So Incredibly Sad, So Incredibly Stupid

[richiebee]

JMA:

California\'s rush to judgment on synthetic is still the most perplexing
decision ever made in this game,

Maryland\'s political environment is not conducive to the long term survival of
racing, and recent developments outside of the state (slots at Parx and
Delaware) have not helped.

No matter how good racing in California and Maryland once was in their golden
eras, they were never the \"gold standard\". NYRA was. Now NYRA is a punch line.

JMA, I do not know if you\'ve read any of my recent posts (and I couldn\'t blame
you for skipping or deleting them, they are becoming rather redundant)(I guess
this comes from my days protesting against the Vietnam War, where I learned
that necessary change is attainable through persistence), but I will repeat
again:

1)Under the current regime, the quality of year round NY racing has tanked,
especially on the Inner Dirt, which is now unbettable.

2)Under the current regime, a certain repeat offending trainer (more than 70
violations), was finally given an extensive and probably appropriate
suspension, which was stayed by the courts. During this stay, said trainer is
scoring at a 40% rate.

3) Under the current regime, a perennial leading owner/breeder was convicted
of animal abuse, currently incarcerated.

4) Under the current regime, a number of administrative blunders, most
recently the year long miscalculation of takeout.

5) One I haven\'t mentioned too much. It has been more than a year since OTB
closed. NYRA should have already opened upscale teletheatres in both Staten
Island and Manhattan. They could be highly profitable if properly managed and
would contribute to the continued health and well being of the sport, at least
in NYC.

6) Catastrophic breakdowns. The only place where I have seen more horses break
down is on HBO\'s \"Luck\". (Sorry, had to give JMA his dose of \"glib and cheesy\")

[richiebee]

JB:

My point is that the first thing that NYRA\'s Board of Trustees should consider
is replacing current leadership. As to what current leadership or their
replacements could do to improve NY Racing year round, I will report back
within 24 hours with some ideas, most of which have been discussed or at least
mentioned on this board during the eight or so years which I have
participated.

Then I will cease and desist and we can all get on the Derby Trail. Speaking
of the Derby, is Howe Great, a Kentucky bred by a Japanese stallion out of a
South African mare, headed in that direcstion?

[ajkreider]

They are pointing him there.  I thought the Beyer in the Palm Beach came up a bit soft, and Dullahan looked to be much the best, considering ground loss.  Since this was the latter\'s first race this year, I\'d expect greater improvement going forward.  The one to watch, who will probably be a price on Derby day.

[miff]

\'Okay, I\'ll bite. Exactly what steps do you guys think should be taken by NYRA?\"

JB,

If nothing else,what portion of the enormous slot windfall money will be directly aimed at \"helping\" the players in some way. It has not even been mentioned or thought of imo.How about petitioning the NYSRWB for a serious permanent reduction in takeout?

Also,on behalf of a group that collectively gambles in the millions, p.a. at NYRA tracks,I wrote to Charlie Hayward(2009) with a list of player concerns/suggestions.I exchanged some of the info with you at the time in a private e-mail,you may recall.

The suggestions were \"purely\" from the viewpoint of professional/frequent horse players(whales and smaller bettors) It covered the then and now lack of transparency at NYRA towards players in areas from pool integrity,testing,form reversals,vets,NYRA clockers, track maintenance info, stuck/hustled horses, vet list horses, winter racing,takeout etc.The associated cost of implementing most of these changes was negligible,it was more about transparency.Incidentally, a reason for \"hiding\" stuff is thought to be that if players knew more, they would NOT play as much, hence the old cover it up attitude, nice!

No suggestion was implemented and the courtesy of a reply was never received.I suspect the letter was just tossed in the garbage. Who the f--k dared to suggest  anything to NYRA\'s elitists management/board team which treats players/gamblers as nothing more than a necessary evil.That is also the attitude of a certain number of trainers,disclose as little as possible, keep it all with the insiders, f--k the players.Too stupid to realize, no players, no racing.

After about a year, an approach was made to a State Senator involved in racing committees, asking that a review of current NYRA top management/board be undertaken,with a view of replacing it with a more player friendly team.
We know it was looked at, but in the end, political inertia won out.Seeds were at least sown and Comptroller Di Napoli took a swing at smug NYRA. A second review of NYRA management is still being looked at a higher level of Albany racing heavyweights.Unfortunately,it looks like improved financial forecast, mostly from slots,will create more inertia on any management change.

Thats the bare bones of a NYRA story which I could write a book about.Learned two things for sure:

1.NYRA does not have a clue or care what a meaningful portion of it\'s regular players want.They know players are basically voiceless and not organized enough to have to pay attention to.

