Struggling to Remain Engaged

Perhaps it is just my point of view but it seems that racing has crossed a new threshold into irrelevance. Once dedicated fans have decreased their involvement in the sport. My wagering is down over 75% this year. While other sports are erecting new cathedrals of excellence Aqueduct has a dumpster as the local point of it's apron. It seems that all of the value in wagering and excitement of the competition has flown the coop. The programs are littered with short fields and state bred welfare races. A perfect storm of economic forces, changing tastes, poor leadership, fractured control and slots fueled indifference has led to a critical point where the whole industry's foundation has been weakened.


Racing seems like it can not get out of its own way. While I really want to embrace synthetic surfaces, I find them to be the equivalent of a monkey-wrench. Racing may need change but this was the wrong change. Synthetic surfaces add complexity to a game that is already too abstract for many tastes. With races like the Blue Grass and Lexington relegated to irrelevant farces it seems like whole race meets are contested in a parallel universe that have no relevance to this(dirt racing) dimension. The false consumer morality that led tracks like Keeneland to install synthetic surfaces has led them into a tactical error. The dirt surfaces should have been upgraded and properly maintained; the new surfaces are foreign and bewildering to the majority of handicappers and horsemen. This major change the fabric of the product has quickened the rush to the doors.


this dumpster is now the focal point of the Aqueduct facility

Here in New York the incessant corruption is most easily viewed as it pertains to the racing industry. It is a shame that the press now longer provides a check on the politicians and has let them get away with ruining Aqueduct for so long. With the media not reporting the facts the public is oblivious to the buffoonery associated with the Aqueduct VLT project. The only action taken here has been inaction. NYRA has waited for almost ten years to have slots installed while Albany continues to drag it feet. Worst yet is the process has relegated NYRA to a de facto ward of the state. Hanging onto the slots as its meal ticket, NYRA has been frozen into inaction awaiting the slots like a welfare mother awaiting the first on the month. Meanwhile the grifters in Albany are planning round five of the Aqueduct slots cash grab. Wasn't round four a enough of a laugh? Every time these politicians run this farce it slowly loses it's effectiveness to garner kickbacks and favor from those that desire the Aqueduct slots contract. There was a time when Las Vegas giant MGM was going to operate this casino. Then politicians stepped in, restarted the process four times and cashed in time after time with kick backs. Now it looks like this slots grab could garner very little interest in the gaming industry. Certainly the respected names in the gaming industry like Steve Wynn will have nothing to do with the farce of New York racing after four aborted slots approval processes. K&K wigs of White Plains may end up with a better casino than Aqueduct.

While round five of slots cash grab commences the parasite known as NYC OTB is threatening to close down. It looks like they want to book bets without paying the track operators. If OTB was to have closed down ten years ago this could have been a huge positive for the industry. Racing could have shaken the image of the degenerate that is the popular image of horseplayers. The OTB should be something of the past. With this degenerate image in the past racing could have moved towards respectability. Perhaps mainstream marketers like Patrick Patten could have crafted a new imagine for racing away the crass materialism of naked gambling to something more gentlemanly or mainstream. The fear now is with racing in such a horrible condition that the loss of the OTB revenue may be a death blow; it is like starting a surgery while the patient is struggling to fight off an infection. The other fear is that the OTB fans may not return to bet; many of the old degenerates that filled the parlors will simply retire. OTB is a subject that will require leadership; however it seems to be a area steeped in corruption with a lack of vision.

The only bright spot remains the upcoming Monmouth meet- perhaps even this could be a negative as it could be the nail in NYRA's coffin. With racing out of New York the entire industry may just lose it's national niche and become a provincial rural sport like rodeo. California racing is in trouble too. New York like California means big money and media presence. Without New York or Southern California racing is a much smaller industry. The looming triple crown is the one time where racing will hit the mainstream for a few weeks. This triple crown could be the calm eye of a storm. In a few years racing will likely have a much different look as the game is gutted.

