Race Secretary

[freshlasix]

    At Yonkers, it seems that they don't really care if they have full fields. A lot of 5 and 6 horse's
    go to the gait. You just have to go around the track to get a check. Then why would the race
    secretary write conditions of NW6656 when it would be a NW6000 or NW16751 which would
    be NW 16000 is it only so a  horse fits. Or is it to do a favor for a trainer
    who races every week, Ron Burke or Per Engblom. I know that the condition is open to anyone
    that fits, but you still end up with low money earners that do not have a shot at winning. It is
    just making easier for the bigger stables to just slam horses in the entry box.

    https://www.soaofny.com/yonkers-race-program

[Locked in with pace]

There has to be a reason why they go with such small fields and the same trainers dominating the card.  In the invites, it can be the same 5 or 6 horses every week.  Even the claimers have small fields and some people say they can't enter at Yonkers.  An average horse can easily make over $100,000. the better ones can easily make over $200,000

Their business model is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what the other tracks want. Everyone wants large fields. Everyone wants the best possible handle. Not the case here.

It would be great if we could get an interview with management and have them explain their way of running their racing program. All types of businesses are unique in life and the way they are run. Maybe all the other tracks are wrong. Should make for a very interesting business insight.

[Yonkers1A]

It’s simple, the track by law must dispense a certain amount of money, they could care less about the racing product, just fulfilling their obligations

[Locked in with pace]

I guess that tells it all.

[sledge hammer]

The have a recent influx of young employees who know racing and actually seem to care, hopefully they will someday get to make decisions.

[bond]

    At Yonkers, it seems that they don't really care if they have full fields. A lot of 5 and 6 horse's
    go to the gait. You just have to go around the track to get a check. Then why would the race
    secretary write conditions of NW6656 when it would be a NW6000 or NW16751 which would
    be NW 16000 is it only so a  horse fits. Or is it to do a favor for a trainer
    who races every week, Ron Burke or Per Engblom. I know that the condition is open to anyone
    that fits, but you still end up with low money earners that do not have a shot at winning. It is
    just making easier for the bigger stables to just slam horses in the entry box.

    https://www.soaofny.com/yonkers-race-program

Great post-very well said.
I have been told by trainers that are getting screwed that the FBI should be investigating the blatant what seems to be criminal activity now at yonkers.
Remember-its still a criminal offence to interfere with a Sporting event that involves gambling.
We have seen 2 judges get dismissed recently instead of being criminally charged-when caught fixing post positions.
We now have a race secretary there who was previously employed by none other than BURKE!!!!!! Conflict of interest -you think?
Notice the small fields and post positions Burke getting along with the best driver?? Coincidence??
Then Engblom---who gets a Class1 positive--which I have been told gets you a mandatory 10 year penalty in NY and a summarily suspension.Nope--Reciprocal action not applied for Engblom--everyone else--your gone.
He also gets the royal treatment--and its not easy to see him entered in all these short fields--or even 5 horse Trot fields going for 27000 while the "bread and butter" lower classes--dont get used. The lower class nw full fields would handle more than 5 horse fields with 1-2 standouts--but when you are on a mission to hand out as much prizemoney as possible to selected individuals-its easy to see why. Obviously no one at MGM or Yonkers cares or are under "instructions"
Gamblers and other hard working trainers--get the scraps---sometimes not even that.
Hopefully they get sorted out soon.

