Clueless Clowns

[FrankD.]

Sorry Mike,

What a novel concept a .50 cent muti race bet with a 15% take out and the handle increased!!!!! Shocking.

Imagine if these idiots had this in place for the Saratoga meet as it was intended to kick off there; the momentum it would have built rolling into Belmont.


From DRF:


Thanks to mostly ideal autumn weather that allowed for an abundance of turf racing, and the institution of the popular 50-cent Pick 5, business was brisk at Belmont Park's 2013 fall meet, as five-year highs were set in all-sources and on-track handle, according to figures released Saturday by the New York Racing Association.

All-sources handle, including on-track wagering and simulcast outlets nationwide, was $326,878,686, the highest figure of the past five years. It was an increase of 9.8 percent from $297,670,005 last year, and 24.3 percent from $263,037,788 in 2011.

On-track handle was 47,238,016, up 11 percent from $42,499,742 last year, and 13.4 percent from $41,656,097 in 2011.

On-track attendance for the 37-day session was 126,469, a 10.7 increase from 114,294 last year.

Although the average number of betting interests dipped slightly from 8.5 to 8.4 per race, only seven of 198 scheduled turf races were taken off the turf. In 2012, only 140 turf races were run, while 40 were taken off.

"Anchored by Super Saturday and Empire Showcase Day, the Belmont fall meet was a solid success," said NYRA CEO and President Chris Kay. By continuing to focus on enhancing the experience of guests - both on and off track - and improving the quality of racing, we will give our fans every reason to play our races more frequently, come out to the track more often, and enjoy themselves even more when they do come out. We also wish to thank the New York State Gaming Commission for allowing us to introduce at the Belmont fall meet the reduced-takeout Pick 5 wager, which is very popular with our players."

[miff]

Hi Frank,

Owe me one Clueless Clown post.

Kay already showing to be a boring racing neophyte. Exactly how is my \"guest experience\" being enhanced, at home or at dingy run down Aqueduct?



Mike

[Lost Cause]

miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Frank,
>
> Owe me one Clueless Clown post.
>
> Kay already showing to be a boring racing
> neophyte. Exactly how is my \"guest experience\"
> being enhanced, at home or at dingy run down
> Aqueduct?
>
>
>
> Mike

Stopped going to the actual track regularly for a long time now...Has the \"guest experience\" actually improved as he states?  I have been to Belmont a couple of times lately and did not see anything much, except I noticed a cool painting of Sunday Silence and Easy goer in the simulcast area (not sure if that\'s new or not)

[Edgorman]

It\'s a very special experience to gather around TVs from the eighties to watch the replay. In color too!!

[richiebee]

Are they sure it was the Pick 5, and not the brilliant!!! Pick 4 wager
combining the last two races at Belmont with the first two races at Penn
National on Thursday nights, which drove the increased handle?

According to Miff the PJ Campo era is over. For me, his legacy will be the
same as that of his boss, Charles Hayward -- presided over a precipitous
decline in the year round quality of NYRA racing, harbored a leading trainer
who was handed one of the stiffest suspensions in Racing, harbored a leading
owner who was convicted of animal cruelty and incarcerated, oversaw a racing
program which saw unprecedented numbers of catastrophic breakdowns, etc. And
I have not heard enough of the Karakorum story, where a syndicate which was
ballyhooed for bringing people of modest means into the Racing game vanished
into the night a la the Baltimore Colts.

Only mismanagement, chaos and uncertainty at other racing venues, plus the
infusion of Racino money, has kept the good ship NYRAtanic afloat in recent
years.

And the band plays on, as all of the visionaries, from Len Friedman to the
Toys R Us guy NYRA hired to run the show, continue to ramble on about
enhancing the on track experience, when even Stevie Wonder and Mr Magoo can
see that the remote wagering audience (simulcast and Living Room Downs) should
be targeted and cultivated.

[TGJB]

Richie-- you\'ll be glad to know I had that conversation at length with one of the top guys at Magna the other day.

One of the few good thing about being in this game a long time is that people you know end up in positions of power. Tom Ludt is a good one.

[Kasept]

Frank..

I know 4 months is a long time ago, but as a fact-based refresher, here\'s Crist\'s note about anticipated delay in P5 introduction...

