State-funded Breeders Group Bankrolls Thoroughbred Races in Canada

Records show board member wins over 500k in tax-funded purses By Jon Wells, WCVB5 • Updated: 6:33 PM EST Nov 20, 2020

BOSTON — 5 Investigates has discovered a stash of money tucked away in the state budget for what some people might consider a worthy cause — supporting the thoroughbred horse racing industry in Massachusetts. But there’s a catch, and someone’s cashing in. We are talking about millions of dollars of state tax revenue set aside to support the breeding and racing of thoroughbreds in Massachusetts. But here is the problem: There is very little breeding and no thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts now. Despite that, those tax dollars continue to be spent on races held not in this state, and some not even in this country. Live thoroughbred racing, once a thriving industry in Massachusetts, began its steep decline in the Commonwealth in 2014, when the last thoroughbred race track, Suffolk Downs, lost its bid for a casino license and later closed for good.

But backed by a provision in the state's casino law, more than $1 million of tax revenue still flows annually to a nonprofit called the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The group has been around for nearly 40 years, and its mission is to promote thoroughbred breeding in Massachusetts.

One way it does that is to set up races for Massachusetts born horses and fund the purses for the winners.

But now, with no thoroughbred racetracks in the state anymore, and a dwindling number of foals being born here, the question comes: What could this board be doing with that taxpayer money?

Well, it turns out that the breeders association is still using the money to fund races for homegrown horses, but now the races are being run in Canada. “Canada? It doesn't even begin to make sense,” said Tim Ryan, a third-generation thoroughbred breeder who lives in Sutton on what he says is the oldest thoroughbred farm in New England. “Why are Massachusetts horses racing for money from basically Massachusetts taxpayers going into another country to race now?” The breeders association ran eight races for Massachusetts-born horses at the racetrack in Fort Erie, Ontario, this year. The purses are usually around $35,000 per race, along with extra bonuses in the thousands — public money that could have gone to fund transportation, education, and other local programs.

5 Investigates dug into the records and found in those eight races in Canada that nearly half the horses that ran were owned by members of the Breeders Association Board that sets up the races.

Most often, one of the horse owners was Anthony Zizza, a Saugus doctor who has served variously as treasurer, secretary and a member of the board of directors of the breeders association since 2014. According to records analyzed by 5 Investigates, Zizza has earned $536,983 in purse money since 2015 by running his horses in races partly arranged by the breeders association board on which he sits.

Indian Rock Stables co-owner John Gill and racing horse owner Anthony Zizza walk one of Gill's horses, Daisy, through the barn. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“It's kind of an unprecedented, inherent conflict of interest in my opinion,” said Greg Sullivan, a former Massachusetts Inspector General who is now research director of the Pioneer Institute. Sullivan said he is uncomfortable with a board member receiving so much from a pool of public money he helps to oversee, even if the arrangement is legal. Sullivan also questioned the use of any tax dollars, especially during the pandemic, for these races. “As a former inspector general, there's fireworks going off, red flags being waved at, sirens being blown that this is wrong,” Sullivan said. “I don't understand how the legislature would allow this to continue when there's no thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts.” Kathleen Reagan, an equine attorney and vice president of the breeders association, disagreed. “The money should continue because it is the one investment in the community and in development that pays itself back,” Reagan said, adding that even though the races were run out of the country this year, the winnings ultimately ended up in the hands of Massachusetts residents. She also said breeders and horse owners like Zizza are important members of the board because they invest their own money in the thoroughbred industry. In a statement to 5 Investigates, Zizza claimed he spent far more money to breed and race his horses than he has won.

“The point of this program is to support successful breeding and racing.” Reagan said. “So, there's only two kinds of horses: There's winners and then there's not winners, and this program only pays out to winners.” 5 Investigates found a sharp decline in thoroughbred breeding in Massachusetts in the last decade.

According to the Department of Agricultural Resources, 42 foals were born and registered in the state in 2010. That number dropped to just two foals born and registered last year. Despite those numbers, and no thoroughbred racetrack, Reagan insists the industry is still vibrant in Massachusetts, with owners and breeders hoping a new race track will be built. Sullivan said it's time for the legislature to pull the plug on the public subsidy for thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts.

“How long should this be allowed to go on? For how long?” he aksed. “Two years? Five years? The purpose of this funding has expired. There's no benefit to it.”

Zizza declined our request for an on-camera interview. He told us in an email his motivation for being involved with the association is to help rebuild thoroughbred programs. According to the breeders’ association's tax return, it does not have a conflict-of-interest policy. Various plans have been floated to build a new racetrack since Suffolk Downs closed, including one *now being pushed in Sturbridge.

{*This article is 2 years old. Sturbridge said NO, and now Hardwick should say NO too}