The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) today announced that Steven Crist, former editor and publisher of Daily Racing Form and longtime horseplayer advocate, has penned a document for the NTRA in a “Question-and-Answer” format to explain the expected benefits of newly proposed regulations related to withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel winnings.
The full Q&A can be accessed online at https://www.ntra.com/crist-qa .
Within the piece, Crist refers to the proposed regulations as “a godsend for horseplayers” and uses easy-to-follow examples to illustrate how the new language would be applied to wagers.
“Putting money back into circulation will increase reinvestment and overall handle should grow sharply as a result,” Crist writes. “Ideally, this would lead to higher purses, bigger fields, and improved facilities for the sport.”
The proposed regulations, which would replace outdated regulations adopted nearly 40 years ago, more accurately reflect today’s pari-mutuel wagering environment and will positively impact a significant percentage of winning wagers, particularly those involving multi-horse or multi-race exotic wagers. It is believed that the proposed changes will result in tens of millions of dollars in additional pari-mutuel wagering annually. If adopted, the new regulations will not only promote greater compliance and more accurate reporting and withholding by taxpayers but also reduce burdensome and needless paperwork system-wide.
The NTRA has established a simple process at ntra.com/comment for individuals to submit an e-mail comment directly to the United States Treasury Department in support of the proposed regulations. The system provides each commenter with a clear, consistent message asking Treasury to adopt the proposed regulations and urging prompt action.
About the NTRA
The NTRA, based in Lexington, Ky., is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 horse racing interests and thousands of individual stakeholders consisting of horseplayers, racetrack operators, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity, welfare and integrity of Thoroughbred racing through consensus-based leadership, legislative advocacy, safety and integrity initiatives, fan engagement and corporate partner development. The NTRA owns and manages the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance; NTRA.com; the Eclipse Awards; the National Handicapping Championship; NTRA Advantage, a corporate partner sales and sponsorship program; and Horse PAC®, a federal political action committee. NTRA press releases appear on NTRA.com, Twitter (@ntra) and Facebook (facebook.com/1NTRA).
