Noonan strips away Cuomo facade; Beyer follows suit

[Kasept]

Tom Noonan is the only person out there systematically identifying the planned duplicity of Cuomo and his lackeys..

Fix is in for New York to cut purses

That, however, is not the way the Cuomo Administration likes to operate. As with the takeover of NYRA, the Governor puts forth a faulty premise and then crafts a solution that does nothing to address the purported problem inherent in the premise. He succeeds, however, in getting others to play the game on his terms. The media dutifully reports the headline conclusions of the government reports without assessing whether the conclusions are based on facts or even simple logic. We even have leading New York horsemen now arguing that attendance and handle are up, instead of making the case that NYRA has a legal right to this money by statute.

Worse of all, however, is that there is no discussion of what cutting revenue to NYRA will mean for the thoroughbred industry in New York. We can hope that the Cuomo takeover of racing will result in improvements for the sport, but the next person I talk with who thinks that is likely will be the first one.

[Cannon Shell]

Cuomo

[Kasept]

Beyer: New York racing’s imminent takeover by the state is cause for worry

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports..._ref=sm_btn_fb

The suggestion that New York politicians will clean up horse racing corruption ought to sound like a joke to anyone familiar with the state’s history. When off-track betting in the state was legalized in the 1970s and placed under the control of various regional political entities, it became a cesspool of political patronage and mismanagement. New York City Off-Track Betting accomplished the feat of going broke running a business in which losing money was almost impossible.

When the state legislature passed the law authorizing a casino at Aqueduct, the process of awarding the franchise took 10 years and was marred by so much influence-peddling that the Inspector General described it as “a veritable case study in dysfunctional and politically driven government.”

People involved in New York racing have ample reason to be worried about what will happen when the state takes control. And because New York is the center of the sport in the United States, the nation’s thoroughbred industry ought to be worried, too.

[richard]

Maybe the slots revenue will fund public employees raises and sky high pensions...Just like NYCOTB did in the glory days. The hell with racing and private enterprise.

[10 pnt move up]

Beyer

He was not appeased; this was Cuomo’s opportunity to execute a coup. The governor is a staunch supporter of the casino industry, which can generate significant revenue for the state, not to mention large political contributions. Because of the law giving racetracks a subsidy from slot-machine funds, horse racing siphons away money that politicians want for their own aims. Cuomo sought to take control by changing the composition of the NYRA board, reducing it to 17 members, eight of whom will be appointed by the governor and two each by the Senate and Assembly.

No one is surprised by this, right?

It is only a matter of time before politicians say "we can get a whole lot more if we just eliminate the horses from the equation". This will happen everywhere sooner or later. If you depend on slots for purses/horses I would not get too comfortable.

[Riot]

Beyers article is a great summation of the ins and outs over time, elucidates the political machinations well.

[Antitrust32]

Of course racing was going to be pushed out and Casino's are going to take over eventually. You could tell from the first day slots at racetracks became the new fad, that it was just a band aid for actual horse racing and that we were entering dangerous territories. State governments used the racing industry and the Interstate Horseracing Act and Wire Act to be able to make slot gambling legal... and then eventually they can change the rules like they seem to do about everything.

Fault has to lie with the race tracks. Politicians will always be politicians. They are going to jump on any opportunity they can to get more money in their pockets. Racing as always had a problem valuing short term success over long term.

More government never means a better product. I really feel for New York Horse racing and NYRA.