The Clueless Clowns, gotta love them!

[miff]

With ALL the issues facing the game, a grenade is lobbed at a NYRA vendor. Check out the 9/22 Times Union editorial with the picture of the sign Paesano Cuomo planted. If they think that is offensive, they did not grow up in Williamsburg Brookln in the 60\'s.The article also affirms that big brother in Albany is looking over NYRA\'s shoulder....gotta love the Clueless Clowns.

timesunion.com


THE ISSUE:

Concerned about a business name, NYRA and the state abruptly pull a vendor\'s permit.

THE STAKES:

Where\'s the due process here?


We\'re not fans of the name that Brandon Snooks and Andrea Loguidice chose for their lunch truck: Wandering Dago. But it\'s one thing to have an opinion about it; it\'s quite another to use the power of government to suddenly pull the rug out from under a business that had played by all of government\'s rules.

This is not the first time we\'ve seen how mutable the rules can be in Gov. Andrew Cuomo\'s administration. Whether it\'s a lunch truck with what the governor\'s people find a distasteful name, or a peaceful Occupy Albany demonstration that doesn\'t meet with the governor\'s approval and suddenly finds itself violating an invented curfew, it seems that when a top official puts his or her mind to it, there isn\'t a whim that can\'t trump things like due process and free speech.

Mr. Snooks and Ms. Loguidice seemed to be doing everything by the book when they sought to set up shop at Saratoga Race Course this year. They went through months of negotiation and gained approval from the New York Racing Association and its food contractor, Centerplate. The name of the business was known to all involved.

Then, on July 19, the first day of the meet, Bennett Liebman, the governor\'s deputy secretary for gaming and racing, shot off an email to NYRA President Christopher Kay, raising concerns about the name of Wandering Dago. No, Mr. Liebman\'s note didn\'t order NYRA to bar the truck. It even suggested that perhaps the name could be changed. But anyone even passingly familiar with either business or bureaucracy would know that\'s no easy thing, whether you\'re Wal-Mart or a lunch truck. There are tax filings, contracts, bank accounts, public documents. Websites, social media addresses. A paint job on the truck. Signs. At least.

And Mr. Kay didn\'t have to squint to read between lines like, \"I see this as a problem waiting to blow up.\" Nor could he be faulted if he concluded that Mr. Cuomo was behind the message.

Indeed, NYRA might have found itself hearing complaints from Italian-Americans upset by what many view as an ethnic slur. But the time to have a discussion about that was in the months that preceded the approval. Not on opening day, and not with an ultimatum to change the business\' name in less than 24 hours to save the state and NYRA any potential discomfort.

It didn\'t take Mr. Kay\'s vast experience in the business world to know that a note like that from the executive chamber meant, \"Do something now.\" Hours later, Mr. Snooks and Ms. Loguidice were out of business as far as Saratoga Race Course went.

And the response from Mr. Cuomo\'s office? Can\'t talk about a matter in litigation. Even to say whether the governor had anything to do with this ham-handed exercise of power.

Now Mr. Snooks and Ms. Loguidice are trying to salvage what\'s left of the season by suing the state to let them sell food at Empire State Plaza for a few weeks...cont
 





















   
..

[Niall]

This article is a bit more up to date on the situation ...

http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/40123/wandering-dago-lawsuit-gets-day-in-court-top-official-named-in-objection/

[Boscar Obarra]

I\'d have to say, the judgement shown by the proprieters  in choosing an inflammatory name, is a bigger issue for me than the states idiocy.

 Guess they figured it would be good publicity to pick a name like that. They got it.

[TGJB]

As it happens, those guys were occupying the spot formerly held by... our own Steve Byk. Behind which is our original seminar location.

[Fairmount1]

Here is the enemy of racing in NY

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2013/09/23/video-cuomo-blast-wandering-dago-food-cart/

Swine and Dine!!  Proving that there is no such thing as bad publicity as Oscar B, err, Boscar O. alluded to.....  

http://wanderingdago.com/menu.html

[miff]

NYS Gaming Commission says it\'s ok to tap out on the Gold Cup Saturday at Belmont, the race is 100% legit, the other 10 races you\'re on your own....morons!



\"NYSGamingCommission\"
9/26/13, 10:56 AM

\"Vet records for horses competing in Saturday\'s Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park are online: gaming.ny.gov/pdf/JC%20Gold%...

