NY Racing bracing for hurricane Cuomo

[miff]

Beyer taking a shot at the NYRA takeover. Beyer/DRF joined at the hip with NYRA for many years so the article is biased that way, There are many truths/facts relevant to the dislike between the Cuomos and the upstate bluebloods who have controlled/influenced NY racing for decades.On the other hand, praising NYRA and current NY racing is a far stretch and a little insulting to all who have follwed closely. Caught up in this mess are some terrific people worried what will become of their jobs after Cuomo announces after Labor Day.There is talk of a total dismantling of the present racing product/coverage at al. Just what will happen remains to be seen.

Also,just every small outfit is facing extinction if the new crowd fools with medication rules(along with NYSRWB)purse cuts,present/future gambling subsidies to racing.All on the table.

As to the names leaked for posssible future control/influence over NY racing,its a shame,possibly neutral or a step backwards.
Read below:

\"Beyer: Cuomo\'s unwanted takeover
By Andrew Beyer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — This is the Saratoga season that should have elated everyone in the racing industry.

The track looks as grand as ever; the crowds are large and enthusiastic; the quality of the stakes competition is unmatched in the United States. And now, after a decade of hopes and delays, revenue from slot machines downstate at Aqueduct is infusing the sport, pushing prize money to unprecedented levels. Maidens at Saratoga are competing for purses as high as $85,000. The changed economics could revitalize the sport by encouraging more owners to buy and breed thoroughbreds.

Yet at Saratoga this summer you will hear little optimistic talk about the future — not when the equivalent of a nuclear bomb is about to drop. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to take control of the New York Racing Association by reconstituting its board of directors and packing it with political appointees. The New York Post's statehouse correspondent Fredric Dicker — whose sources are considered authoritative — wrote that Cuomo would fire NYRA's CEO Ellen McClain "as soon as the meet ends on Sept. 3." Almost everyone expects that Cuomo will take for the state some or all of the slot-machine revenue that has been earmarked for horse racing.

People who don't follow racing closely, and know about NYRA what they read in the New York newspapers, might think that any change would be an improvement. For years, NYRA has been a whipping boy for politicians and the press, portrayed as incompetent and corrupt. But the supposed misdeeds of the organization were regularly overblown, and much of the hostility toward NYRA was driven by factors other than its record. Plenty of people in New York disliked the fact that the upper crust of the horsey set, the wealthy dynasties like the Phippses and the Vanderbilts, dominated NYRA and exerted so much control over New York racing. Former governor Mario Cuomo, father of Andrew, had a visceral dislike of the bluebloods.

The criticism about the rule of the bluebloods had some foundation. I stopped going to Saratoga in the late 1990s because the track had become customer-unfriendly and the people running it appeared not to notice or care. The sport appeared to be exist mostly for the benefit of wealthy owners. But after Charlie Hayward was named president and CEO in 2004, NYRA conducted its operations much more skillfully than the nation's other major owners of racetracks, Frank Stronach and Churchill Downs, Inc.

NYRA operates the most successful race meeting in America, though its critics will rarely give it credit for that achievement. At Saratoga it has managed to accommodate big crowds while retaining the charm that makes the Spa a must-see destination for racing fans throughout the country.

NYRA did things that the politicians would never notice but that core fans recognized and appreciated: Its in-house television presentation is the most informative in the industry. Its Web site is packed with useful information. It changed the rules governing the Pick Six and Pick Four to protect bettors when races were shifted from turf to dirt.

And then NYRA made the mistake that triggered a cataclysm. With the expiration of a state law, the takeout from certain wagers in New York was supposed to be reduced from 26 percent to 25 percent, but nobody in NYRA (nor any of the tracks' state overseers) spotted the error until bettors had been short-changed by $8.5 million. This surely wasn't deliberate — most of the money went not to NYRA but to the various outlets around the country that handle wager on New York races.

But the event confirmed, to its long-time critics, what a corrupt and incompetent entity NYRA was, and it turned into a full-fledged, headline-making scandal. NYRA's board fired Hayward and general counsel Patrick Kehoe, perhaps hoping that these sacrifices would appease the governor.

He was not appeased; this was Cuomo's opportunity to execute a coup. The governor is a staunch supporter of the casino industry, which can generate significant revenue for the state, not to mention large political contributions. Because of the law giving racetracks a subsidy from slot-machine funds, horse racing siphons away money that politicians want for their own aims. Cuomo sought to take control by changing the composition of the NYRA board, reducing it to 17 members, eight of whom will be appointed by the governor and two each by the Senate and Assembly.

