State investigating NYRA takeout issues; Hayward, Kehoe terminated

[pointman]

I am not one to jump to conclusions based upon allegations and I have been a supporter of NYRA, but if this is true, this is a real slap in the face to loyal NYRA customers. Ed Fountaine has this piece in the NY Post today.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/horse...W51oB3IxYSakbN

[Gaelic Storm]

The part of this that I want ot know more about is this:

"We originally had thought that we would announce this for Saratoga but political forces intervened."

Who are the political forces and what did they know and when. I would like to see Hayward come out swinging bit I am thinking he will fall on the sword.

[The Bid]

How is Hayward going to come out swinging. He cannot even control his own racing office. They all need to be fired

[alysheba4]

this sport is a never ending debacle. a perpetual clusterf@ck.

[hockey2315]

If what the report says is true, there is absolutely no chance that Hayward keeps his job. I can't imagine this being a case of pre-meditated fraud or theft, though. It's not like NYRA was siphoning money from the pools and paying it to execs--the extra funds were relatively negligible in the grand scheme of things and nobody had any motive to "steal." Seems like a case of ineptitude or negligence that was compounded by some very poor decisions once the mistake was found.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

If what the report says is true, there is absolutely no chance that Hayward keeps his job. I can't imagine this being a case of pre-meditated fraud or theft, though. It's not like NYRA was siphoning money from the pools and paying it to execs--the extra funds were relatively negligible in the grand scheme of things and nobody had any motive to "steal." Seems like a case of ineptitude or negligence that was compounded by some very poor decisions once the mistake was found.

Any evaluation of the situation needs to factor in the atmosphere of hostility from Albany and a governor who is eager to execute his own agenda, foist the land from the association and dismantle racing in the state.

How convenient too that all responsibility of the State Racing & Wagering Board, the Franchise Oversight Board and State Legislature appears to have evaporated as part of this. Guess they didn't need to do their job in monitoring the timeline on the original increase (which the legislature foisted on NYRA and players as part of the NYC OTB transfer to state control).

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

im a huge hayward fan. i think he has guided nyra well for many years and is bieng screwed..

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Any evaluation of the situation needs to factor in the atmosphere of hostility from Albany and a governor who is eager to execute his own agenda, foist the land from the association and dismantle racing in the state.

How convenient too that all responsibility of the State Racing & Wagering Board, the Franchise Oversight Board and State Legislature appears to have evaporated as part of this. Guess they didn't need to do their job in monitoring the timeline on the original increase (which the legislature foisted on NYRA and players as part of the NYC OTB transfer to state control).

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

Steve, these are very vaild points. The State Racing and Wagering Board and Franchise Board are just as guilty if not more here. Their job is to ensure the integrity of the sport. What is their excuse?

As for the State Legislature, don't even get me started on them. This is one of the most corrupt governments in the USA. You can't even open a newspaper without seeing a State legislator being investigated, charged, on trial or convicted of a crime on a daily basis. I believe Carl Kruger is the poster boy of the day today. Or it may be Pedro Espada. They are incredibly corrupt and it is sad that they keep getting elected until they are convicted and stripped of their positions.

DiNapoli's office is just as responsible. What happened to the audit in 2010 that didn't catch this? How did they miss that? Yet they are quick to place the blame on others and take the credit for it instead of sharing the blame, typical DiNapoli spin of taking a negative and making it a positive for him that the general public that knows nothing about this swallows up as a positive for him. Frankly, DiNapoli is incredibly inept, had no experience as a comptroller and continues to waste taxpayer money.

At the end of the day, who gets screwed? The "dengerate" horseplayer, like you and me and no one gives a $hit. We are an easy punching bag just like smokers, who cares about us. You can tax us at usurious rates and no one really cares. You can screw us and the public says we deserve it. It is a sad state of affairs.

I don't for a second think that the timing of this report by those that are more responsible for the blame than those they are scapegoating is a coincidence either.

Having said that, regardless of the atmosphere in Albany, if the allegations against NYRA are true than the decision making was truly warped and allowed this kind of scapegoating to happen IMO.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Kasept

People shouldn't be taken in by the smokescreen.. there's bigger motives involved here than extracting Charlie Hayward or browbeating NYRA.

Don't you think the Governor will use this as an excuse to fire Hayward, throw the NYRA into disarray, appoint his own people, and have his way?