NYRA to Study Belmont, Aqueduct Development

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

You like consolidating in NY but not in Cali?

Consolidation embeds two different concepts. The first is pure racetrack consolidation (decreasing the number of ovals). The second is race date consolidation (fewer number of races being carded).

Decreasing the number of race tracks in California in particular is dangerous. Without a viable top level circuit within 400 miles of the Los Angeles area, the industry could be quickly marginalized without a season or circuit. Consider the Cal Expo/Sacramento outpost for harness racing in Northern California as an extreme example of what could happen to the thoroughbreds in the South. This is why I felt that launching a full service training and racing environment at Los Alamitos after the closing of Hollywood Park was critical. Without Fairplex in the game, you now have a LRC, SA, and DMR circuit where all three are independently owned and must agree to play nice with one another (avoiding a Florida situation) in order to remain viable.

Decreasing race dates has already been done to some extent in California; boutique meetings (Del Mar in Summer and Los Alamitos as a two-three week season) has already been set. Whether Santa Anita can carry as many dates going forward will certainly be a solid point of scrutiny for the CHRB.

In New York, by contrast, the business landscape is very different. Draw a 250 mile ring around Ozone Park, New York and you will cross through Pennsylvania (2), New Jersey (3), Delaware (1), and Maryland (2). Since isolation is not as much as issue, consolidation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic is against a very different set of parameters. Here, a regional approach to the question of consolidation is needed - not just a statewise view. This is why a NYRA investment outside New York would be the first major step forward in handling the regional discussion. Effectively, the move from a state-based regulatory environment to one of regional cooperation is needed here with race dates properly allocated equitably. For example, why concern ourselves with the reallocation of Aqueduct dates to Belmont when a better solution might be to have a cooperative interest in racing at Parx or Pimlico/Laurel during those colder months?

To come back to your simple question with a complex answer :

[a] date consolidation is New York is absolutely required during the winter months,

[b] race track consolidation is needed if NYRA no longer wants to invest in maintaining the Aqueduct facility,

[c] in California, race track consolidation is not needed and might be harmful in the southern tier, and

[d] date consolidation is likely also needed and can be driven within the state itself by the CHRB.