http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?category=STATE&storyID=554879&BCCode=&newsdate=1/18/2007
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=555206&category=STATE&BCCode=&newsdate=1/19/2007
Looks like Excelsior has Spitzer on their team, and Empire has Bruno on board; NYRA needs to bust a move here, it looks like the only free agent left of the \"three men in a room\" who run NY state is Shelly Silver. I guess being in a perpetual state of near bankruptcy might hamper their ability to host lavish fundraisers in Wyoming or sponsor luxury junkets to Florida, but they should be able to work out some kind of package.
In an ideal world, perhaps the process of rewriting racing law and making a recommendation on the awarding of the franchise would be handed off to a non-partisan group of people knowledgeable about racing (think along the lines of a panel comprised of people like, say, TGJB and Bennett Liebman) and free of blatant conflicts of interest, but er, never mind.
PapaC-- I\'ll tell you what else. For the last 3 years the Daily News has been brutally going after NYRA, and I figured they were point men for Empire. Then, recently, they started going after Bruno-- and in the FIRST article, second paragraph, brought up Abbruzzese (Empire) and the racing connection. Got a feeling I know who their dog in the fight is.
This is a classic insider\'s fight, and I have no idea who is the best for racing, and us. I will say that I have discussed at some length the drug issue with representatives of both sides, who seemed responsive, but nobody has put forward a plan yet. We\'re going to have to do something about that, but there is another jurisdiction we have to focus on first. Stay tuned.
I don\'t know about you, but i feel as though there is going to be an explosion sooner or later. NYRA, Pinnacle, Drugs, Quality of racing overall (4 horse stake on saturday at SA), its gotten very scary. Its not going to change if racing is left to its own devices. Its going to take big brother to step in and that in all likelyhood will create a different mess. Sad.
I\'m not sure how much of the racing around the US should be salvaged in the age of the internet and simulcasting. IMO, we need way fewer tracks these days. If the number was reduced, it might be painful for many people in the industry. However, we\'d probably get larger fields and higher quality racing as a result. In addition, all the real estate could be put to better economic use.
People keep looking to slots to save the industry. Perhaps it has been a short term positive, but sooner or later someone is going to figure out that many of the racetracks are still a financial drain and waste of property and that all they need is a small facility with slots and simulcasting and everyone would make a lot more money.
The vacation tracks (Saratoga, Del Mar, Keeneland, Oaklawn) and a handful of other major circuits is all we need.