(And as an added FYI, NYRA first started the procedure with the state for P5 approval early in 2012.)

http://www.drf.com/news/steven-crist...ummer-saratoga

 Will there be a new, low-takeout pick-five when Saratoga opens? Fans are clamoring for it, track officials want it, but the heavy hand of government bureaucracy may thwart it.

 The short explanation is that the New York Racing Association has received approval to offer the bet, but for technical reasons it would have to be conducted under the pre-1996 rules for multirace bets, which did not include a provision for what happens when a race is switched from grass to dirt because of heavy rain after the wager has closed. When that happens in a pick four or pick six, the race is declared an "all," since it would be unfair to stick bettors with selections made for the wrong surface.

 Obviously, the same should apply in a pick five, but unless someone in government steps in with some scissors to get through procedural red tape, there could be a nightmarish situation – surface-switched races declared "alls" in the pick four and pick six but not in the pick five. This would create chaotic confusion among bettors and justified howls of unfairness from the betting public. It is unclear if the track would even want to offer the wager under those conditions.

 There is absolutely no difference of opinion that this would be an intolerable situation and that there has to be a way around it. We will know by next Friday whether common sense can be made to prevail on the smallest and simplest point, or whether the dysfunctional relationship between racing and government in New York has reached perhaps its lowest point ever.

[miff]

Clueless Kay in trouble already?


From Tom Noonan:

NYRA backtracks on safety

In a major reversal, Christopher Kay, President and CEO of the New York Racing Association, is going to undo one of the significant reforms implemented after the report of last year's Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety.  Kay has decided that NYRA's Veterinary Department will report to the Senior Vice President of Racing Operations when he starts his job at the end of the month.  Since the Report, the Veterinary Department has reported its decisions on scratches to the stewards.  While this may seem like nothing more than bureaucratic shuffling, the reporting relationship of the veterinarians was a critical problem identified by the Task Force.
 
The Task Force was appointed in early 2012 following an uptick in fatal breakdowns during the Aqueduct winter meet of 2011-12.  The panel consisted of four widely-respected experts in racing, including two prominent veterinarians, Scott Palmer and Mary Scollay-Ward, Alan Foreman, head of the national Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, and former jockey Jerry Bailey.  The group conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Aqueduct fatalities and released a 100-page report that was universally praised for its comprehensive and thoughtful analysis and recommendations.  Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed his commitment to making equine safety "the top priority of horseracing."
 
The Task Force looked at a number of factors that could have played a role in the breakdowns  -  safety of the racing surface, medication rules, violations of the drug rules, and even the aberrant weather for that time of year in New York.  Foremost among their concerns, however, was that the NYRA Veterinary Department reported to the Racing Office.  The Task Force described this relationship as a "critical conflict-of-interest" that "must be changed immediately."
 
The conflict arises from the differing objectives of the Racing Office and the Veterinary Department.  The latter is charged with ensuring the safety of equine competitors so that only sound horses are allowed to race.  The Racing Office, by contrast, has a major focus of providing large fields for bettors, because larger fields means an increase in the wagering handle  -  and more revenue for NYRA.  As the Task Force Report observed:
 

Racetrack management has a vested interest in maximizing field size.  Conversely, field size, or the economic impact of a scratch, must never be a consideration when an examining veterinarian assesses a horse's suitability to race.
 
The vets begin each race day by conducting physical examinations of the day's entrants.  If a horse does not pass this inspection, the vet would recommend a scratch to the Racing Office.  The Task Force Report recounts examples of interference by trainers and Racing Office personnel seeking to overturn the decision to scratch.  In one such case, a trainer dissatisfied with a vet's assessment of a horse succeeded in getting the Racing Office to bar that veterinarian from examining the trainer's horses in the future.  The Task Force also reported personnel in the Racing Office refusing or overturning the scratch recommendations of a veterinarian.  The Report described an atmosphere in which non-veterinarians felt "empowered" to challenge the decisions of the vets:  "The success of some of these challenges created an environment in which veterinarians felt intimidated and reluctant to make unpopular scratch recommendations."
 