New Casino Approved For The New York Area

White Plains - After years of languishing as a forgotten outlet in a receding market K & K Wigs of White Plains, New York has received a lifeline from the New York state government. K & K Wigs is going to be the world’s first wigsino. The 2000 square foot retail store, which recently closed due to non-existent sales will be reopened later this year. Once a lonely anachronism the store will be reborn as a hot spot when it reopens later this year; the new twist is that the sales floor will be embellished with 200 VLT's. Partnering in the project is K & K Wigs intertainment group better known as K-Wig.

K & K Wigs has long been under pressure after enjoying decades as the premier wig retailer in the area. During the glory years of the 1970's K & K Wigs enjoyed a monopoly in Westchester County in the hair replacement market. K & K Wigs often carried hard to find Wigs from upscale suppliers from Italy, the Middle East or the Orient. On a Saturday afternoon the sales floor was usually packed. Starting in the 1980's a troubling trend emerged. K & K sales crashed as the market has evolved. Sales then nosedived as consumers acquired the ability to discretely purchase wigs on-line. The OTB (Off-site toupee brokers) has made brick and mortar wig stores a thing of the past. In addition to a shrinking market share, emerging technologies like follicle hair replacement and over the counter medications like Rogaine have provided consumers many more options than just a hair piece. Pressure on K & K Wigs was being applied from all sides.

now a closed storefront, (red awning) soon to be a gold mine wigsino.

K&K Wig owners reluctantly closed the store during the summer of 2009 with hopes of getting the wigsino bill passed. With the legislative coup de etat passing the state assembly last week K & K is poised for a summer grand re-opening. K & K owner Morris "Morrie" Kessler promises "to take our dedication to unparalleled service and having the hottest wigs and toupees on the east coast and bringing it to an unprecedented new level. The wigsino is going to be a shot in the arm for our struggling industry. Already the trickle down effect is being felt as wig manufacturers are hiring people hoping to feed the perceived increased demand prompted by the new wigsinos coming on-line.”

During the Glory Days Of Wigs Owner Morriey Kessler Advertised On Local TV

Partnering with K & K Wigs will be K-Wig or K& K Wig Entertainment group. While K-Wig had the lowest bid out of all of the casino partners Governor Paterson said “All of the groups have valid proposals, but K-Wig presented a comprehensive bid that enjoys community support and also offers strong marketing appeal.” K-Wig is a consortium of various industry groups and local business leaders. The casino operations expertise is provided by the Larry's Lounge group. Larry's Lounge operates Larry's Video Poker bar in Ely Nevada

Mr. Kessler continued" We're talking about a brand new, cutting edge, neighborhood sized, 2,000 square foot casino that's bursting with over 200 of the hottest state-of-the-art slots , both smoke-friendly and smoke free, plus an amazing variety of hair piece options with some of the coolest hair products around." K-Wig is partnering with rap impressionato Russel Simmons hoping to capture a youth demographic with the wigsino; a long time weakness of the hair piece industry. Russel Simmons likes what K-Wig can do for the community "I got a big commitment from K-Wig to support animal rights, local unions, diversity initiatives, and community development projects, like the Peacekeeper Anti-Violence program that I’ve already started in Queens and Brooklyn, in part through K-Wig's contribution." Russel Simmons has no concerns that the slot machine gambling will have a negative affect on the community he represents. "The positive programs that K-Wig has committed to far outweighs the negative effects of having a gambling joint acting as a regressive tax on those that can least afford to pay it" Apparently Mr. Simmons is into substitute morality; especially if he can turn a profit on it.

The largest investor with a stake of more than 50% is Hairvest Group; a Romanian investment firm led by Micah Bagman, according to Andrew Frank, a PR executive who helped bring the players together. Not much is known about the Hairvest group but Andrew Frank assures state officials that they are "as clean as a whistle" the reports of Hairvest being tied to drug trafficking and money laundering was "pure rubbish".

Morrie Kessler’s greatest hope is that a “struggling industry is revived. We hope that with increased revenues from the VLT’s that wigs will once again be cool.” It is government interventions into struggling industry the gives hope to people that are down on their luck. For Mr. Kessler’s “even if we never sell another wig we know that K & K wigs will continue as a going concern for the next generation.” For Morrie Kessler this wigsino was the change that was needed.

