NOTE – BetMakers are the sponsors of the Jamaica Derby.
Dallas Baker grew up in Sydney, Australia. The beach suburb Manly, to be exact, about a half-hour north of Royal Randwick Racecourse.
That was where he became immersed in a betting culture that routinely positioned pari-mutuel wagering at arm’s length from fixed-odds bookmakers. Like anyone in Australia having a punt, Baker would have felt like he was in a department store for horseplayers.
The idea of locking in odds before a race without waiting until post time became second nature for Baker as it has for the 25 million people who live down under.
“I do have an Australian accent, so I might be biased,” Baker said. “But I’m not being biased in saying it is the best horse-racing wagering market in the world.”
Now, as the head of international operations for BetMakers, Baker has been tasked with replicating that bold position in America on behalf of a company that serves a B2B role between tracks and bookmakers. It came first in New Jersey, where BetMakers is in the early days of a 10-year contract to run fixed-odds wagering. Then, with Colorado on deck and other states lining up, the plan is for a rollout across the rest of the country.
“I think this is the future horizon,” said Dennis Drazin, the Monmouth Park boss and the lawyer who was credited with the strategy that got the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize sports betting in 2018. “I think that five years from now, people will do this like they’re doing in Australia and other jurisdictions. Certainly it will become part of the overall handle, and I think it’s going to grow the revenue.”
Last weekend’s $1,017,500 Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth was the biggest stage yet for fixed-odds racing in New Jersey. Before that, BetMakers processed its first bet May 6, nearly 11 months after the state legislature unanimously approved the concept for horse racing.
On Saturday, Baker said BetMakers attracted “$80,000 on the day” in win, place and show bets. By comparison, those pools brought in more than $600,000 in pari-mutuel bets. That meant fixed-odds wagers accounted for “about 12 percent of the total win-place-show on the track,” according to Baker.
“We thought around the 10 percent mark would be about the number, and we are a tick over that,” he said.
While Haskell victor Cyberknife paid off at more than 7-1 in the pari-mutuel win pool, savvy bettors at the track could have gotten him at odds as long as 10-1 via BetMakers, where he closed at more than 8-1.
Still at the top of Baker’s short-term to-do list was the launch of Monmouth Bets, the mobile app allowing horseplayers anywhere in New Jersey to make fixed-odds wagers on races at 13 tracks – and counting – across North America. Baker hoped to have it running in time for the Haskell, but it was not ready. He said Wednesday “it is now live” for users at the track and that the statewide footprint could be in place by the end of the week.
At his table near the BetMakers betting windows in the Monmouth Park grandstand, Baker spent nearly an hour fielding questions for Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod, where the entire conversation may be heard Friday. These are excerpts from that interview.