The Task Force recommended that the Veterinary Department report to the separate agency that regulates racing  - now the Gaming Commission.  Barring that preferred resolution, the Task Force said that the vets should report to the stewards, an approach adopted by NYRA over a year ago.  That is the decision that CEO Kay is now reversing by having the Veterinary Department once again report to the racing operation.
 
Even if we ignore the wisdom of this decision, the timing could not be more inapposite.  While NYRA's spring meeting at Belmont experienced a significant reduction in racing fatalities this year, the trend was reversed at Saratoga.  The Belmont fall meet saw four catastrophic breakdowns compared with last year's six, but the Aqueduct fall meet has already had one in its first week.  But it's the Finger Lakes Racetrack that is experiencing an increase in fatalities reminiscent of the Aqueduct crisis that sparked the convening of the Task Force.  It's not a NYRA track, but is one under the jurisdiction of the Gaming Commission.  While the current NYRA leadership fancies itself as the racing industry's leader  -  and, for better or worse, it is certainly one of them  -  the backtracking on a significant change affecting safety is not the example a leader sets.
 
We do not know what Chris Kay was thinking when he decided to go against a key recommendation of the Task Force.  There is, however, an unsettling backdrop to the decision that embodies the fears expressed by the Task Force on this "unacceptable conflict of interest."  The Cuomo Administration, including its Chairman of the NYRA Board David Skorton, is on a mission to stop payments to NYRA from the casino company that operates the Video Lottery Terminals at Aqueduct.  With the VLT revenues, NYRA is in the black;  remove them and they are, once again, in the red.  Making the racing operation profitable without VLT revenues is now the Administration's prime focus.
 
But let's give the final word to Governor Cuomo.   His press release praising the work of the Task Force stated, "NYRA's organizational veterinary structure was inherently conflicted by reporting to an entity (the Racing Office) whose function is inconsistent with deliberate and careful equine risk management practice."  

That is the structure CEO Kay has decided to bring back to NYRA.

[miff]

Bloodhorse:

NY Governor Facing Deadline on Rebate Law
By Tom Precious


Legislation to authorize a statewide standard for rebate programs at New York tracks and off-track betting corporations is before Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his approval or veto.

The measure, passed overwhelmingly in both houses last June, must be acted upon by midnight on Nov. 13.

Sponsors say the legislation would end the state\'s ad hoc system for approving temporary and often track-specific rebate programs, replacing it with a permanent program approved by the state\'s Gaming Commission. Further, they say it will help New York tracks and OTBs better compete with off-of-state betting houses.

\"Off-shore betting houses have the freedom to establish long-term betting rebate programs to secure and retain a loyal customer base. Under New York law, New York producers are not clearly allowed to establish entire race season or annual betting rebate programs to help them secure and retain a loyal customer base,\'\' states a legislative memo in support of the bill.

\"This bill merely authorizes New York racetrack operators and OTBs to offer their patrons the same types of rebate programs that are being offered elsewhere,\'\' it adds.

Current state law allows the Gaming Commission to approve short-term or meet-specific rebate programs. The measure, sponsored by Senate co-leader Jeff Klein, a Bronx Democrat, and Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow, a Westchester County Democrat, would create an overall statutory framework for the Gaming Commission to devise a new statewide rebate system.

In addition to permitting tracks and OTBs to establish rebate programs, it defines rebates as a reduction in takeout percentage, providing a bonus on winnings or awards of merchandise or services, such as meals or free parking, \"to reward horse racing patrons for their participation at race meetings.\'\'

A specific rebate program for a track could, under the legislation, last for up to one year before needing approval again by the state; it also gives some flexibility to the state regulatory agency to amend rebate rules to take into account changes in the betting industry.

To get a rebate program renewed, the legislation requires tracks and OTBs to disclose the monetary value of rebates offered in the previous year and the terms upon which they were provided to bettors. Applicants must assure that the rebates are determined \"solely\'\' by how much a bettor wagers, the amount payable to the track or OTB each year or how frequently the person wagers. Records on rebates would have to be kept for three years and tracks and OTBs would have to demonstrate \"that such rebates are in the best interests of horse racing.\'\'

If approved, the law would take effect in six months.

A similar bill was vetoed in 2007 by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who at the time said that measure was \"poorly drafted and confusing\'\' and he questioned whether it was even necessary. Sponsors of the new measure said they have amended that 2007 legislation to address those concerns