Indians Look To Scalp Racino Revenue

Looks like Mohegan Sun Casino has launched a new marketing campaign in the New York area. With Mohegan Sun slots revenue down over 9% it was time for Mohegan Sun to take some action. Could it be that the success of Empire City casino at Yonkers raceway was beginning to affect their slots revenue? Of course it was. Empire City is located in one of the most wealthy counties in the country; this county is less than two hours from Mohegan Sun and is surely the core area of their market.

The ads which were heard on Westchester's WFAS radio were dismissive of the concept of the racino. Gamblers were urged to go to a "real" casino and not a "racino". The actor in the spot touted Mohegan's real "slots" while mocking Empire City's "video lottery terminals" as not real action. The actors went on to tout Mohegan's full service casino featuring a slew of table games and live poker. The heart of the advertisement was that anyone with a Empire City players club card would receive $100 in slot action if they signed up for a new Mohegan players club card. It looks like Mohegan means business and is looking to re-claim some of it's lost New York business. Mohegan CEO Mitchell Etess admits to poaching Empire City's market

“We realize that Empire City is driving lots of revenue, and there’s no doubt they have created new gamers,” Etess said. “We created this promotion to give them incentive for people who may have begun to enjoy Empire City and are not customers of Mohegan Sun to give them an incentive to drive up and see our property. We’re confident once they get up here they would be inclined to visit us again.”

In an earlier piece in the local press titled "Mohegan sees profits nosedive" Etess admitted that Empire City was affecting Mohegan revenue while being dismissive of the delayed Aqueduct project:

Etess also said the Empire City casino in Yonkers, N. Y., had an impact on revenues.

But Mohegan Sun is planning an aggressive marketing campaign to go after Empire City players card holders. There has been no word yet on the status of the Aqueduct casino project in New York, which Mohegan Sun hopes to operate, but Etess downplayed the impact should the contract go to another operator.

“There is already convenience gaming in Yonkers,” he said, so Empire City would feel the impact of Aqueduct more than Mohegan Sun.

With New York racino operations having a drastic effect on Indian Casino operations in Connecticut would it be hard to imagine that casino interests in Connecticut and New Jersey are the primary forces blocking the Aqueduct racino? The Aqueduct racino is well into it's ninth calender of delays. On it's own nine years of delays are noteworthy, but the manner of hearings, false NYRA scandals and multiple selection processes have rendered the situation a complete farce. It is too bad the local investigative journalists have dropped the ball on this topic. Who are the fixers blocking the Aqueduct construction? How much is being kicked back to whom to keep this project on hold? It seems that blocking the Aqueduct racino has been a cash cow for the local politicians behind the scenes; a golden goose that they have been very reluctant to surrender. Thus the farce continues as casino business nosedives elsewhere.

Philly Park Purse Surge

$5 for a large pizza, $1.20 for a pack of smokes and less than $500 a month for a nice one bedroom. The numbers are my fondest memories of my time in Philadelphia. Cheap living in an honest working class city. At that time the racing world had an even larger chasm between New York and Philly. Philly Park was barely holding on at the bottom of the racing class ladder while NYRA was the king of the new world. Ten years later and it looks like the roles have reversed. In a huge coup that nobody has even noticed New York is now the backwater with Philly presenting the better purses and potentially the better product.

Usually I have no interest in Philly park but today (Tuesday)they have a overnight stakes that has attracted nice sprinters such as Saratoga Russell, Cherokee Country and Joey P. Top New York jocks such as Ramon Dominguez, Lezcano and Channing Hill canceled a day of leisure and headed down I-95 to ride in the $75K Valley Forge Stakes. Usually I spend Tuesday with a nice book but I followed the lead of masterclass jockey Dominguez to Philly to cap the race and have a look. One glance at the rest of the card and something hit me- Philly Purses have surpassed NYRA purses. This is quite the deal for the horsemen. You have to have rocks in your heads - or a slow NY bred- to run in New York.


