why nyra threads are important

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Magnanimous

Just to let you know, NYRA is not racing ("nyra is and allways will be the most important racing in the country"). NYRA is just the group that runs racing. Any idiot could run NY racing. The amount of money wagered in NY is what makes NY racing and this is primarily because incomes are higher and handle means nothing if you just keep losing money like NYRA does.

Also, CA racing is great all year long. In NY you have Aqueduct which is some of the worst racing in the country. It is a conveyor belt and is riddled with corruption. I would say Saratoga is the best meet, but not because of NYRA. Belmont is probably the 4th best meet. So NY racing is excellent but to say it is the best is pushing it. It is the best if you take out Aqueduct but last I checked Aqueduct still exists.

As for the soap opera in NY, if the corrupt NYRA and corrupt politicians would just give NYRA a 5 year deal it would be fine.

But please explain to me why a group with a past full of corruption and a present with bankruptcy after bankrupcy deserves a 30 year deal.

Don't have time to answer this except to say produce your corruption claims. Besides an incident of a handful of ticket clerks cheating IRS, what "past full of corruption" are you refering to? Specifics... Tired of the broad brush bullsh-t.

Maybe you don't anything about the training community in NY and have no idea that a certain percentage of NY trainers stay in NY in the winter and make the majority of their annual income at Aqueduct while the big outfits who dominate at Belmont and Saratoga are in Florida. But maybe you don't think everyone deserves to eat.

5 years? You obviously no little about how contracts work and how subcontractors work. The contracts that NYRA will engage with people like Centerplate to run the foodservice need to be a minimum of 10 years long and typically 15, so that the subcontractor can recoup their investment in maintaining and upgrading the facilities. But maybe you think that a subcontractor like Centerplate should install $130,000 dishwashing upgrades at Saratoga for free, like they did in 2006, or operate three enormous foodservice operations at three different plants at a loss.

Regarding the bancruptcy, you clearly have no understanding of what has transpired in this situation the last several years or the structure of the system under which racing in NY operates. I don't have time to explain it to you now, and something tells me it wouldn't be worth the effort.

[fpsoxfan]

and something tells me it wouldn't be worth the effort.[/quote]

Kind of what I was thinking, so I laid off.

But while I'm here I'll put in my two cents. I'm not going to try to compare the racing and/or atmosphere of racing venues across the country as I've only been to Saratoga and Belmont. To say that any idiot could run NY racing? Not too sure about that one. NYRA has done a stand up job of promoting the sport and they've done an incredible job of improving their image. They are working on the bankruptcy situation and hopefully in due time that will be rectified. As far as wagering on tracks, just look at the handle of a NY track compared to many other locations. I've had a blast the past several days wagering at tracks around the country, but it's just not the same without Aqueduct running.

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Don't have time to answer this except to say produce your corruption claims. Besides an incident of a handful of ticket clerks cheating IRS, what "past full of corruption" are you refering to? Specifics... Tired of the broad brush bullsh-t.

Maybe you don't anything about the training community in NY and have no idea that a certain percentage of NY trainers stay in NY in the winter and make the majority of their annual income at Aqueduct while the big outfits who dominate at Belmont and Saratoga are in Florida. But maybe you don't think everyone deserves to eat.

5 years? You obviously no little about how contracts work and how subcontractors work. The contracts that NYRA will engage with people like Centerplate to run the foodservice need to be a minimum of 10 years long and typically 15, so that the subcontractor can recoup their investment in maintaining and upgrading the facilities. But maybe you think that a subcontractor like Centerplate should install $130,000 dishwashing upgrades at Saratoga for free, like they did in 2006, or operate three enormous foodservice operations at three different plants at a loss.

Regarding the bancruptcy, you clearly have no understanding of what has transpired in this situation the last several years or the structure of the system under which racing in NY operates. I don't have time to explain it to you now, and something tells me it wouldn't be worth the effort.

Pretty salty thread for X-Mas Eve! Nothing beats a good NYRA thread to get folks sideways.

Steve, it wasn't a "handful" of "clerks." There were 24 people indicted. At least 23 of them pleaded guilty, incluing V. Horgan and C. Imperato who were the Director and Vice President of the Mutuel Department, respectively. Bloodhorse referred to them as "former top NYRA Officials:"

http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleind...e.asp?id=22309

I do think that's the only individual-specific set of indictments and guilty verdicts/pleas there have been.

