I didn't see the Hegarty piece (you do have a thing for him don't you), but I did see a piece by Steve Andersen in the online DRF that I assume covered the same ground.

The piece I saw related to the Magna signal. It said that background checks would start in March and take about 30 days. Hmm, when do the Gulfstream and Santa Anita meets end? I wouldn't be concerned about Magna taking the lead in any offensive against rebate shops. When there was a movement to cut off betting when the first horse loaded (in the wake of the BC Pick-6 scandal), it was Magna that said whoa.

I can think of a couple of distinctions between the sites you mentioned (TVG, Youbet, XpressBet, the track) and the simulcast sites mentioned in the article. One is that most of the simulcast sites are offshore or on Indian reservations, and thus not subject to US jurisdiction. Another is that you can't batch-bet through the sites you mentioned.

My own skeptical view is that the background checks are a cosmetic measure designed to take some political heat off the industry (hence the involvement of Giuliani Partners). If, as the Andersen piece indicates, the check will include a review of the measures in place to ensure the integrity of the pools (i.e., not past-posting), I would think you would support that.