Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts, Inc.

This is an audit of Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts, a nonprofit that runs a Massachusetts program giving cash prizes to encourage breeding Standardbred horses in the state.

“Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts, Inc. (SOM) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote, develop, and encourage, through the Massachusetts Standardbred Breeding Program (SBP), the breeding of Standardbred horses in the Commonwealth by offering cash prizes to breeders of such horses.”

The auditor reviewed whether SOM protected its money, spent and recorded funds properly, followed the law, and operated the program as intended.

“The objectives of our audit were to review and analyze controls over cash receipts and cash disbursements to determine whether they are adequate to safeguard funds; conduct transaction testing to determine whether revenues and expenditures are reasonable, allowable, and applicable to the program and are in compliance with laws, rules and regulations; and determine whether the program is being operated and administered as intended by its enabling legislation, Chapters 128, 128A, and 128C of the General Laws.”

The program receives money connected to racing at Plainridge Racecourse, so the public has an interest in whether those funds are handled properly.

“According to various provisions in the law, a percentage of the handle of all live and simulcast racing at Plainridge Racecourse is to be transferred to SOM.”

For most residents, the direct benefit is accountability: the audit says the organization followed the rules for the areas tested and kept adequate controls over program money.

“Based on our review, we have concluded that, for the period January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, SOM maintained adequate management controls and complied with applicable laws, rules, and regulations for the areas tested.”

The audit did not report material weaknesses and concluded SOM complied with applicable requirements in the tested areas.

“Our tests in the above-mentioned areas disclosed no material weaknesses.”

The report does not describe required fixes or follow-up actions; it ends with a clean conclusion for the areas tested.

“Based on our review, we have concluded that, for the period January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, SOM maintained adequate management controls and complied with applicable laws, rules, and regulations for the areas tested.”

This matters because a private nonprofit was approved to administer a legally created Massachusetts breeding program, so the audit checked whether that role was being carried out properly.

“SOM is the representative organization of Standardbred breeders and owners and has been approved by the Massachusetts State Racing Commission (SRC) to administer the SBP.”

Plain-language terms: the “handle” means racing money wagered; “purses” and “stallion awards” are prize payments tied to eligible horses and breeding; “administrative expenses” are SOM’s operating costs, which were capped at 8% of certain revenue.

“SOM may expend, annually, up to 8% of such revenue for its administrative expenses.”