2.NYRA really does not have any vision on how to tackle todays very difficult climate in the gaming industry.They are \"over the top\" with the windfall slot handout and will most certainly get a business bump up by default.

Lastly,just a few weeks ago it was revealed that a new type \"vets list\" was implemented by NYRA.I asked where the players could see that list of horses for evaluation in their future handicapping of such horses. No acknowledgement/reply, per usual.

Mike

[TGJB]

Mike-- specifics aside, you know that I\'m one of the advocates for the players in this game, no argument there. But Richie\'s posts (and others) have concerned the racing side, and unless I\'ve missed it I haven\'t heard any conrete suggestions for fixing the problems there. Like someone said, you can\'t draw on a horse colony that doesn\'t exist, and if they\'re not showing up for these purses, where the hell are they?

[miff]

JB,

It is my belief, along with many others, that meaningful reduced takeout and total transparency will do much for the game.

Do you really want to stand with a horse on a big play who, unbeknown to you, who was on the vets list last week with physical trouble? Why should you not be informed about that?

Specifics on how to attract more young people will not be identified by consultants with MBA\'s who never sat in the grandstand or clubhouse and met with the everday player.Know those guys from my days on Wall Street, brilliant analytical skills but thats it. The psyche of the gambler/horseplayer in this niche business must be understood to have any shot at a turnaround. NYRA doesn\'t have a clue and if they read this thread they would say \"WTF is this idiot talkin about???\"

Not saying there\'s one magic bullet to fix the NY racing game but it is painfully apparent that those in charge are in way too deep and new blood along with bold innovation is necessary to have a shot.

Mike

[richiebee]

JB:

Thanks for the preface.

PART I

Campo has continuously said he is \"at the mercy of the horse population he has to
work with\". Who is responsible for this horse population?

With the current purse structure, Campo should have no problem, in the dead of
winter, recruiting stables which have previously hibernated in the winter months.
I am talking about stables from Canada (no racing there in winter), New England
(no racing there either, but probably not too many quality horses), and
especially New Jersey (where there seems to be fewer and fewer racing days each
year). It is not inconceivable that outfits racing in Maryland, at Turfway, and
even in Illinois would send horses to race for the winter months over the inner
tube at the current Genting boosted purse structure.

To facilitate this, Campo and crew would have to take a look at the outfits
currently stabled at NYRA facilities. Are Gary Sciacca and Joe Aquilino and Paul
Toscano and others contributing to quality racing each year, or are they getting
20 stalls in 2012 because they got 20 each year in the past? And what about the
Guyana Gang (Shivmangal, Persaud, Chatterpaul)? Are we helping NY racing by
putting a roof over the manes and tails of their cheap stock?

I\'m just starting with winter racing now. To bring in these outside outfits, NYRA
would have to move some trainers out who are not supporting quality racing. They
might have to bend over backwards to get some of these trainers to relocate (in
the same way that Fair Grounds rented a house for Bud Delp\'s exercise riders to
live in for two winters in the early 80s).

To make the hard decisions involved in displacing some long time regulars on the
circuit, and to make the effort to recruit the out of state outfits which would
enhance winter racing in NY and make it viable once again, well that would take
some hard work and I am not certain that Hayward and Campo would be willing to
undertake it. These two men would seem to be coated with an insanely thick
covering of Teflon, having lasted on their jobs for so long after so much
mismanagement, and I do not know what their incentive is. And if they are ever
replaced by NYRA, I would urge NYRA that their replacements\' pay plan is at least
partially pegged to handle, field size and attendance.

New York state bred racing is also part of the problem, and would stand in the
way of bringing outside outfits. Why would a trainer or owner ship to stable from
out of state knowing that 30 - 40% of the races will be written for NYBs?
Anybody see the Herecomesthebride from GP yesterday, which was won by the
favorite, who was bred in NY. If NY Breeders had any sense they would realize that
the value of their runners would be enhanced with continued success against open
horses. The continuation of NYB racing serves a small group of politically
connected farm owners and breeders to the detriment of the entire racing program
in the state.

I will make the following suggestion for at least the tenth (twentieth?) time:
The only races for NYBs run at NYRA tracks should be stakes races. In all other
races,give NYBs a purse enhancement or a 3 pound weight allowance when they run
against open horses. I believe this would have the long term effect of \"culling\"
some of the never- should - have - been - bred, super slow and unsound state bred
runners NY horseplayers have seen this winter.

PART II -- Year Round Scheduling, More Off The Wall Ideas. (to come)

[TGJB]

Mike-- look, I agree about takeout and transparancy, and am fighting hard for the latter (and may be winning, we\'ll see). But those things don\'t address the issues of small fields, cheap horses, and breakdowns.

