NYTHA Un-Endorses Empire
 

Rick Violette confirms the NY horsemen wish to pursue other interests on the franchise front.. Says bu-bye to Empire..

http://www.drf.com/news/article/86347.html

It seems to me the NYRA purse increase had at least a little bit to do with this.

The purse increase was simply economic and had to do with a surplus in the NYRA side of the purse account.

On another the hand -- this is not a shock. People who are in the business, NYTHA members who attend the meetings and truly have their finger on the pulse of what's going on, know that this alleged insight into Empire is not at all new. I don't think anyone who really knew Empire's origins, and where they were "coming from" truly thought that this was "NY horsemen" or anything of the like.

From the DRF article posted above:

Empire has consistently identified itself as a company that was created "by horsemen for horsemen." However, on Tuesday, prior to NYTHA confirming its withdrawal, a report released by the Office of the Inspector General in New York took issue with that claim.

The report, prepared by the New York business-information company Thacher Associates and included in a summary of the inspector general's integrity review of the four companies seeking the franchise, claimed that "the weight of the evidence supports the conclusion that Empire was not created by New York horsemen for the benefit of New York horse racing," and that the horsemen would "likely lose control to the investors representing out-of-state horse racing interests" if Empire were awarded the franchise.

What part of this is new? The State knew this, but the NYTHA didn't? I think this speaks -- not to Empire -- but more to the NYTHA. This is a major concern of many NY horsemen, owners, etc. -- this being aside from the franchise. This is very similar to the franchise issue, and requires a more global mindset to address the many problems that exist.

In all of these proposals -- all of them -- I still don't see the OTB issue being addressed. Anyway, great article and I am glad more of these issues are coming to light, so to speak, and hopefully will be addressed.

Eric

As always, strong opinion and insight from Eric.. (ELA)..

Also coming out this week with the release of the 'packages' by the bidders are the integrity scorecards. Only one of the bids DID NOT require state investigators to conduct extensive further interviews and delve deeper into background checks of the principals.. That was NYRA's..

Empire, Exselsior and CapPlay's ALL required further investigation..

Thanks Steve -- very good point on the integrity front. Personally, I don't think people realize how important this aspect was throughout the entire process vis a vis integrity being a category that the bidders were going to be scored on. More important than integrity per se, this was much broader and deeper. Both Pataki and Spitzer, regardless of where any "leaning" might have been, did not like the fact that "NY Racing" as an industry has been very fractionalized.

I think it may have been Bennett Liebman who spoke about the behavior, mindset and managerial style -- and the business model -- of the franchise holder.

Spitzer has commented that the problems he and others had with NYRA in the past, are just that -- in the past. That is huge, but more importantly it is reflective of the change in not only opinion, but in NYRA itself. As Steve's comments point out -- on this last prerequisite, NYRA was the only bidder to at least satisfy the eyes of due diligence at first glance.

Eric

Yes, that is the reason for the increase, but the effect of it certainly isn't lost on the NY horsemen. The article suggests that there were many factors for NYTHA un-endorsing Empire. The extra money now being awarded is unexpected and certainly welcomed by those in line to receive it. While some people may think it was supposed to be theirs anyway, I would argue that this gesture shows that NYRA is working for the good of the NY Horse Racing Industry.

In my opinion, while NYRA has not been "perfect", I just don't see any other prospective organization that has greener grass on their side.

Unexpected? Yes. Welcomed? Absolutely. I am not trivializing it at all, however, as much as I want to see NYRA -- a new, restructured, reconstituted, and better/more open managed NYRA -- maintain the franchise, I believe it is mandatory to pay this money out via purses.

Like you said, the effect shouldn't be lost, and hopefully it will provide benefits. I am sure the critics will put their usual BS spin on it however, LOL.

I have said from the beginning that a "new" NYRA is everyone's best bet for NY Racing. I just think that most people can't see "it" and don't understand "it" as it relates to the entire franchise issue, the industry and sport of NY racing, and the real issues at hand.

Eric

After reading the report describing the integrity and background of all 4 of the bidders I can see why Spitzer doesnt want to award the franchise to any of them.

They all suck.

There wasnt any of the bidders that I now want.

Prior to reading that report I was leaning to Empire.

Geez that report makes the Enron people look like angels.

The part that had, I believe WEG(part of the Empire review) had an association with a company called Starnet, that was investigated for child pornography. Geez come on.

Any chance Disney wants to get involved in horse racing? I would even take Tony Soprano

As for NYRA, perhaps they integrity issue is under control as a result of the state appointed monitor, yet I believe since the monitor was appointed in 2005, several of the NYRA officials have still had federal or state tax liens against them.

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government -- except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Winston Churchill





perhaps the same could be said here--nyra may not be the best choice, but it seems better than the rest that are bidding. what caught my eye in the above excerpts was the line "...likely lose control to the investors representing out-of-state horse racing interests". why would anyone favor that?