I also think the day that NYRA signed that "Deferred Indictment Agreement" and agreed to a $3 Million fine as well as to adopt "Anti-Corruption" measures and organizational changes (which led to Meyocks forced resignation), is the day that sealed much of NYRA's public opinion fate.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...51C1A9659C8B63

And whatever you think about the Barry Schwartz-Daughter & Son-in-Law matter, you have to think that as the CEO, he and they would have been better advised to err on the side of over-disclosure instead of what happened.

You will always have people fueling the fire that is the bashing of NYRA. It might not be correct, but it's not entirely unreasonable.

The Inner Tube Shall Survive.

--happy holiday--

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Magnanimous

First you should disclose that you have a deal with NYRA if you do, like a concession that you could lose if NYRA is ousted.

As for corruption, the audit by Hevisi in 2004 showed extravagant amounts of money spent by NYRA, like $42,000 on country club memberships for friends, had over $900,000 in entertainment expenses with absolutely no receipts.

Here is some more

The New York Racing Association gave a no-bid contract worth $797,913 to its ex-CEO's daughter and son-in-law, issued another no-bid contract that paid a public relations firm $1.6 million, and "squandered" at least $400,000 a year on trophies, according to an audit released Wednesday by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

The organization issued a no-bid $1.6 million contact to the public relations company Ed Lewi Associates, a well-known company based near Albany. A contract has since been drawn at hundreds of thousands of dollars less, Hevesi's auditors said. Lewi said the spending covered three years and included promotion, publicity, advertising, media relations and public relations goods and services, as well as reimbursements for promotions. The company has worked for NYRA since the 1970s, but didn't handle "crisis" public relations over recent years as state and federal investigations were undertaken, Lewi said.

Paid two horse transporters $384,244 to move horses between the Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga tracks operated by NYRA. Some of the free transportation was for horses owned by NYRA board members.

State police officers posing as drug dealers laundered more than $300,000 through betting windows, according to the state Office of the Attorney General.

The investigation also uncovered evidence of loan-sharking, illegal betting with house money, and the ripping off of patrons through a variety of schemes among mutuel tellers.

"For nearly 20 years, NYRA and members of its senior management conspired to permit mutuel employees to use NYRA's funds as if they belonged to the employees. This went undetected for so long because the corruption pervaded the culture of the organization,'' said Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Hruska.

Do You Want More? I can pull it from any of the articles that appeared in the USA Today, Washington Post, Bloodhorse, etc., all day long.

Next you will tell me NYRA has been reformed. Great, why don't we let all the bank robbers that get out of prison have teller jobs at the local Bank of America. A 30 year job too, regardless of whether or not they rob the bank again.

1. I don't.

2. If country club memberships and entertainmenmt expenses are corrupt, then every corporatation in America is corrupt.

3. The advertising campaigns for Saratoga produced by Schwartz' son-in-law's firm won awards and were widely hailed by state tourism officials as responsible for large increases in visitor figures. Squandering money on trophies? Maybe owners running in the 50+ Grade I's in NY should get ribbons like at swim meets...

4. Don't see where the corruption issue is here.

5. This is one of my favorites from the disgraced Hevasi. The shuttle runs between Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct FOR ALL HORSESMEN/OWNERS... ALL HORSEMEN AND OWNERS... THEY ALL MOVE THE HORSES UP AND DOWN ON THE SHUTTLE WHEN THEY ARE STABLED UP OR DOWNSTATE AND ARE SCHEDULED TO RUN UP OR DOWN STATE. It's done as a service to horsemen and owners. A perfect example of people who knew NOTHING making statements about what they didn't understand.

5. This is the single issue that is a legitmate complaint and which has been aggressively answered since the Getnick & Getnick supervision. The mutuels department has been re-worked with new rules and strict supervision.

6. Do whatever you want. You're operating from a base of information that is largely innacurate amplifications that were politically motivated. But you aren't interested in any facts or the truths.

[theiman]

Originally Posted by Kasept

1. I don't.

2. If country club memberships and entertainmenmt expenses are corrupt, then every corporatation in America is corrupt.

3. The advertising campaigns for Saratoga produced by Schwartz' son-in-law's firm won awards and were widely hailed by state tourism officials as responsible for large increases in visitor figures. Squandering money on trophies? Maybe owners running in the 50+ Grade I's in NY should get ribbons like at swim meets...

4. Don't see where the corruption issue is here.

5. This is one of my favorites from the disgraced Hevasi. The shuttle runs between Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct FOR ALL HORSESMEN/OWNERS... ALL HORSEMEN AND OWNERS... THEY ALL MOVE THE HORSES UP AND DOWN ON THE SHUTTLE WHEN THEY ARE STABLED UP OR DOWNSTATE AND ARE SCHEDULED TO RUN UP OR DOWN STATE. It's done as a service to horsemen and owners. A perfect example of people who knew NOTHING making statements about what they didn't understand.

