Completely agree.

this is the biggest deal in the history of horse racing and soon we'll find out who will bid. there are some "mystery groups" out there now.

Bidders are not going to show their hands now. This is a farce.

The real bidding won't start until after the elections in the fall and during 2007.

the article states that all bidders must submit an intent to bid notice by June 30. the public will know then who the bidders are.

Bids must be submitted by Aug. 15, according to the article. The state committee will select a proposed winner by Sept. 15. Final approval must come from the legislature, which will be sometime in 2007.

and nobody will win the bid without including a complete retrofit of all 3 tracks and their training tracks to a synthetic surface, imo.

What do you mean " retrofit ".

I don't believe this is, or will be, anything close to the final bidding process. And, there is zero chance " a winner " will be chosen by September 15th.

i'm just going by what the article states.

June 30th - deadline for filing intentions to bid.
Aug. 15 - deadline to submit bid.
Sept. 15 - state committee announces proposed winner.
2007 - state legislature approves winning bidder.

Apparantly you do have to have some sort of bid in place by Aug 15th, but due to the nebulous concept of what you're bidding for, it seems like....well, let's just say, an odd situation.

This one has a LONG way to go and it should be pretty entertaining.

i think you're right. but the june 30th deadline to submit an intent to bid seems clear enough. then we'll all know at least who is bidding. after that , the bids are supposed to be in by aug. 15 and the winner recommended by Sept 15...you would think these would be sealed bids...but i agree, it should add to the intrigue of the Saratoga meet as the pressure mounts on the bidders.

Somehow I have a tough time believing the recommendation of the Ad Hoc commitee will be the final sayso.

I strongly recommend reading Steve Crist's column in Sunday's DRF ( up on the website now ). Unfortunately I can't reprint it and you must be a subscriber to access it, but it does a tremendous job detailing the insanity of the current supposed bidding structure and deadline.

This will just get better and better.

unfortunately i have no access but the "fun" is starting as the players line up for the biggest deal in the history of horse racing!!!!

they're on the hot seat now, too, lol.