So not only are Philly based owners paying less for a large pie at their local pizzeria but they are also paying less in trainer day rates while cashing in larger purses. This is a great deal for the horsemen of Bensalem Pennsylvania. If I could have made more money driving the limo in Philly than New York I never would have left Philly. In New York we pay more for less with an onerous tax burden. However the lure of New York is that we have the old world at our finger tips while making more money than anywhere else in the country. This may have been true in the past but New York along with New York racing is living on past glory. The big lure of New York is the class racing but those days are also over. With the dilapidated facility in Ozone Park, inferior purses and a corrupt regime that has presided over a 9 year slots farce the time for New York to be a backwater is upon us. People just have not realized it yet.

Purse Comparison

• Condition Philly park purse Aqueduct purse
• Maiden 12K $22K $19K
• MSW 1 Mile $44K $44K
• CLM 7.5K $22K $16
• CLM 25K $36K $33K
• CLM35K $39 $38
• STK $75K $65K

If you are running a PA. Bred the deal is even better:

Now, somebody who is really invested in the business can actually make more money in a single race than the total purse. Imagine a race with a $42,000 purse. The winning owner gets 60 percent, or $25,200. If the horse is a Pennsylvania-bred, the owner gets a 40 percent bonus off the winnings. Now, he has $35,280. If he's the breeder, he gets another 20 percent of that. Now, he has $42,333 on a $42,000 purse. If the owner happens to stand the stallion in Pennsylvania, he gets another 10 percent.

What is fueling this purse surge? When I lived in Philly ten years ago the purses where less than half of NYRA purses. 18K claimers ran for $6K and maiden specials for 18K. The slots in Philly have been a raging success. Philly Park's casino opened in December 2006. In the first 3 weeks, players bet $175 million on the slots. In the fiscal year ending in June 2007, they bet $1.666 billion. In the next fiscal year, they bet $5.8 billion. In the fiscal year just ended, they bet $10.9 billion. Revenue (winnings after the players are paid) was $144 million, $469 million and $825 million, respectively.

Are all of these slot players making their way to the Philly racetrack inflating handle? Surely $10.9 billion in slots handle would have a spillover effect into the racing handle? A crowded casino combined with better purses and better claiming races would surely inflate Philly Park handle to beyond what NYRA achieves. Surprisingly the wagering on Philly Park races is only a fraction of what Aqueduct handles even as the Aqueduct grandstand lies in decay and the racing is inferior. Bettors are loyal to NYRA regardless of the quality of the races. A cursory study of 3 days last week reveals that Aqueduct handled $21 million the three days they ran against Philly Park. Those same three days Philly Park handled a total of $3.6 million- a staggering chasm especially when you consider the racing at Philly might just be superior.

What we have here is a pure slot purse advantage for Philly Park. Unless bettors start patronizing Philly Park this is terrible for racing. All of the "meat and potatoes" claimers are running at Philly Park while NYRA is left with an unappetizing menu of New York breds and beaten claimers. NYRA is presenting an inferior product that will eventually disenfranchise the bettors if they haven't been chased away yet.

Few "diners" migrated to Philly Park. While the best "chefs" have been lured away to cook at Philly Park the food has not been a lure for the public. The Philly "chefs" are basically cooking for their own profit while their food is going strait to the trash without being sampled by the wagering public. Meanwhile up at Aqueduct the "chefs" are being pulled right out of the dregs of the culinary world. While the restaurant at Aqueduct remains full the food is no longer world class. It is only a matter of time before the wagering public realizes how far New York racing has fallen and they turn away from racing all together. Can Philadelphia Park progress from being anything other than a horsemen welfare venue? The key may be in luring the Preakness north and snagging the attention of the public. If a $75K overnight stakes can lure Power Cap a million dollar classic can lure the masses.

Take Your Time Albany

The Times-Union published a story about how SL green is the frontrunner for the Aqueduct slots contract that was approved in 2001. In the eight years since being approved gaming revenues have fell as the bubble economy burst. Not only is the economy a clear culprit but the revenues have been hindered as gaming has reached saturation levels. There are now casinos in most states bordering New York along with multiple locations within New York. What was once a long drive and a novelty; has become mundane and old-hat. Eight years and we still have nothing.