It\'s pretty clear there should be less racing. 85% of handle now comes off-track, which means you could probably get the same amount of handle spread among less races (and possibly more handle, if you staggered the tracks, days and races right, and had the bigger fields that would probably result). But if someone has other ideas, whether NYRA specific or not, put them out there.

[miff]

JB,

Less winter racing a no brainer.NYRA justified winter racing as necessary to fund purses for the Belmont/Saratoga meets, fair!. Since that is no longer the case with the slot money pouring in,lets see if NYRA asks permission from Albany to race less winter dates.

Breakdowns incidentally may be attributed to the horrible track maintenance on the inner surface.The surface painfully slow/debilitating on many days causing the premature onset of exhaustion and breakdowns imo and more importantly TWO VETS at Aqueduct.You can hear race caller Johnny Imbriale startled at seeing the three quarters in like 1:18 in some route races.I know the winter slugs are slow but that surface is criminal.

Not able to resist,I called one day last week and spoke to the track supers office about the ridiculously slow surface(don\'t know who I spoke to) The guy said \"yeah it\'s a slow day\" I said, are you watering? Back raking? He said \"Why do you want to know?\" I just hung up.


Mike

[BitPlayer]

Miff -

I thought it was the opposite: pre-slots NYRA was cash-flow-positive at the Spa, but cash-flow-negative during the winter.  I always assumed there was some regulatory or political reason to run during the winter.  I know I\'ve read that the winter is when the small outfits make the money necessary to keep them going.

[miff]

Bit,

Not referring to cash flow.Nyra stated that winter racing was necessary for forward purses.
 
How does a business  that takes in millions per day have a cash flow problem anyway if properly managed? Can understand p&l, but cash flow?

Mike

[Michael D.]

An article on Foxwoods.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/magazine/mike-sokolove-foxwood-casinos.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

You could probably apply some of this stuff to horse racing, at least when to comes to the increase in competition for the gambling buck. Not an easy environment.



\"It would be easy to look at what has occurred at Foxwoods and think, Here are people who fell into money and didn't know how to handle it. Which happens to be true. But how the casino reached this point, and the challenges its owners and operators now confront, is part of a much larger story — one involving the gradual relaxation of moral prohibitions against gambling, a desperate search for new revenue by state governments and the proliferation of new casinos across America. Casino gambling has become a commodity, available within a day's drive to the vast majority of U.S. residents. Some in the industry talk of there being an oversupply, as if their product were lumber or soybeans.\"


"You can't fight the tide," Butera said as we sat in his office. He brought up the example of Atlantic City. The State of New Jersey is likely to reap less money from its tables and slots — just as Connecticut and other states that have come to rely on gambling will see their share decrease as others get into the market. But he believes individual casinos with a good plan can survive. "It's the exact same thing here," Butera said. "We can still have a great business. We just can't have the same business we used to have."

[miff]

Clueless Clowns at NYRA under scrutiny AGAIN by Bennett Liebman,Deputy Secretary of Gaming NY State. Seems the rash of breakdowns is further evidence of current NYRA\'s overall incompetency.Rather terse letter on Gov.Cuomo\'s letterhead addressed to NYRA by Ben Liebman whom NYRA does NOT want to tangle with. Unlike the manner in which smug NYRA ignores players letters, this one will be addressed for sure.

Inner track conditions remain horrific. As late as yesterday,the unforgiving,  debilitating surface was yielding raw time 20+ lengths slow in routes, 5-10 slow in sprints.Notwithstanding that the surface issue was brought to smug NYRA\'s attention on several occasions since Glen Kozak was appointed NYRA track super, nothing changed.There is a strong case that the debilitating surface and the cheap winter stock have combined to exponentially increase breakdowns.It must also be noted that spacing in winter in very short amongst the cheap stock.

Also highlights the need for much more transparency by NYRA.The players have a right to see a daily updated list of horses on the vets list and the reasons why the animal was unfit to race.Wonder how much players money was thrown in the garbage gambling on cripples that were on that vet list.


Mike

[Boscar Obarra]

I thought the sad creature Zito ran the other day, bar shoe and eased, was particularly egregious.

 Vet must be afraid to tell him, keep the horse in the barn until he can walk.

[miff]

In fairness, a communication was just received from NYRA in response to a question regarding the lack of transparency regarding horses placed on NYRA\'s vets list.It was stated the vets list is for eyes only by certain NYRA personnel.The reason for asking for the list to be published was fully explained to NYRA.

Tracking the vets list at a prime race venue revealed that horses coming off such list won 2 races out of 97 starts, first race back off list. At another lesser venue, horses won app 3 of 39, first time back.


Mike