Blogger Tom Noonan (www.tenoonan.com), an attorney and small-scale horse owner, has written more incisively about the NYRA situation than almost anyone in the mainstream media, and he declared that the governor and his staff "engineered a coup . . . [and engaged] in . . . assaults on the integrity and character of NYRA Board members without citing any evidence justifying the attacks."

Without Hayward to fight back, NYRA quickly folded under Cuomo's pressure. The New York Post editorial page cheered: "The long-disgraced NewYork Racing Association is about to be put out of business." And it applauded the governor for "tackling a culture that has been a breeding ground for corruption."

The suggestion that New York politicians will clean up horse racing corruption ought to sound like a joke to anyone familiar with the state's history. When off-track betting in the state was legalized in the 1970s and placed under the control of various regional political entities, it became a cesspool of political patronage and mismanagement. New York City Off-Track Betting accomplished the feat of going broke running a business in which losing money was almost impossible. When the state legislature passed the law authorizing a casino at Aqueduct, the process of awarding the franchise took 10 years and was marred by so much influence-peddling that the Inspector General described it as "a veritable case study in dysfunctional and politically driven government."

People involved in New York racing have ample reason to be worried about what will happen when the state takes control. And because New York is the center of the sport in the United States, the nation's thoroughbred industry ought to be worried, too.

[FrankD.]

It will not be pretty for sure and the unknown is a scary place for those good people who run the daily nuts and bolts of the operation.

The one saving grace is the dollars and jobs created by the state breding program; as the grand standing political clowns won\'t dare touch anything in this economy that will cost a job or a dollar of revenue anywhere.

Go figure Mike, the \" backyard bred slow rats\" could be what saves and keeps some form of national significance to NY racing!

It will be interesting.

Frank D.

[miff]

Frank.

Pisano Cuomo is being groomed for a 2016 run at the big job.Nothing sacred,NY bred slow rats included

Had an African American, why not a wop?

Best,

Mike

(Editor\'s note-- Mike is Italian).

[moosepalm]

> \"Beyer: Cuomo\'s unwanted takeover
> By Andrew Beyer
>
 Maidens at Saratoga are
> competing for purses as high as $85,000. The
> changed economics could revitalize the sport by
> encouraging more owners to buy and breed
> thoroughbreds.
>


I\'ll ask a question out of complete ignorance, because I\'m not involved in the game at that level, but if purses could somehow be magically guaranteed to remain at this slots-infused level, would that really encourage an influx of investment in the game?  I ask for two reasons:  one, independent of what\'s happening in horse racing, the economy is still the economy; and two, will that really tip the likelihood of making money as an owner to the point where it becomes attractive?  The second question is also motivated by an uncertainty about costs of ownership, and whether the nature of the marketplace will drive those costs up commensurate with enhanced profits.

[TGJB]

At some point someone will figure out the key is to throw money at mitigating expenses, not hiking purses. Bigger purses help a relatively small percentage of the players, lower expenses would help marginal owners stick around.

[phil23]

Afraid I agree Mike. No sacred cows for sure.  As someone who\'s up in Ontario, let me assure everyone that any belief that politicians will see the industry as a job creator (instead of as just sucking slot money away from the general coffers) is greatly mistaken.

If a politician thinks he can get his hand on a big new stream of cash, and in doing so, only has to piss off a marginal interest group like the racing fan/industry, he (or she) will do it in a heartbeat.  Alas.

[richiebee]

Miff:

Don Cuomoleone will find out what both his father and Geraldine Ferraro found out:
When a New York Italian American gets up on the national political stage, a good
deal of Middle America, the South and the Southwest will assume that there are mob
connections.

America\'s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, would have found this out, but his national
aspirations were short circuited when he married a whackadoodle, though it is
rumored that she gives great headache.

Haven\'t had much success picking ponies recently, so let me try politics:
(1)Incumbent Obama narrowly prevails in 2012 in an election where turnout reaches an
all time high; (2) the inner socialist in Obama comes out during his second term;
(3)unless jobs are created (unlikely),(4) all enemies of the United States lay down
their arms (less likely), or (5) the Dow soars to about 18,000, there is virtually
no chance that any Democrat will be elected in 2016.

There. There you have it. Three paragraphs of absolute unsubstantiated drivel. But
it is only half as ridiculous as the Beyer piece, which appeared in a respectable
newspaper (the Washington Post, not the DRF), in defense of Charles Hayward, whose
hand was firmly on the controls as the SS NYRA sank (sunk?) to new depths.