The important thing for Albany to remember is not to rush into anything. Other masterfully executed government ideas - take the community building high-rise public housing projects - are usually well thought out. I can not even think of a good casino that was privately built, can you? If the state wants to duplicate the success that was brought to the inner-city by the housing projects, it should take their time on the slot machine casino at Aqueduct. Albany seems so efficient and rushed getting these Aqueduct slots on line.

US Handle Off By Over $1 Billion So Far This Year

American racing handle is down over $1 billion 7 months into the year. This is a steep decline off of 2008 which steeply declined from 2007. Instead of ringing the alarm and reaching for the slots lifeline to prop up the failing venues, racing should let the failing tracks close. We have market forces trying to "right size" the racing industry, but rather than let the natural forces transform racing into a healthy industry we have the racing industry pushing back with slots.

Instead of a healthy and fit industry we have a slew of uninteresting tracks and an industry too large to maintain. Last year 54,000 races were run in North America with $14 billion in handle. In comparison Japan ran 3,400 races and had $28 billion in handle! While most Americans are not going to bet like the Japanese it would be better if racing allowed the market forces to shape North American racing like JRA racing; reducing the amount of races and increasing the quality. In Japan every racecard is an event, here in North America other than a few boutique meets every race is like another endless spin of the roulette wheel. At many venues few people watch or wager on the action; the races denigrated into a pseudo-welfare distribution event for slot revenues.

There will be some pain as the industry "right sizes" but it is vital that American racing becomes healthy. No wasteful corruption laced government programs are needed to manage racing, it is just a question of letting the market close tracks and concentrate the fields at the successful venues. Rather than "right sizing" the game we have racing continually subsidizing low quality short fields with slots. These races pull horses from successful venues and the handle is not relative to the purse.

Slots are going to be the slow death of racing. Too many races with too many horses spread out at too many tracks. With all of these tracks the competition is severely diluted. Also with this slot-based artificially augmented demand for horses there is nowhere to retire the horses when their racing careers are over. Even with all of this baggage being lugged around racing still holds it weight and outgames other sports in TV rating for the triple crown events. Racing still has a sizable niche market and since it is a unique sport there is always the potential that racing could take off as tastes change. Racing will never have the chance to reach the mainstream if it can not "right size".

Racing Does Not Need A Commissioner

Racing's greatest strength is that it does not have a national commissioner. Every other sports league has the same format, uses the same market research and same approach to lure the same groups of masses to buy their t-shirts and plunk down a few hundred to sit and watch an AV show at one of its games. Racing is the only diverse kid on the block, it is a different type of game, with a distinctive yet authentic appeal. Racing should not try to emulate sports leagues like the NFL or NBA or MLB. These sports leagued peaked in the 1990's and have began their decline. Kids are no longer interested in Baseball much anymore, and as a game it will greatly reduce in popularity over the next generation. Instead of copying a tired formula racing should do what it has always done, but do it better. Let the market forces at work downsize the number of tracks in operation, there is too much racing and most of it is forgettable. Right size, form new racing circuits and accentuate the positives of a great game. Racing's authentic appeal has stood the test of time, we could be one or two years away from a tremendous renaissance, spurred by a return to all things authentic and racing's internet advantage.

This diversification of ideas and management styles keeps the game fresh and surprisingly strong when the death of racing was long ago expected. A national commissioner of racing would have the game controlled by some over educated, under experienced bore, who would employ well worn marketing techniques to all tracks. Racing would expose itself to the same affliction that the banking industry is suffering. Too much consolidation and too many banks all doing the same exact thing, using the same risk models killed banking. Banking was better off when there were hundreds of banks all doing different things. The competition is working for tracks like Keeneland, NYRA and Tampa. These tracks have improved their product in recent years and surged forward past tracks that are stuck in a rut. Without diversity of management news ideas are stifled under the weight of me-too think.