[miff]

By Andrew Beyer,  Published: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 10:20 AM ET
     
ELMONT, N.Y. — Walking through Belmont Park is an unsettling experience, especially for anyone who remembers America's most imposing racetrack in its glory days. The grandstand that stretches nearly a quarter of a mile used to be packed with tens of thousands of fans, even on weekdays. Last Saturday's attendance of 5,628 made the cavernous facility feel like a mausoleum, and on weekdays the crowds are half that size.

Near-empty grandstands are, of course, a familiar sight the modern-day U.S. racing industry. But Christopher Kay, the CEO of the New York Racing Association, doesn't want to accept them as the new normal.

Kay took the helm of NYRA in July, just in time to spend the summer at Saratoga, the nation's most successful track, packed with large, enthusiastic crowds six days a week. But when NYRA moved its operations downstate after Labor Day, Kay saw what the sport looks like most of the year.

Kay was hired after NYRA had been rocked by controversies and scandals and its CEO deposed. Governor Andrew Cuomo, no lover of horse racing, orchestrated a coup that gave New York State control over NYRA. Dealing with the state's politics and bureaucracy would be a full-time job in itself, but Kay's background won't let him ignore the challenge of attracting and caring for customers.

He has been the CEO of Toys 'R' Us and an executive of Universal Parks and Resorts, two businesses in which taking care of customers is paramount. When Kay talks about racing, he uses language he probably employed in discussing visitors to Universal's theme parks.

"What I want to do is provide an enhanced guest experience," Kay said. "We're stressing the importance of engagements with our guests."

He believes that NYRA can do an even better job at Saratoga, and he believes he can revitalize Belmont — by treating customers better, staging special events, offering better food and arranging the seating to eliminate the mausoleum feeling.

Kay will not succeed in transforming Belmont, but can be forgiven for being unrealistic, because he is a newcomer to the sport and even most industry veterans don't understand the dynamics of on-track business vs. off-track business.

The sport underwent a profound change in the 1990s, when horseplayers got the chance to watch races on a computer or home TV and to bet by computer or phone. The vast majority of them saw that playing the races from home is a better experience than going to the track. They don't have to take a slow-moving train to Belmont Park or crawl along the Capital Beltway to Laurel Park. They don't have to pay for admissions, parking or overpriced food. With a computer on their desk, they have all necessary handicapping information at their fingertips. Nothing a racetrack can offer will trump these conveniences.

The few tracks that still offer a vital live product are all beneficiaries of special situations. Saratoga, Del Mar and Oaklawn Park are resort/spa destinations with long histories and a special ambience that lures a broad spectrum of fans. Keeneland and Churchill Downs are in a state where horse racing is ingrained in the culture.

Almost everywhere else, technology has changed the business as fans opt for the ease of betting with a computer. Most other businesses eagerly embrace such technological advances. In an era when people can deposit a check by using a smartphone, executives at Bank of America don't yearn for the good old days when people went to a grandiose downtown bank and stood in line to make a transaction. Yet the racing industry seems distressed by change. Its leaders despair over empty seats more than they cheer the expanded reach of their business. The media reinforce this negativity. Newspapers regularly run photos of barren grandstands to demonstrate the decline of thoroughbred racing

[TGJB]

Richie said it better.

[miff]

Point is,many seem to have a handle on the reality of racing but not the ones running it.

[Boscar Obarra]

I would think the lesser cut of the handle is what disturbs them , not the empty seats.

[Fairmount1]

As I was reading Beyer\'s article (before seeing it here) and I got to the marketing line, I thought the same thing:  richiebee explained this much better but Beyer has the name recognition to get attention on this with NYRA.  I almost surmise Crist pushed him to do this.  

Ultimately, the live product was my first love and still can be best for fruitful information, especially Fairmount shippers that can score at big odds.  But the live product gave way to the smorgasboard of opportunities in simulcastland with the slant in simulcastland now towards the latest \"big day.\"  Some positives have happened in the face of decreased payoffs in exotics as miff and mathcapper have explained.  But as for NYRA, I pretty much eliminate about 6-7 races a card that are just unplayable and that wasn\'t true 5-8 years ago even.  Quality over quantity needs to return as others have more intelligently stated on here and in drf.

[Fairmount1]

Miff wrote:  NYS Gaming Commission says it\'s ok to tap out on the Gold Cup Saturday at Belmont, the race is 100% legit, the other 10 races you\'re on your own....morons!