[freshlasix]

No meaningful tax revenue for New York State—billions in support. The New York State Constitution reads “…pari-mutuel betting on horse races as may be prescribed by the legislature and from which the state shall derive a reasonable revenue for the support of government.”    Gambling is sanctioned in New York to generate revenue for the state. Casinos and the lottery each add billions annually to the treasury. In a reversal of their mandate to provide revenue for the support of government, horse racing requires hundreds of millions every year in state support just to keep their privately-owned industry alive. The New York State Gaming Commission’s most recent annual reports reveal that all 11 New York racetracks together generated only $15 million in taxes from pari-mutuel betting on horse racing—handle taxes, regulatory fees, breakage taxes and admission taxes.1 When you subtract the state’s $15 million annual budget allocation to regulate racing,2 the effect of that insignificant tax revenue nets to zero. In addition, horse racing’s wealthiest spend tens of millions every year buying racehorses in New York. Those racehorse purchases, as with our food and medicine, are exempt from sales tax. This is problematic primarily for 2 reasons. 
 ● First, these 11 incredibly valuable licenses are generating no meaningful tax revenue.
 ● Second, as opposed to collecting substantial revenues from horse racing, the state instead directs $230 million annually to racing from video lottery terminals3 — rather than using that portion of the VLT net win to increase funding for education, human services or the general treasury. Bennett Liebman, former New York State Deputy Secretary for Gaming and Racing, wrote in 2017 “The fact is that New York horse racing is a fraction of what it once was. Video lottery revenues are keeping racing alive, but the heart of the sport of horse racing is barely beating.” 15   In many other states, horse racing receives no subsidies at all. 22 States that have casino gambling are reconsidering the wisdom of using a profitable gambling enterprise to support an unprofitable gambling enterprise. For example, the Governor of Pennsylvania is currently proposing a dramatic cut in racing subsidies in favor of funding educational grants and community college support.

[Stan durbread]

So you copy an inaccurate article but don’t quote the source?  The money doesn’t come from state coffers it comes from casino profits. Look at Pompano. They got decoupled. Taxes did not go down, schools did not get more funding. Isle of Capri got more funding

[Stan durbread]

Oh and they forgot to mention the 3 Billion Dollar economic impact from horse racing in the state of New York

[freshlasix]

Testimony regarding New York State budget allocations for the regulation of horse racing and the lack of tax revenue generated by pari-mutuel betting on horse racing. The 2022 New York State Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Economic Development
New York State subsidizes the breeding of extremely valuable racehorses, and then subsidizes the purses they die for on New York tracks…these two investments are clearly at cross-purposes.
What are some of the reasons for the lack of racing revenue?   ● First, decades of declining interest in horse racing has sunk this business. Except for the brief 8-week Saratoga Race Course season and the Belmont States week in Elmont, attendance at most tracks is down more than 90% annually from their heyday.  In 1978 annual racing attendance was at 12.6 million.5 Reports in 2018 show 2.1 million total attendees.6 The Gaming Commission has even stopped reporting attendance at all 7 harness tracks. This is important as live wagering at the racetrack is where the New York State treasury and the racetracks make the highest percentage of the wager. Online services and advance deposit wagering platforms for horse racing don’t provide any meaningful tax revenue for New York.  As Joe Spector wrote in The Democrat & Chronicle about the heavily subsidized purses “Purses at New York's seven harness tracks have tripled over the past 14 years, creating an unprecedented dynamic: There's nearly no one in the stands, but the prize money is at levels not seen in decades.” 7 In the 1970s, Yonkers Raceway saw a record average daily attendance of 25,800.21 Now they average less than one hundred people (down 99%),6 who are milling around on track days while their affiliated racino kicks off $63 million in annual subsidies to harness racing. 3  Why aren’t the local residents who host that racino demanding a far bigger share of support for their own community?
  New Yorkers are not aware of how unprofitable harness racing is. The 2021 NYS Spectrum Gaming Report states that some tracks will run a day of racing and make as little as $660 profit from the handle: “For example, New York harness tracks in 2018 averaged from about $6,600 to $38,500 a day for live on-track handle. The track might retain about 10 percent of that after paying taxes, purses, and winning wagers. With handle revenue of about $660-$3,850 a day, you might suggest closing the track grandstand would be more efficient.”14 ● Second, racing’s $2.5 billion annual handle is highly publicized.  But $2 billion, or 80% of this handle, is “exported out of state.”8 That represents bettors in other states wagering on NY racing—and taxed by those other states—not ours. Our subsidies that pay for New York racing are contributing generously to the treasuries of other states.  From the 2021 NYS Spectrum Gaming Report: “Export race signals: Wagers made elsewhere on a racetrack’s content receive a host fee. How that host fee is divided varies by state. In New York only the horsemen’s purse account and the track shares in that compensation (§238(1)(b)(c)), leaving the State tax or racing commission and breeders fund excluded from any distribution of that compensation.” 14 ● Third, NYS Sales Tax exemptions for the purchase of racehorses in New York State. ● Forth, there is a growing public sentiment against racing due to the killing, drugging, slaughter and criminal activity, including 27 indictments that are in NY courts right now.  The state has documented that 1,600 young horses have died at New York tracks just since 2009.