Racing is a real game and not a master planned, referee controlled, TV commercial vehicle. Racing is different and different is a good survival technique. In real estate terms racing is like an aging urban neighborhood. Horse racing is old, filled with history, with well built brownstones that have stood the test of time. The masses stay away do the rough conditions and the bitter degenerates found on the corners there. However one persons slum is another persons opportunity. A cosmopolitan capitol like Rome could become a backwater is a few generations and an aging urban neighborhood has potential to become the next hot area. Life works in cycles. Racing has the potential to expand as it has a steady and permanent revenue source in wagering and racing is just north of Excitinsvillle.


Sports like the NFL or NBA are master planned neighborhoods in a Sunbelt Cul-De-Sac borefest. People are leaving these suburban master planned communities in droves. Like a master planned community the action in TV balls sports are contrived, phony and shallow. Master planned areas are so 1980's. Racing has the authentic appeal to attract people when they are sick of the phony action, when the horns prompting them to cheer no longer work and when they become tired of sportscasters telling them what to think. When the days of the master planned community in the suburbs fell out of vogue a former working class area like Williamsburg Brooklyn was there to take advantage of the stream of young hipsters looking for an authentic experience. Racing could be there too when sports fans tire of the phony master planned sports experience.

Where I am from in Brooklyn was a working class European neighborhood in 1960 then after some government intervention coupled with cheap suburban housing the working class neighborhood was suddenly a burnt out wasteland in 1977. After about 20 years of drugging, whoring, and robbing this former wasteland is now a hot area attracting trust-fund hipsters to experience the authentic energy of an old-school urban environment. Bushwick is a clear example of a turnaround, racing has the potential to have a similar turnaround.

Racing has the same authentic appeal of an older neighborhood in any of the great Northern hemisphere cities. Times are always changing and life works in cycles. If a wasteland can become the next hot neighborhood, racing can be the next hot sport. Racing's time is coming around again, and the worst thing it could do is to try and re-model the game around a master planned community that is suddenly going out of style, complete with a commissioner, mandatory races and trumped up inauthentic excitement. Racing needs to keep its authentic appeal and trim some of its weaker content. Racing has, is and will continue to take advantage of the internet. The internet is great for racing. The investment that Twinspires has made in the twinspires.com website has been impressive. Between internet wagering, internet past performances and internet replays, following the horses has become a seamless experience with tremendous amounts of information at your fingertips. Racing works better on the internet than any other sport.


What racing has to do is right size. The prime issue in American racing is quantity. There is too much racing. The preponderance of slot machine racetracks is weakening the game. Horses are racing but nobody cares and few people are betting on these races. These mundane, slot machine revenue distribution vehicles are pulling horses away from racetracks that support real racing. Real racing is a card full of horses that people want to watch and want to bet on. Real racing is an event, not a slot machine revenue distribution vehicle. These slots fueled races are like model homes that sit idle, subsidized by slot machines they pull residents from the vital area of town. If this continues soon racing will look like Detroit. If the slot tracks survive and cherished facilities like Pimlico or Hollywood have to close we will have to deal with it. The market forces will handle right sizing the game better than a commissioner could ever dream of. It is better to have a healthy game than a game on life support filled with disease ridden tracks.


Racing in the mid-Atlantic needs to organize, a circuit should be formed from Delaware south to Virginia. Perhaps Twin Spires owned Arlington, Fairgrounds and Churchill could work their way into becoming a circuit. Perhaps the three slot tracks in Pennsylvania could become a circuit as well. Finley expands on many of these points. They are building yet another track in New Mexico to take advantage of slot revenues, this is terrible news as it should mark the end of Texas tracks like Lone Star and Sam Houston. Who thought that when Presque Isle opened a few years ago that it would diminish Churchill?


The diversity of management styles of the different tracks and governmental agencies running racing ensures competition between tracks and a steady flow of new ideas. Racing is just a lucky horse away from catching fire once again. Unfortunately like in Brooklyn in the 1970's government intervention is stifling the renaissance but we can be sure that racing will have its time in the limelight soon enough.

