NYRA partners with NFT-based Game of Silks

Thirty-five years ago, Troy Levy sat at Yonkers Raceway trying to find a way to bring a new and younger audience to horse racing with the hope that it would lead to new owners in the sport.

Fast forward to today, and Levy believes he has not only found the method to do it, but a partner who together can help grow the sport.

Game of Silks, an online game tied to the real world of thoroughbred horse racing, and NYRA Bets Holding announced a new partnership on December 7 that resulted in NYRA Bets Holding acquiring a minority stake in Silks. Levy is the game’s chief operating officer, vice president and co-founder.

The partnership also establishes Silks as the official blockchain game and metaverse partner of NYRA. Game of Silks works by using blockchain technology, which is a system that makes it virtually impossible to change the information recorded.

“It’s really an incredible marriage for a technology company to enhance the ability to attract many, many new people to the sport,” Levy said.

Levy is also the owner of Florida-based Tropical Racing and Versailles, Ky.-based Circle 8 Ranch.

To play, users are “required to purchase a non-fungible token (NFT) in the form of a unique racing silk, which represents their identity throughout the metaverse and appears virtually on their horses, stables and other in-game digital assets they own”, according to a press release.

Each year’s crop of real thoroughbred foals are turned into digital assets that are sold to players who initially don’t know what horse they’re getting.

This blind draw, Levy said, is essential to the fairness of the game.

“One of the parts of the racing industry that, in my mind, pushes people away is that the horses with the best pedigrees always go to the same people,” Levy said. “In this way, we completely level the playing field; everyone who participates has the same opportunity for the same dollar amount to get the best-bred horse in the racing industry.”

Eventually, the horses that are not sold and will be sold are revealed.

Silks players receive rewards linked to the NFT horse’s real-life success, whether on the track or in the breeding shed.

When horses become well known to the general population, they are ready to retire. With Game of Silks, players will begin to get to know the horses a year and a half before it runs in real life.

“They’re going to find out all about their family,” Levy said of the players and their NFT horses. “They’re going to be supporters of the family of every generation of horses. And I think that’s going to be a part that this racing industry has never had.”

Levy and his business partner Dan Nissanoff put the idea together and Levy approached NYRA President and CEO Dave O’Rourke. Levy recalled telling O’Rourke that the idea — Game of Silks — would build a community that would dive into the sport and do even more due diligence than horseplayers already do.

O’Rourke’s response was that Levy and Nissanoff would build it and get back to him.

“They understood how important technology is to the racing industry,” Levy said of NYRA. “And they had the foresight to say this can only improve thoroughbred racing with their outlets like Fox, with their outlets with their own (intellectual properties) and everything they do for the racing industry. They always seem to be on the cutting edge.”

NYRA will provide Silks players with the latest news and information using the NYRA-produced Fox Sports shows “America’s Day at the Races” and “Saratoga Live.”

In a release, O’Rourke said, “Silks captures the evolution of fan engagement and appeals to both the seasoned horseplayer and the complete newcomer, which is precisely why NYRA jumped at the opportunity to enter into this partnership. NYRA is committed to educate our fans about the Silks platform to expand the game and ultimately grow the fan base of horse racing.”

Silks plans to build interactive digital replicas of historic and important racetracks and, with NYRA’s involvement, digital versions of Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack.

Levy said the Game of Silks community has players ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. They have become so committed to learning all they can, some have reached out to the farms where their NFT’s real inspiration resides.

“The racing industry right now has supposedly 28,000 licensed horse owners and in less than a year we’ve built (a community of) 25,000 people sitting in a chat room and all they do is talk about racehorses.”