5. This is the single issue that is a legitmate complaint and which has been aggressively answered since the Getnick & Getnick supervision. The mutuels department has been re-worked with new rules and strict supervision.

6. Do whatever you want. You're operating from a base of information that is largely innacurate amplifications that were politically motivated. But you aren't interested in any facts or the truths.

In regards to answer #1
Could you explain your previous post made in September?--Post and Link below:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Benevolus
Please stick to facts and stop with the cheerleading.

Perhaps you have an interest in seeing NYRA keep the franchise?

Kasepts reply
I do have an interest in seeing NYRA keep the franchise and I make no apologies about doing so.. In addition, I don't want take out increased as Capital Play and Empire BOTH outlined in their proposals to the state as part of their 'innovative' approaches.

And as a side note, until some else pays the bills at this website, I'll cheerlead all I want..

http://www.derbytrail.com/forums/sho...ght=lies+liars

So are you just a fan of NYRA? When someone posts they have interest in normally means a financial gain, either now or down the road.

You might also want to explain how you expect NYRA to be profitable from racing operations. The Bankruptcy Disclosure projections sure dont show that.

However, I would like to see the explanation to the first question I posed, as the second one I know the answer already.

[sumitas]

ummm, Iman has posted he thinks purses should be cut and that is totally unacceptable to me.

an outside entity running NY racing would result in an ear shattering sucking sound of all the money leaving NY.

[theiman]

Originally Posted by sumitas

ummm, Iman has posted he thinks purses should be cut and that is totally unacceptable to me.

an outside entity running NY racing would result in an ear shattering sucking sound of all the money leaving NY.

I looked through my posts and the only thing I stated was "Are purses too big"

That was in regard to the NYRA projections and expenses listed in the disclosure statement. I know expenses of running the tracks, per NYRA's own numbers are way out of line, and those need to be cut or NYRA will still bleed and there will be a second bankruptcy filing down the road

As for your comment

an outside entity running NY racing would result in an ear shattering sucking sound of all the money leaving NY

Does that hold true for all businesses or just NYRA?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by theiman

In regards to answer #1
Could you explain your previous post made in September?--Post and Link below:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Benevolus
Please stick to facts and stop with the cheerleading.

Perhaps you have an interest in seeing NYRA keep the franchise?

Kasepts reply
I do have an interest in seeing NYRA keep the franchise and I make no apologies about doing so.. In addition, I don't want take out increased as Capital Play and Empire BOTH outlined in their proposals to the state as part of their 'innovative' approaches.

And as a side note, until some else pays the bills at this website, I'll cheerlead all I want..

http://www.derbytrail.com/forums/sho...ght=lies+liars

So are you just a fan of NYRA? When someone posts they have interest in normally means a financial gain, either now or down the road.

You might also want to explain how you expect NYRA to be profitable from racing operations. The Bankruptcy Disclosure projections sure dont show that.

However, I would like to see the explanation to the first question I posed, as the second one I know the answer already.

My opinion has been maintained from the start of this process in NY and asked if I have a business relationship with NYRA, the answer is no. Asked if I have an interest in seeing NYRA in total charge of racing in this state, the answer is yes. My interest is that I can understand what has transpired in the past to this point; know what's been done to improve the operating scenario at NYRA the last 3 years; and fear for whatever a publcly-traded company would do to the racing here knowing what those entities have done and are doing with the racing properties they currently run. Is that tough to comprehend?

[freddymo]

2. If country club memberships and entertainmenmt expenses are corrupt, then every corporatation in America is corrupt.


Umm Steve? Its an FN Non Profit corp. with millions tax liabilities and crys the blues that it needs capital. It's not someones personnel nickel that they invested, took capital risk and are taking a shot to avoid using pre tax dollars.. Big difference IMO... BTW perhaps your boys took you to play golf? How did you play?

[freddymo]

"Also how is the success at Saratoga not a result of NYRA? As I recall that track was struggling for years before NYRA managed to make it a Racing Destination. I assume this had nothing to do with the advertising and promotion performed by Schwartz's son in-laws firm, it was purely coincidence and timing."

Hacker I think Saratoga's success is much more to do with Whitney and friends as it is NYRA. Without certain folks making SPA a fashionable 60 day retreat it might have become Vernon Downs.. That might be a bit of a stretch