Forth Round Of Aqueduct Slots Cash Grab

Whenever some pundit suggests that government intervention can heal the economy or some other massive issue I shake my head and wish these people would get out in the real world and see the daily gross incompetence displayed by government. A great example is the Aqueduct VLT(slot machine) parlor that was approved in 2001 that has yet to be opened. If government can not get a minor project right it is doubtful they can succeed and more ambitious projects like the economy or food hygiene.

This project was first approved way back when Monarchos won the Derby, Monarchos now has 6 year old horses racing. The first approval was for MGM Grand to run the slots. Construction actually began in 2002 and the slots were slated to start operations in 2003. Then Pataki came in and shut it down. NYRA needed to prove that it had integrity. This opened up slot grab number two which led into the NYRA scandal period of 2002-2006. Everything from waiters taking tips for primo tables at the Spa to mutuel clerks pocketing till money became a big story in the press. NYRA was bad and someone needed to step in to take over the corrupt racetrack. There might have been some truth the the hype but it was mostly concocted to make the slot hopefuls feel that there was a tremendous opportunity looming to open a casino within the borders of New York City. The bidders smelled NYRA's blood in the water when front page jockey weight scandal headlines loaded the slot waters with scandal chum. This fueled the slots feeding frenzy with multiple rounds of bidding for the slots.

The politicians had a field day as slot grab bidding frenzy was launched every year enabling those in charge to reap the booty of potential operators lining up to get the slots license. Pataki played the field. There was Bruno who secured Magna as a client and turned from an ardent NYRA supporter to a NYRA detractor on a dime. Clint Number Nines primary suitor was R. Fields reality who provided air power during his election bid for governor.


Now it is Sheldon Silver's turn to get sloppy seconds. The cash grab might not be as lucrative this time around but you have to love the chutzpah displayed by Silver launching the Aqueduct slots cash grab for the forth time. The first round was for Pataki, the second round for Bruno, the third was Client number Nines payday now it is Silvers turn to score with another round of kickbacks, free airplane rides, and free dinners as the suitors like up to secure the slot contract. Could they go for round five early next year? Whose turn is it next? Or did they go to the well too many times? Either way as long as Silver and the other connected ones secure their booty who cares about the people or racing.

Tale Of Two Races

Here we have two races, the same distance and it the same track both races effected by the same forces of too much racing but the opposite end of that forces spectrum. First we have Aqueduct race 7 19NOV08 and the Fall Highweight Handicap. The former was a race that was gutted by scratches and latter is a race that has been supplemented by entries way beyond the $100K purse.


A good example of what "too many tracks with slot inflated purses " can do is Aqueduct race 7 19NOV. Here was a really nice starter allowance with nine horses entered. Almost every horse was a hard knocking warrior, just check out the amount of wins in the field and how often they win. I was so exciting to watch this race looking at the PP's the day before but instead of a great race the public got a 4 horse field because 5 of the horses scratched and will likely run in an easier spot at a slot track like Philly. When widely available slot purses enhancements ruin racs like this the game in no longer a sport or a product it is a welfare dole. There are too many races available for these horses and too much racing dilutes the quality of the product. Failed racetracks propped up by slot revenues weaken the game and shorten fields, over saturating the market with race after race day after day. It is sad to see a races at tracks like Presque Isle have slot enhanced purses of $50K and pick threes with $3k handle.

Then we have the Fall High weight Handicap. This was a graded race just a few years ago but was downgraded due allowance, Statebred or claiming horses winning the race year after year. Who really wants their horse to carry 140lbs anyway? This year it drew an outstanding field, it may even be a be compared to the GI Vosburgh from the Belmont meet. Why is it so strong? The main reason this race came up aces is the struggles of Maryland. Many of these horses would have run the in the Grade I DeFrancis Dash but due to that races demise the Highweight has drawn an outstanding field, there are three graded winners in the race even though the race is not graded. Here is an example of how a right sized racing industry will grow stronger, better horses running in interesting races with wagering surging.

