State investigating NYRA takeout issues; Hayward, Kehoe terminated

[Riot]

New York Racing Association CEO Charles Hayward knew NYRA was over-charging bettors, state report claims

NYRA called overage a 'mistake' when notified in December

By Jerry Bossert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, April 30, 2012, 2:10 PM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/mo...#ixzz1tZ2QPFH9

The report cites emails between Hayward and Steve Crist, the publisher and columnist for the Daily Racing Form in which Crist passed along an email from a reader indicating that takeout rates "had expired and were outside the parameters of the Racing Law."

According to the report, "Mr. Hayward emailed Mr. Crist on August 1, 2011 confirming that the reader was correct and requested that Mr. Crist keep the information confidential. Mr. Crist agreed."

Crist repeated the story about the reader's email and then told the News, "I didn't know they were overcharging at the time. I asked Charlie (Hayward) if NYRA was going to apply for a lower takeout rate and he said, ‘not now.’ I didn't know until December like everyone else. If I did, we (the Daily Racing Form) would have put it on the front page."

The report hints that Hayward may not have lowered the takeout rates due to perceived political and financial reasons as NYRA was in debt in both 2010 and 2011.

"Off the record, we have been working on this for some time," the report quotes another email to Crist saying. "We originally had thought that we would announce this for Saratoga but political forces intervened. Since we are showing substantial losses in 2010 and 2011 and we have been smacked around by Cuomo (and he could check the SRWB from approving), we decided to wait.

"Also, the regional OTBs who collectively lost money in 2010 will scream like stuck pigs and that would provoke (Dean) Skelos who is very tight with the guys who run Nassau OTB to introduce anti-NYRA legislation for the benefit of the OTBs," the email continues. "Finally, we are quietly working on a plan to open 10 or so restaurant/bars in the city and we did not want the politicos to block this effort. We have some internal debates on how much to lower each pool and how we would present this to our simo customers, the consumers and the politicos. I would appreciate it if you could keep these details confidential."

On Dec. 28, NYRA lowered the takeout and refunded monies to those they were able to track down the discrepancies through account wagering.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/mo...#ixzz1tZ1rlo1K

[Indian Charlie]

Clearly he was not taking his daily dose of Lasix.

[cmorioles]

The whole thing reads like Hayward thought it was optional to reduce takeout, not mandatory. Now, it can be argued that he should have known, or found out, but I don't think there was any big conspiracy.

I'd love to see the whole chain of email in its entirety, not pieces of it.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

The whole thing reads like Hayward thought it was optional to reduce takeout, not mandatory. Now, it can be argued that he should have known, or found out, but I don't think there was any big conspiracy.

I'd love to see the whole chain of email in its entirety, not pieces of it.

It all seems like a big misunderstanding vs. the ponzi scheme it is being compared to across the internet. If the slots weren't pumping money into the arms of the industry nobody would give a darn in Albany.. A bunch of two faced self serving politicians as far as I can see. Sure Hayward should have been crystal clear but him not being perfect doesn't mean NYRA are crooks.

[postpicker]

NYRA under fire and looks like the landscape of racing in NY will be changing in the future.

ELMONT, N.Y. – C. Steven Duncker, Chairman of The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) Board of Directors, has announced that the NYRA Executive Committee has placed NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward and NYRA Senior VP and General Counsel Patrick Kehoe on administrative leave without pay, pending further review. The actions follow the April 29 release of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board’s interim report into the matter of incorrect takeout rates at NYRA and a letter to Duncker, also dated April 29, from Robert L. Megna, Chairman of the Franchise Oversight Board.



“NYRA takes the matters identified by the Franchise Oversight Board and the New York State Racing and Wagering Board extremely seriously, “said Duncker. “NYRA will take all appropriate steps and actions to cooperate with the State’s inquiries and insure the integrity of our operations. As part of these efforts, we will respond to Chairman Megna’s letter as requested by May 4th. NYRA has worked diligently over the past number of years to improve the racing and agricultural industries in New York State and enhance its national status as an industry leader, and we will continue with that commitment.”

[Calzone Lord]

Even if he was temporarily stealing from bettors and got caught with his hand in the cookie jar...I liked this Heyward guy a lot and I think ultimately we're way better off with him than your avg guy who gets that position.

I really liked Barry Schwartz a lot. Maybe they can get him back. He was outstanding and tried harder than anyone to get things going in a better direction.

Outside of the real young guy in Canada at Hastings and the guys at Tampa Bay Downs and Charles Town...it's a veritable Dumb and Dumber parade of racings Powers that be. Hopeless.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Even if he was temporarily stealing from bettors and got caught with his hand in the cookie jar...I liked this Heyward guy a lot and I think ultimately we're way better off with him than your avg guy who gets that position.

I really liked Barry Schwartz a lot. Maybe they can get him back. He was outstanding and tried harder than anyone to get things going in a better direction.

Outside of the real young guy in Canada at Hastings and the guys at Tampa Bay Downs and Charles Town...it's a veritable Dumb and Dumber parade of racings Powers that be. Hopeless.