____________________________


Morons?  Possibly.

But I believe that race was run CLEANNNN...no money invested in the race whatsoever to bias my opinion.  Ron the Greek for Bill Mott wins by many, many lengths.  I think the Derby, Belmont, Travers, and Jockey Club were all run clean with the enhanced measures.  I applaud their efforts to start Somewhere with increased security, testing, vet records, etc.  Why discourage an improved effort to clean up racing even if it is only the biggest of races in NY?    

Palace Malice has raced in the face of enhanced security in NY for the Belmont, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup and ran 1st, 1st, and 2nd.  Meanwhile, Cross Traffic, the talented super freak up to a mile supposedly (just like Verrazano??)....broke bad, no run.  Has he run in any \"enhanced security\" races?  I honestly don\'t know the answer to that question but I don\'t think he has.  

Vitoria an ok 4th.  Flat Out with a fair effort.  And Orb\'s career highlight reel is complete it appears.

[miff]

So,takeout doesn\'t matter,time to surrender,it\'s hopeless.


Bloodhorse:

Broad Takeout Changes? Don\'t Hold Your Breath
 
By Tom LaMarra
 
Thursday, October 10, 2013

Racing executives indicated Oct. 9 there is little chance of the Thoroughbred racing industry developing a comprehensive analysis of lower pari-mutuel takeout rates.
 
A panel at the International Simulcast Conference in Lexington discussed takeout rates and minimum bets. The latter was viewed as having upside, while takeout rates were said to have little impact on the general racing public.
 
\"The blogs say this is a simple fix,\" said Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations. \"They can\'t understand why we\'re so stupid. They think we can lower takeout and watch hoards of people come to our facilities.\"
 
\"I never hear anyone say anything about takeout rates unless I read it in a blog,\" said John Walsh, assistant general manager at Hawthorne Race Course. \"We experimented lowering it, but then nothing happened. The biggest (issue) I think is quality of racing and exposure.\"
 
Kentucky Downs has had success lowering takeout rates to 16% to 19%, but track president Corey Johnsen stopped short of saying that was the only reason for handle growth. He cited quality racing and full fields—more than 10 horses per race on average—as other factors.
 
\"We try to lower takeout rates as much as we can within business constraints,\" Johnsen said. \"I don\'t think 18% versus 15% matters. It\'s a loss leader (designed) to get someone\'s interest in your races, and it works.\"
 
Lowering takeout rates has become somewhat taboo given the fact rebate outlets rely on a higher takeout rate so they can reward their biggest customers. It was said earlier during the simulcast conference that a shift of one-quarter of 1% can chase \"whales\" to other outlets for better deals.
 
As for minimum-price bets, New York Racing Association simulcast director Scott Finley noted pari-mutuel handle in all Pick 4 pools at the three NYRA tracks increased an average of 20% since the minimum bet was lowered to 50 cents in 2011.
 
\"The pools continue to gain in popularity,\" Finley said.
 
Scherf, the moderator, asked the panel whether it would be productive to experiment with lower takeout rates on traditional win, place, and show bets. It was stated during the discussion that exotic wagers now account for about 80% of total handle on a given day.
 
Scherf\'s question went unanswered, though Finley said individual markets are a determining factor in setting takeout rates or tinkering with minimum amounts for certain wagers.
 
Johnsen noted that lowering takeout rates too much can financially damage simulcast receiving sites that may in fact drop signals. He said Kentucky Downs loses money on full-card simulcasts because of the \"upside-down\" model employed by the racing industry.
 
That model—the host track receiving far less revenue than the receiving site—has been discussed for more than 15 years but no effort has been made to change it.

[miff]

Several committees on horse safety formed by Cuomo Chief NYRA appointee Skorton, but, more incompetence!

From Staten Island\'s own Jerry Bossert:

\"There have now been 10 horses euthanized  at Belmont since 9/12. Seven have occurred during training. Two died Wednesday morning\"

[richiebee]

Sickening. For years Racing has had no leadership, no unity.

But now all of a sudden there is the International Simulcast Conference, a
unified front standing against a major threat which threatens to rip Racing
asunder... that threat being horseplayers who would like to see even a token
reduction in takeout blogging on the internet.

I will have to console myself knowing that despite the fact that the
nationwide foal crop will be reduced over the next couple of years, the New
York Bred foal crop will reportedly increase by nearly one third. I mean racing
needs more Brass Pears, right?