inspection of his barn uncovered needles, syringes and a cattle prod. Tharps appealed the suspension and fine.

He then reached a settlement agreement with the Ohio State Racing Commission, having his suspension reduced to 90 days and his fine increased to $5,000. He returned to racing at Northfield in February of 2003.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plai...1277294940.xml

How can anybody suspect that the Yonkers race was "fixed", after reading something like this?

[Zapper]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

How can anybody suspect that the Yonkers race was "fixed", after reading something like this?

There are a dozen other examples from freehold.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Zapper

There are a dozen other examples from freehold.

Let the customer beware...

[Sea Biscuit]

Originally Posted by baconswitchfarm

I hit a tri today at Monticello that should have paid 800, paid 400. Hit an exacta at meadows that should have paid 180, paid 130. Northfield exacta that should have paid 85 and paid 50. If I quit betting every time I saw a bad payoff I would have to change careers. Days like today they are a little short. Other times , very short. Someone should start a thread where you list numbers you think come back light. It will set a record for all time most posts. I can't boycott every time this happens or I would drive myself crazy. It paid terrible. They can look at the timestamp and see if it was bet before or after betting closed. When it gets to a point I feel I can not overcome the underpayments. I will move on.

Bacon Just wondering how you arrive at the 'should have paid' figures.

If you can hit the exacta or trifecta, maybe there are others who might have played it with you and maybe some had more money on the line than you.

Its a possibility isn't it?

Besides in the exacta you know how much its gonna pay in advance by looking at the will pays. If you don't like the odds on a certain combination nobody is going to twist your arm to play that combo.

[DeanT]

There is a lot curious about this payoff in question, and there is no denying that. (some of these things already mentioned but.....)

This is not a small track, it's Yonkers, and there was over $22,000 in the ex pool and over $20,000 in the tri pools.

The odds on the 8 and three had no massive changes before post time. It's not like someone saw this a massive overlay or something. Ray can run some probable payoffs with 6th and 4th choices in the ex, because if we look at Compubet - which is sometimes a system near to what computer players use to handicap - that's what these two horses were. The ex came 6th choice there onto 4th choice.

With 0 minutes to post, just before the gate sprung, the probables were over $600 for this ex. It ended up at around $80.

If batch betting was occurring (ie a bunch of big players saw it an overlay at the last minute), well why wasnt the trifecta hit hard too? Or the win pool on the 8? If a $600 ex is a huge overlay, you bet your life 33-1 is too.

I dont know what happened here, but it is a very curious result, imo.

[Phantombridgejumpe]

I play the game and live with the occasional fixed race and/or odd payoff.

You think a bunch of races are fixed, a lot of people are crooked, and you scream (or spit) into the wind and nothing changes.

Given those 2 options I'll pick the first every time.