Raj?

even if he was temporarily stealing from bettors and got caught with his hand in the cookie jar...I liked this Heyward guy a lot.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

Raj?

imagesCAYM3Q8J.jpg

[pointman]

I am not one to jump to conclusions based upon allegations and I have been a supporter of NYRA, but if this is true, this is a real slap in the face to loyal NYRA customers. Ed Fountaine has this piece in the NY Post today.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/horse...W51oB3IxYSakbN

[Gaelic Storm]

The part of this that I want ot know more about is this:

"We originally had thought that we would announce this for Saratoga but political forces intervened."

Who are the political forces and what did they know and when. I would like to see Hayward come out swinging bit I am thinking he will fall on the sword.

[The Bid]

How is Hayward going to come out swinging. He cannot even control his own racing office. They all need to be fired

[alysheba4]

this sport is a never ending debacle. a perpetual clusterf@ck.

[hockey2315]

If what the report says is true, there is absolutely no chance that Hayward keeps his job. I can't imagine this being a case of pre-meditated fraud or theft, though. It's not like NYRA was siphoning money from the pools and paying it to execs--the extra funds were relatively negligible in the grand scheme of things and nobody had any motive to "steal." Seems like a case of ineptitude or negligence that was compounded by some very poor decisions once the mistake was found.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

If what the report says is true, there is absolutely no chance that Hayward keeps his job. I can't imagine this being a case of pre-meditated fraud or theft, though. It's not like NYRA was siphoning money from the pools and paying it to execs--the extra funds were relatively negligible in the grand scheme of things and nobody had any motive to "steal." Seems like a case of ineptitude or negligence that was compounded by some very poor decisions once the mistake was found.

Any evaluation of the situation needs to factor in the atmosphere of hostility from Albany and a governor who is eager to execute his own agenda, foist the land from the association and dismantle racing in the state.

How convenient too that all responsibility of the State Racing & Wagering Board, the Franchise Oversight Board and State Legislature appears to have evaporated as part of this. Guess they didn't need to do their job in monitoring the timeline on the original increase (which the legislature foisted on NYRA and players as part of the NYC OTB transfer to state control).

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

im a huge hayward fan. i think he has guided nyra well for many years and is bieng screwed..

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Any evaluation of the situation needs to factor in the atmosphere of hostility from Albany and a governor who is eager to execute his own agenda, foist the land from the association and dismantle racing in the state.

How convenient too that all responsibility of the State Racing & Wagering Board, the Franchise Oversight Board and State Legislature appears to have evaporated as part of this. Guess they didn't need to do their job in monitoring the timeline on the original increase (which the legislature foisted on NYRA and players as part of the NYC OTB transfer to state control).

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

Steve, these are very vaild points. The State Racing and Wagering Board and Franchise Board are just as guilty if not more here. Their job is to ensure the integrity of the sport. What is their excuse?

As for the State Legislature, don't even get me started on them. This is one of the most corrupt governments in the USA. You can't even open a newspaper without seeing a State legislator being investigated, charged, on trial or convicted of a crime on a daily basis. I believe Carl Kruger is the poster boy of the day today. Or it may be Pedro Espada. They are incredibly corrupt and it is sad that they keep getting elected until they are convicted and stripped of their positions.

DiNapoli's office is just as responsible. What happened to the audit in 2010 that didn't catch this? How did they miss that? Yet they are quick to place the blame on others and take the credit for it instead of sharing the blame, typical DiNapoli spin of taking a negative and making it a positive for him that the general public that knows nothing about this swallows up as a positive for him. Frankly, DiNapoli is incredibly inept, had no experience as a comptroller and continues to waste taxpayer money.

At the end of the day, who gets screwed? The "dengerate" horseplayer, like you and me and no one gives a $hit. We are an easy punching bag just like smokers, who cares about us. You can tax us at usurious rates and no one really cares. You can screw us and the public says we deserve it. It is a sad state of affairs.

I don't for a second think that the timing of this report by those that are more responsible for the blame than those they are scapegoating is a coincidence either.

Having said that, regardless of the atmosphere in Albany, if the allegations against NYRA are true than the decision making was truly warped and allowed this kind of scapegoating to happen IMO.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Kasept

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

Don't you think the Governor will use this as an excuse to fire Hayward, throw the NYRA into disarray, appoint his own people, and have his way?

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Riot

Don't you think the Governor will use this as an excuse to fire Hayward, throw the NYRA into disarray, appoint his own people, and have his way?

I think Steve is right on point that this is probably being used as a politcal ploy by Cuomo to execute his grand stupid plan to steal Aqueduct from NYRA and turn it into a convention center. If there are some casualties during the way in order for it to be executed, I doubt that Cuomo really cares.

This is a State full of politcians that have a problem with spending money that the People of this State cannot afford and they will stop at nothing to execute it and do it in a way that it appears to the taxpayers that they are not paying more. Many of the politicians have no problems iilegally stuffing cash into their own pockets at the taxpayer expense either. The corruption in Albany in mind boggling.

NYRA better put that slot money to good use as it won't be around for long. Welcome to New York, the land of the corrupt in power.

[The Bid]

They dont need an excuse to fire him, he captains the ship. He should be held accountable for anything that's mishandled wager wise, or anything in that racing office that brings the integrity of their product into question. Roll the heads, not just Hayward, but second in command and revamp what's going on over there.

Its corrupt inside, whether this is a mistake or not