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Originally Posted by mes5107
It seems to me the NYRA purse increase had at least a little bit to do with this.
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The purse increase was simply economic and had to do with a surplus in the NYRA side of the purse account.
On another the hand -- this is not a shock. People who are in the business, NYTHA members who attend the meetings and truly have their finger on the pulse of what's going on, know that this alleged insight into Empire is not at all new. I don't think anyone who really knew Empire's origins, and where they were "coming from" truly thought that this was "NY horsemen" or anything of the like.
From the DRF article posted above:
Empire has consistently identified itself as a company that was created "by horsemen for horsemen." However, on Tuesday, prior to NYTHA confirming its withdrawal, a report released by the Office of the Inspector General in New York took issue with that claim.
The report, prepared by the New York business-information company Thacher Associates and included in a summary of the inspector general's integrity review of the four companies seeking the franchise, claimed that "the weight of the evidence supports the conclusion that Empire was not created by New York horsemen for the benefit of New York horse racing," and that the horsemen would "likely lose control to the investors representing out-of-state horse racing interests" if Empire were awarded the franchise.
What part of this is new? The State knew this, but the NYTHA didn't? I think this speaks -- not to Empire -- but more to the NYTHA. This is a major concern of many NY horsemen, owners, etc. -- this being aside from the franchise. This is very similar to the franchise issue, and requires a more global mindset to address the many problems that exist.
In all of these proposals -- all of them -- I still don't see the OTB issue being addressed. Anyway, great article and I am glad more of these issues are coming to light, so to speak, and hopefully will be addressed.
Eric