[freshlasix]

Oh and they forgot to mention the 3 Billion Dollar economic impact from horse racing in the state of New York

Jobs and economic impact? The justification for horse racing is based on industry claims of 19,000 jobs and $3.3 billion in economic impact. This American Horse Council report, 9 only a few pages in length, was funded by the industry itself, and costs $50 to obtain. In it, there is no mention of the lack of revenue to support the state, no verifiable details and comprehensive data on the jobs and economic impact, and certainly no analysis of the potential economic impact of redirecting billions in subsidies to other businesses with far greater potential to grow the economy of New York. Jobs and economic impact are not unique to horse racing. That’s why New York grants business licenses—to create those benefits for the state.  Hundreds of thousands of private businesses in New York receive no public bailout and yet create millions of jobs and generate hundreds of billions in economic impact.  Citing the previously mentioned journalist Ryan Goldberg “Every few years, the industry trots out industry-financed economic impact studies from racing organizations or trade groups like the American Horse Council. Their numbers then appear in state or state-commissioned reports as authoritative sources, when they’re anything but. I looked at a recent one treated like gospel, published in 2018 by the American Horse Council about New York’s horse industry. It certainly didn’t show its work; it was thinly sourced and confusing, with lots of bold numbers interspersed with glossy photos of horses from NYRA racetracks, photos credited to New York’s thoroughbred horsemen’s association. It reported that New York racing created 12,815 direct jobs and close to 7,000 in indirect jobs—tourism included—for a total impact of $3.08 billion on the state’s economy. It later noted, however, that just 2,583 people were employed in “racing and track operation,” which seems to be the most relevant category. The study, it acknowledged, was commissioned “with major support” from New York’s thoroughbred horsemen’s and breeders’ associations.” 16 Where exactly are these 19,000 jobs? When Global Foundries, the Department of Motor Vehicles, or your local supermarket chain talk job numbers, they support their claims. Racing does not do that. What percent of racing jobs are full-time, earning a livable wage and have healthcare, retirement or family leave benefits? How many poorly compensated jobs in racing must rely on low income state programs? New York State should demand detailed, county by county, job data so the state can independently verify the “19,000” jobs. In the words of Bennett Liebman, the former New York State Deputy Secretary for Gaming and Racing, and cited here earlier “We may not know how many jobs [racing] has produced, but it is certainly nowhere near the levels that the surveys authored on behalf of the industry have indicated.”  If we cared about the workers in this industry we would stop talking about the questionable number of jobs and start talking about the quality of the jobs themselves. Where exactly is the detailed proof of the $3.3 billion claimed in economic impact?  Think about this example: the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency reports10 in great detail that the Saratoga Race Course is responsible for $237 million in economic impact for the large 9-county region around its flat track. This single track in Saratoga is responsible for more than 50% of the attendance of all eleven tracks in New York,11 much of the state’s breeding and most of the tourism.  How is it possible then that it has only $237 million, or 8%, of the touted $3.3 billion in economic impact claimed by racing?  Are the other 10 tracks, with less combined attendance than the Saratoga Race Course alone, somehow responsible for the remaining 92% of racing’s total speculative state-wide economic impact? That seems impossible.  The American Horse Council study does not identify how much of this economic impact is “net new” and would not occur if the industry were absent, or if the industry changed such that horse racing decreased and the recreational and competition sectors remained the same. The study does not provide the level of analysis necessary to understand the true economic impact or drain on taxpayers of horse racing in New York State. Yet, the media, legislators and racing interests hold this dubious study up as factual. It’s also stated by racing that billions in casino subsidies are justified because racing funds agricultural jobs, farms, green space and tourism. If that were so, New York would equitably subsidize the many diverse businesses achieving these same goals. As one example, the larger equine competition and recreation sectors encompass many more horses and produce employment and economic impact in New York State—without casino subsidies. Racing is unique in that it has a far greater and disproportionate influence in government, giving it a broad range of specialized benefits, subsidies and tax exemptions. Future attendance predictions are dismal. 2021 Marist Poll results12 show horse racing is not something New Yorkers care about as 91% of those surveyed stated they have no intention of ever attending and 6% reporting they intend to go once or twice.  Attending one or two days of racing when there are 1,200 days of racing in New York, rounds to zero economic impact—for 97% of New Yorkers in the poll. Unfair to other businesses in New York.

