Seven sanctioned by USTA Board after SRIF investigation

[The Exporter]

Absolute , Mike Campbell. If this industry is going to be saved, it will be done by the breeders, just like The Red mile. They have the deepest pockets and the most skin in the game.
 I wonder what 300 acres if Blue Chip land is worth? How about 2,400 acres in Southern Pa. ?

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Tom's bought Blue Chip from the Kimmelman family about 25 years ago. Actually, I think farm-----which is only about 50 or so miles outside of NYC-----is more than twice that size. Last time I was there they were running about 700 acres, and I would think it might be worth a lot of money with the proximity to NYC. The operation is not as massive as one might think. I don't know squat about real estate up there. However, a few years ago Tom Grossman came up with a proposal to convert most of the farm into some sort of destination resort type of place. He was partnering with developer (and filmmaker) David Alexanian. I think Tom was going to keep about 200 acres as a much smaller scaled down version of Blue Chip and the other 500 or so acres was going to be a destination resort type place with homes, restaurants, a theatre, spa, and perhaps a golf course, etc., and I think a dairy farm or something. That might have had to do with zoning or something. I don't remember what I read.

I asked Tom about it at Harrisburg after I read this and his answer was an interesting twist on "highest and best use"-----so no shock there, LOL.
He said his idea was better than what others would do and simply sell it to a developer and build the maximum amount of homes as possible.

[Kenny]

Absolute , Mike Campbell. If this industry is going to be saved, it will be done by the breeders, just like The Red mile. They have the deepest pockets and the most skin in the game.
 I wonder what 300 acres if Blue Chip land is worth? How about 2,400 acres in Southern Pa. ?

They only have deep pockets as a result of the government handouts.  All that does is continue the current trajectory which is less and less customers supporting the sport. Over time the handouts are going to go down or be eliminated. Then nobody will have deep pockets or even pocket change.

[Parked]

Why do they list some rule that covers 100 thousand things.  Give us specifics . 
Its all smoke and mirrors.  DC pays the usta tons of money, they and a few other big breeding operations practically run the usta. 

[Calhoun]

This is interesting.

Gingras made the list 

Good

I will never forgive him for Father Patrick.

[Stan durbread]

They only have deep pockets as a result of the government handouts.  All that does is continue the current trajectory which is less and less customers supporting the sport. Over time the handouts are going to go down or be eliminated. Then nobody will have deep pockets or even pocket change.

Why do you bother wasting your time posting here if you have no interest in harness racing and want it to die?  Bad news for you is it will be around a lot longer than you

[Kenny]

Why do you bother wasting your time posting here if you have no interest in harness racing and want it to die?  Bad news for you is it will be around a lot longer than you

I am a huge fan of harness racing. That is why I want the handouts to end. I have watched the industry turn its back on the fans and watched the fans leave. I went to the Sun Stakes at Pocono the last couple of years. Some of the best standardbreds in the world are racing and there were a handful of people watching. If the handouts were eliminate, the industry would have to offer a product people want to support.

The reality is, as soon as a state needs money for something the voters actually care about, they are going to take the handouts. Harness racing is playing chicken with the government and they will lose.

[GETSOME]

Double spot on

"Its a big club-and you and I are not in the big club!"-G. Carlin

[kingthermo]

Good

I will never forgive him for Father Patrick.

I thought Yannick was a straight up guy and now he’s doing deals with sandals. What a piece of shit.

[Stan durbread]

Interesting article in HRU about this. Apparently the USTA has found they have more power than they thought. Hopefully now they get working on the beard problem

[Brown jug]

fellas, just an fyi
if you pay attention there has been a quite a few very large owners come into the sport recently
andrew harris has big bill
alagna has had a couple  join in the last few years
a number of people have started new breeding farms in kentucky and spent big $ on fillies and mares
 stop complaining and buy a few and get in the game , you never know !!

[Grandstand Handicapper]

While I am all for punishing criminals----to the maximum----and ridding the sport/industry of them, I am not sure the USTA has authority and purview over "business dealings" so to speak. Specifically, as Williams calls it, “The problem was concealing Surick, not doing business with him,” and “The purpose of concealment was to either make a deal happen that wouldn’t have happened or get a better price than would’ve been obtained had Surick’s involvement been known.”

Williams states these people "violated USTA rules and/or bylaws"----and while that may be true, I question, what can the USTA do, other than revoke membership. In addition, if this violated USTA Bylaw(s) (8.01), it says the disciplinary actions may not be appealed. I don't know if that's legal, other than one could not appeal the membership revocation. The fine? That may be unconstitutional.

I guess the USTA's position is based upon what Carson Morris' position is.  Bowden paid the fines. Interesting in that the article stated, and Morris was quoted as saying, "Not all were alleged to have committed a violation, however, because contact with Mr. Surick alone did not in-and-of-itself violate the Rules. Rather, the Board found fault because the member(s) knew of the nature of Mr. Surick’s involvement, with the added fact that his involvement was concealed from others as part of the underlying business arrangement(s). This concealment would facilitate Mr. Surick and his collaborators’ ability to engage in the standardbred economy without others knowing he had a stake in the registered standardbreds in question. Not all the investigations involved this fact pattern, but the activity the [USTA] board concluded warranted sanctions involved the member(s) having a greater degree of knowledge and culpability.”"

I like Williams saying this investigation is the first, but not the last. It's about time! Where have you been and what have you been doing for, I don't know, say, the last 30 years or so. He goes on to say the USTA "will enhance protection of USTA data integrity, including registration and transfer of horses. It will also encourage transparency and fair dealing among the membership. USTA staff handled these matters with the utmost competence. Our board made its determinations fairly and resolutely.” Encourage transparency? Encourage? The article also has a quote on "bearding"----but I guess that hasn't happened up until now, LOL.

I also find it interesting that Morris said, "...it’s important to note that the USTA, at last weekend’s annual meeting, bolstered its enforcement and investigative powers." Really? Unilaterally?

I like what they are trying to do, but I question whether they have the authority to do it. Morris went on to say, “From my experience with the USTA, I don’t believe the association and its members failed to take integrity seriously in the past. To the extent the USTA was not enforcing its rules in the same manner, that was primarily because of a lack of understanding and appreciation of the powers it had to investigate and enforce violations under its rules and bylaws, particularly in relation to the powers of state racing commissions." They had a lack of understanding and appreciation of the powers they have? Wow. They finally saw and founds ways the USTA could investigate and enforce violations----but they didn't realize this before? "That allowed us to put the pieces together and come up with what I think is a more effective enforcement model for the USTA." Really?

While this may be refreshing, and long overdue, it sounds like incompetence and neglect to me. Again, I question whether the USTA has the authority, and even if they did, IMHO, they should not be the organization to do it.

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

Will Gural reprimand Gingras in any way?

[Parked]

Appears to be dirty games by dirty players.  Most at the top,level.   

[Brown jug]

nice to see some action being taken by the usta
 is it perfect, of course not
are the fines going to make a difference to those that got fined, no , not at all
but they should be embarrassed by this
hopefully more to come and stronger fines and suspensions  might start to make a dent in some of this nefarious activity