3/21: AQU 1st cancelled in Horseman's salvo to Albany
 

AQU 1st RACE CANCELLED; REMAINING CARD ANTICIPATED TO RUN

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The horses for Aqueduct’s 1st race on Sunday, March 21 did not arrive at the security barn by 8:00 a.m., the designated deadline, and as a result the 1st race has been cancelled. The horses for Aqueduct’s 2nd race did arrive, and NYRA anticipates the remaining card to be run as scheduled. Post time for Aqueduct’s 2nd race is 1:29 p.m. EDT.

Steve is there some kind of protest/rally today that's going to affect the races?

There's a 12n-2p Horseman's rally and press conference at Belmont. My guess on this is that the BEL-AQU shuttle van broke down or got stuck in a traffic situation and couldn't get to the D-barn in time.


EDIT: I didn't think Violette was dumb enough to do something like this. He's the proverbial 'smartest guy in the room'... according to himself.

Any updates on Gulfstream?

Just another day @ NYRA......:zz:
On a side note; between here in NY and Kentucky, state goverment are KILLING our sport! :mad:

Rick Violette is explaining the situation right now on Trackfacts (Capital OTB)

He should focus on popping his firsters.

It is in fact being reported as a protest of the poor handling of the slots measure by the state...
http://drf.com/news/article/111603.html

Very odd.

Yep NYRA doesn't need the handle money? Of all things to do? Owners don't earn, Trainers don't earn, NYRA doesn't earn and all for what a 80 people and a Megaphone? It is important for State to make a decision but why this?

Totally agree Fred. Shocked Violette would orchestrate this the way it was done.

This explains why Valid Sum worked on Friday, if they all knew the first race wasn't going to run anyway.

Nothing like alienating owners, fans, and management.. How does this help get the message out? Buy a full page in the NY TIMES, hire a PR firm, drop a sky diver out of a plane in between races with a sign that get gets on local news.. Cancel a race is just biting the hand that feeds you on EVERY level...Oh BTW...screw the bettors for the changes to boot

Dey tuk ur slots

Well said Freddy. The only people that are affected (with exception to the connections of the horses entered in the 1st) are the bettors. And they will just invest their money somewhere else. Really with the next two days being dark, they would have had plenty of time to march/rally in Albany get some press coverage and be back in plenty of time to run the entire card on Wednesday.

Durka Durka Mohammad Jhiad!!

The powers that be over at NYRA somehow fail to grasp this. I give it another year before even the diehards start looking elsewhere.

On a positive note:

1) Campo actually carded another 5.5F race today --- go figure:rolleyes: Not like he's stuck in a 6F rut.

2) The turf course is really, really green (which is the way NYRA likes it).

What don't you think NYRA grasps?

What were their options at 8am this morning when the Horsemen foisted this ill-conceived concept on them?

You think NYRA just said, "OK Rick, that's fine. We understand."

You don't think they actively tried to explain to Violette the stupidity of what he and the NYTHA were doing?

How would you have handled the situation?

I really think this is why he cant win first out anymore. He needs to focus on getting them ready, I need Rick V.

I laughed



ALOT!

Your best post evah!

I'm not concerned with this situation. This is not a major issue. What is an issue, however, is that NYRA is way behind the times in terms of how they run things. For example, some simple things that actually matter to some bettors:

1) a FAIR racetrack -- this is ****in' NY, Steve, this isn't BUSHville. I read constantly where people don't like POLY because it favors closers or makes bad horses look good. Well, what exactly happens on the AQU Inner: name one other MAJOR track where horses that can't get 6F on a fair track routinely wire the field going 2 turns?

2) some variety. Racing secretaries everywhere else pretty much have figured out that offering races at slightly different distances actually is a good thing. So, for example, WO and TAM (2 of the most beatable and fair tracks out there) regularly card 5F, 6F, and 7F sprint races. This is not only a change of pace but actually offers some very nice betting opportunities --yesterday's 3rd at GP, for example, where Tagg's horse clearly couldn't get 7F but the cutback figured to be ideal for him. So, not only does NYRA presently have that BUSH track but Campo is stuck in the 6F rut. Bad horses, biased tracks, and the same distance over and over and over. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What's happening in NY presently (now and the rest of the season) is nothing like what was happening 5-10 years ago. The quality of racing sucks (with the exception of SAR), the fields are small and they've pretty much made having TWO turf courses a handicap. Only in NY, where bookies lose money, can having TWO turf courses result in LESS races being run over them. But they're nice and green.:rolleyes:

I've gone from playing only NY to playing them when there's nothing else available. And, I'm certainly not the only one.

His claim of "what does being fast have to do with it" is just as good.

With Fat Charts of course?

Let's strip the Fat head post apart..

First he is completely clueless on the surface not being fair while it certainly does have a few days a year that speed rules, most days it is far from so speed hwy. Also consider that NYRA's super has been cheered for his cooperation with horseman and has been able to keep Belmont and Aqueduct in great shape. As for the turf racing, I kind of agree they baby the stuff, some is jocks and some is philosphy but in general we all wish they would race more on the turf.

Now lets go to Fat heads ridiculous position on the racing sec. His examples of TB and WB are comical. First TB has the benefit of all the Mid atlantic stock at its disposal.. Nobody races in Ky in the winter anymore, Chicago is limited and the planet ships south, so since stock is a plenty you can write any distance or type you want because they is stock to support your creative pen. Then Ole Fatty brings up WB again with 70k allowance races and the claimers in abundance racing for huge money what cant a sec write..Oh did he mention the size of WB and it's configuration and how it lends itself for being creative?

So ole Fat dude thinks that NYRA in FEB has the horse population to fill 7f sprints aand 10f's routes.. Give it up fatty you are CLUELESS

The decision to boycott the races was not met kindly by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, which fined the six trainers involved in the boycotted race $500.

I agree that they could have come up with a better way to show their disapproval, however I do respect the fact that they are trying something. It had to take some guts to do this. The $500 dollars is nothing to these guys. I still think NY racing is the best, but there are certainly concerns about the future. Drove through the Spa today and can't help but to get a little excited about this summer!

Thought that was a pretty irresponsible move today.

You do realize that on the inner track 6F and 5.5F are the only available sprint options right?

yeah, they could tell the state we are closing for a week. then watch them freak! i could care less about one race. like i said they should do something more drastic. what people don't understand is the state is in no hurry to fix this and it could ruin racing. in other words someone has to take measures to get the message out and get this thing moving. just sitting there and racing for racing sake is getting them no where. i think they should push harder, start entering two horse a race, on purpose. these are the people actually trying to save the economy of racing. THE STATE HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT A PRIORITY BY INACTION. thats the irresponsible thing here, people in the state government are letting racing go to sh^t by not doing their jobs. the horsemen can either shut up and take it up the @ss or try to change things. i think they've been doing the first thing (bending over and taking it) for too long. heres the message to the state and the wagering board, no vlt's, no purse money, no racing for you! i know if racing starts going down they will have to at least do something about it. right now, they are just leaving these folks in the lurch.

Seemed to get little press outside of the racing publications. Sabotaging races really can't be the answer...