Story around the Big A has an assistant trainer of Gary Sciacca, a vet and a foreman, under suspension for 120 days for attempting to milkshake one of Sciacca\'s slow rats.\"Secret\" security caught them in the act and arrested them.They were charged with attempting to influence the outcome of a sporting event, a very serious offense. Those charges later dropped, after the incident was investigated further.Sciacca faces suspension under trainer responsibility rule but was not involved.
Someone asked Charlie Hayward(NYRA CHAIRMAN) about CO2 testing results and got the impression that if anyone thinks Nyra, in it\'s current state,is \"covering up\" excessive CO2 results, they do not understand the overall internal and external scrutiny/presssure going on at Nyra tracks.Of course, he would deny it if they are, but then again why would they allow it?
Trying to get David Grening, DRF lead daily NYRA circuit writer to ask Charlie about CO2 results next time he is interviewed.Shame Bill Nader is no longer at NYRA,we would get a direct honest answer in one minute.
Mike
Miff:
Only one NY racing story that matters right now...
..and the man in charge seems more adept at creating a crisis than managing one.
Bee,
NYRA is actually holding the cards via the land ownership claim.Since Sen Bruno killed the deal which was agreed between Spitzer and NYRA,they are prepared to shut down racing in New York effective 1/1/08 and turn the matter over to the bankrupcy court.
Someone is going to blink in this game of chicken.With politicians being the dumbest people on the planet, it\'s a tough read now and lots of small outfits and regular people stand to get hurt.
Mike
>With politicians being the dumbest people on the planet<
You should have said \"universe\" just in case semi-intelligent life exists elsewhere.
Really, is there anything so sacrosanct about NYRA? They are/were inept and incompetent. They stole money from the horsemens account. They allowed tellers to commit crimes. They didn\'t have the foresight to see the potential of OTB\'s and allowed them to appropriate NYRA\'s birthright. They never cultivated the NY legislature. Even Yonkers was able to get VLT\'s and leave NYRA in its wake. What other gambling operation has had to file for bankruptcy? To excuse them on the basis that they were an ill conceived child of the legislature is insane. That they needed and required a compliance monitor to assure above board operations is testament to NYRA\'s malfeasance. Since racing personnel are sanctioned for violations of the racing rules, why shouldn\'t NYRA pay the price and forfeit its license?
Doc,
No question NYRA screwed up big time but no one really STOLE anything. The overall lack of controls, some management skills and attention to detail have been inherent at NYRA since the days of Kenny Noe. Those issues have been corrected for the most part.Present NYRA could use an infusion of skilled people to assist Charlie Hayward if he remains in charge.
The other alternatives,a quasi state racing commission,a casino group, or the Jerry Bailey/Jack Knowlton types makes the present NYRA management look like Jack Welch and co.
In the end, if Albany runs NY racing on a day to day basis, you can bet the demise will be swift.The Albany crowd put Mario and Baeza on trial, not even knowing that you had to subtract the weight of the equipment from the post race weigh in to figure the jockeys body weight.That same cluless type would, no doubt, be poltically appointed to run the NY racing game.
Mike
Miff:
I appreciate your insider\'s insights into what is going on at NYRA. I think that
NY also has some talented and concerned newspaper writers (Fountaine, DaSilva,
Bossert, Moran, etc) covering the New York racing circuit, but the newspapers
they work for do not allow them enough space to cover racing and political
issues properly. The Post and Daily News devote so much space to out of town
entries and results, information which is readily available elsewhere, and you
think that they would take some of his space and develop their racing coverage
more extensively.
Either Bossert or Fountaine reported last week that New York Racing was going
to be divided up (think Hyman Roth on the hotel terrace in Havana): The state to
run Saratoga, a private entity to run Aq/Bel, and a separate entity to run the
slots. This arrangement was denied by someone in the Spitzer mis-Administration
but such an arrangement has been discussed in the past, including on the TG
board.
I am wondering what contingencies are currently being planned for NY Racing\'s
possible \"Nuclear Winter\" of 2008. I guess the cynic\'s upside of a NY shutdown
after January 1 would be great racing at GP, Tampa, Philly and Fair Grounds,
but these are stable areas which have traditionally been full and the end result
will be that struggling horsepeople somewhere will be displaced.
Question for TGJB: Have you and the TG \"bean counters\" considered what the
impact of a suspension of NY Racing would be on your sales? I am just curious
to know if the thinking is that the disposable income which is wagered in NY
will just be wagered elsewhere, or, on the other hand, that there will be a
marked decrease in national handle.
Bee,
Bruno is the total problem now, so to speak. If he does not blink in this game of chicken, then when 12/31/07 comes NYRA ceases to exist. The state(by law) must appoint an interim group to run NY racing. NYRA puts the land ownership issue back with the bankrupcy court which trumps ALL parties in this thing.Unless the legislators quickly pass new racing bills, IMPOSSIBLE, given the discord between the power brokers Spitzer, Silver, Larken and fighting Joe Bruno,who knows what happens.
No question if Arnold Roth and Michael Corleone were dealing with this, it would have been amicably resolved with all parties wetting their beaks!
Mike
I am interested to hear the TG response to your question about alternative plans. FYI a week or so ago there was a public forum held at the Racing Museum concerning the local economic impact of a racing shutdown. Among others the panel included the head of the NY Breeders Assoc. and the author of an economic impact study on horse related activity in Saratoga County. What they said was, regardless of whether there is or isn\'t a cessation of racing, it will be felt. Over a 1000 mares have already left the state in anticipation of a shutdown. So 2-3 years down the road we will have less ratty NY Breds to wager on. More immediate was the hospitality industry situation. Local hotel bookings for 2008 are down significantly (no percentage given) due to the fact that NYRA has not put seats on sale. People are waiting for a resolution. It was implied that the Chamber of Commerce is working on an alternative marketing campaign should there be a shutdown. Rick Violette, Jim Bond and Nick Zito (via phone) also participated. They were more concerned with smaller outfits that once they stop will never be back. This includes owners. Hope and Pray . . .
>No question if Arnold Roth and Michael Corleone were dealing with this, it would have been amicably resolved with all parties wetting their beaks! <
Hopefully, not before a few of the idiots were eliminated.
Sorry, I ment the 9th and final race.
Ship to PHA, PEN, CTC or MTN. Yes I know it\'s easy for me to say that, but purses are not all that bad anymore as y\'all know.
NC Tony