[fjmb]

How about more perks and rewards for the horse players?  I get $25 vouchers for every day of the week to use in the slot machines and/or for match plays,  on top of that a free buffet. Why cant there be better rewards for the horse player?  Give me  $25 vouchers to bet the horses and I\'d love it.  I bet $4k last weekend and got 10 dollars back from twinspires (woohoo).  In todays market you have to reward the gambler.  Casino\'s are doing it with the slots, tracks have to follow too.  The vouchers will end up  back in the mutuel pools??  10 bucks doesn\'t cut it nowadays with casino\'everywhere!!!

[mandown]

Inner socialist? I\'d think the last thing he is doing is covering up his true beliefs. His ego\'s big enough to think he can \'create\' jobs. That\'s the trouble with politicians - they think they\'re cleverer than the rest of us but they aren\'t, cf Joe Biden. Smart suit, smart haircut but a waste of space.

The only way any team/business/nation succeeds is through working harder and being smarter than their rivals. How many politicians have the balls to tell that to the electorate?

In some ways you can excuse it because if one side is saying \'Vote for me and we will succeed without pain\' and the other is saying \'Vote for me, it will be tough but in the end if we work hard we will prevail\' then guess who gets elected.

That\'s a sad commentary on the electorate but it\'s the same the world over. Look at what\'s happening in Europe.

I think Obama is a near shoe-in. He\'s charismatic and will say anything if it gets him elected. Romney is wooden at best and doesn\'t lie well enough to be a successful politician. If anyone questions him on what he is saying and he doesn\'t believe it then he is the proverbial rabbit in the headlights - sheer panic.

Have we all forgotten Clinton and Lewinsky? How could anyone with any self-respect defend themselves with arguments such as \'It depends what the meaning of is is?\' The man should have slunk into a hole somewhere and not be seen as an elder statesmen but unfortunately the system has become such that a politician who can lie convincingly is deemed to have a talent.

[belmont3]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Miff:
>
> Don Cuomoleone will find out what both his father
> and Geraldine Ferraro found out:
> When a New York Italian American gets up on the
> national political stage, a good
> deal of Middle America, the South and the
> Southwest will assume that there are mob
> connections.
>
> America\'s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, would have found
> this out, but his national
> aspirations were short circuited when he married a
> whackadoodle, though it is
> rumored that she gives great headache.
>
> Haven\'t had much success picking ponies recently,
> so let me try politics:
> (1)Incumbent Obama narrowly prevails in 2012 in an
> election where turnout reaches an
> all time high; (2) the inner socialist in Obama
> comes out during his second term;
> (3)unless jobs are created (unlikely),(4) all
> enemies of the United States lay down
> their arms (less likely), or (5) the Dow soars to
> about 18,000, there is virtually
> no chance that any Democrat will be elected in
> 2016.
>
> There. There you have it. Three paragraphs of
> absolute unsubstantiated drivel. But
> it is only half as ridiculous as the Beyer piece,
> which appeared in a respectable
> newspaper (the Washington Post, not the DRF), in
> defense of Charles Hayward, whose
> hand was firmly on the controls as the SS NYRA
> sank (sunk?) to new depths.

Richie,

I will check with my Hazleton connections on what brand of aspirin Judith provides for Rudy.

[Silver Charm]

Belmont3 I believe its called Altoids.....

[FrankD.]

Bob 2 posts in a lifetime?
Are you blessing us with your presence this weekend?

[Topcat]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At some point someone will figure out the key is
> to throw money at mitigating expenses, not hiking
> purses. Bigger purses help a relatively small
> percentage of the players, lower expenses would
> help marginal owners stick around.


True . . . though the fact that backstretch help is both underpaid and broadly lacking in basic creature comforts must be factored into the equation.

[TGJB]

I actually bit half my tongue off not responding to that stuff. String on politics stops here.

George, you know I love you. But any political commentary-- and this goes for Richie as well-- that relies on characterizations as shorthand (socialist, will say anything-- about Obama, not Romney???) instead of a discussion of actual acts and policy positions taken (and not taken) is a complete waste of space and does not deserve to be taken seriously.

I was a Reagan guy, by which I mean what is now known as a liberal. If either of you guys wants to have a serious, specific conversation about this stuff call me.

[moosepalm]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I actually bit half my tongue off not responding
> to that stuff. String on politics stops here.
>
> But any political
> commentary
> that relies on characterizations as shorthand
> (socialist, will say anything-- about Obama, not
> Romney???)


Really.  You\'d think this was the Ragozin board, or something.