[bond]

Fresh lasix---it is a proven fact that horse racing employs vastly more people than a Casino. FACT.
Horse racing provides outdoor entertainment-and a day out at the Belmont Stakes or Kentucky Derby-where 10's of thousands of people  are out and about with their families in many cases--- You cant dismiss this and delete it because you think the money can be better spent in a Casino.. Horse Racing is an experience not to be missed in life. I can vividly remember going to the Derby and the Meadowlands Red Mile Yonkers International etc--not so much going to a Casino.
Horse racing keeps many areas green--that without it--would be turned into housing developments or retirement homes etc.
I also question your statements about the poor value horse racing brings to the economy.Without going into a long rant-it is full of holes.

[Papillon]

Is the revenue restaurants ,hotels and bars surrounding the Saratoga 8 week meet factored into any of this?

The revenue generated the  by the bars and eateries and hotels around the Saratoga tbred meet is staggering.

The Adephi Hotel charges a minimum of $1k a night during that 8 week period-i wonder if any of that revenue counts.

[Stan durbread]

Is the revenue restaurants ,hotels and bars surrounding the Saratoga 8 week meet factored into any of this?

The revenue generated the  by the bars and eateries and hotels around the Saratoga tbred meet is staggering.

The Adephi Hotel charges a minimum of $1k a night during that 8 week period-i wonder if any of that revenue counts.

None of that is important to people that only use the facts that advance there theory. Those articles are complete bullshit. Ask the governor of PA that was referenced in the first article why he is now unemployed

[freshlasix]

 
   I do remember the hey days of Harness Racing, 15,000+ in the stands. It was nightly
   and sometimes daily happenings. And we are talking Monticello Raceway back in the 70's
   An afternoon at Freehold, with an early double at Yonkers to finish with the late double
   and superfecta at Monti. Or better yet Liberty Bell or Garden State. And then there was
   42,000+ at Roosevelt with Albatross vs. Nansemond facing off. Wow! What a time that
   was.
   Well that was then, and this is now. Now it has all gone to shit. And you know what, all
   that is left are the memories. In those days the purse structure was not full of $27,000
   Invites like it is today. Maybe I am just not good with the handouts that are given
   as I wish I could have raced for the money that is being throw around today.
   But where does it end. My guess it will end when the full blown casino's are up and
   running in New York City and Yonkers will go the way of the tracks of yesterday.
   Tell me what business do you know that is being supported by the states where high
   profile employees, ie. owners, trainers and drivers are taking $$$ hand over fists.
   Its just not right. With so much money available you just have to know that corruption
   is at the highest levels. And might I suggest that "Race Secretary" is at the top of the
   list with his hands out. It is just to easy. That is my say, Thanks.


   PS. Anyone who has or has access to the October 1975 Hoof Beats, the one with Silk Stockings
         in the centerfold, I sure would like to purchase that issue.