With slots propping up New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virgina and soon Maryland/New York only more racing will be carded. It is too much racing and this only continues due to subsidies from slots. This is a poison for the game. While some look at slot money as a savior the truth is that it is the poison that is ruining the product and driving the game into ruin. Tracks are ready to fail, if they were only allowed to fail the racing in the strong jurisdictions like New York, Kentucky and California would flourish. The scarcity of racing would make it interesting to the masses once again. In Hong Kong they only allow Sha-Tin to run and it handles over $60 billion a year. If we only had one or two tracks on the east coast handle would balloon, the races would be awesome, large fields of competitive horses. Allow the market to work and the great game of racing will naturally flourish.

Sale Of Stonerside;The Foreshadowing Of The Future Of American Racing

The sale of Stonerside Stable last week was a should be a wake up call for American racing. American racing lost one of the big owners. These were the people that campaigned stakes horses like Congeree, Too Much Bling and Halory Hunter. With Darley swallowing yet another American operation the horses, the properties and the future of Stonerside are all in foreign hands. This is not an isolated event, it is part of a larger trend where Americans are selling out of the racing business, usually to overseas interests. While this trend of Americans selling out their racing interest is not isolated to racing it is a trend that only figures to continue especially in a sick industry like racing. The trend will accelerate as racing loses its fans and the economy continues to tank.

While the game has lost it's luster outside forces are also at work here. The weak dollar, crashing real estate values and energy prices are driving American equine holdings overseas. Not only are most top stallions and broodmares are finding their way into foreign hands but so are the farms. This same thing happened in the first half of the 20th century but it was the Americans, flush with success purchasing European bloodstock for their American farms. Now the trend has reversed.

While the tracks are still North American owned they are hemorrhaging cash. With the track operators like Magna and NYRA on the ropes it would not be a surprise to see an overseas investor take over Magna and it's vast property holdings for pennies on the dollar. American tracks are sick and are on slot life support. Overseas the horse wagering market is entirely more sophisticated than the American parimutuel system. Overseas a horseplayer has choices, with player friendly betting exchanges like BETFAIR and on-line sports books giving the player low takeout and rebates. Here the horseplayer has few choices and the parimutuel system needs extensive government protection to operate outside of the fair market. This system almost assures that the horseplayer will lose his bankroll so fewer and fewer horseplayers play the game. Here in New York the tracks compete with government controlled OTB's and the government often purposely sabotages the tracks operations to preserve the the government controlled OTB's competitive edge. An overseas operator surely would do a better job. Can the industry wake up before it is too late?

For years racing has tried to reach out to younger fans but the attempts have hit a wall. Racing just can not find a way to make itself relevant to the youth. Instead of improving the vitality of racing the tracks have opted for artificial life support from a slot I.V. While purses may be up, the soul of the game is dying. The artificial life support is destroying the cardiovascular system of the game and the game is becoming dependent on slots to survive. The slot savior is creating a game that nobody cares about and a game that can not live without slots. Even the tracks without slots are affected as they find it hard to compete for horses with the tracks with slot money.

Outside of Keeneland, The Triple Crown, Del Mar and The Spa, few tracks have significant daily attendance. There are too many races, too few horses and rows and rows of empty stands. Thanks to slots the amount of races has increased to the point where we have a glut of endless races. Tracks like Philly Park or Presque Isle conduct racing as a sport without fans. These racinos are like a restaurant with no patrons or a nightclub with an empty dancefloor. Yet the racing restaurant continues to cook meals and the DJ continues tol spin records for the empty dance floor as slots float the entire operation. Some of these tracks with slot fueled purses have purses many times larger than amount of money bet on the race. Eventually will they wake up and realize that a gaming facility does not need horses to have profitable slots. In fact slots are much more profitable without horses.


The combination of lame fan support and a weak American economy led R McNair the owner of Stonerside Stable to say this “We don’t have enough sports fans in racing,” he said. “It’s frustrating because racetrack operators cling to the notion that they have to cater to the gambling audience. I think they are wrong and you can go to racetracks and see the empty seats. They have to increase their fan base and make sports fans develop an interest in racing.” With a boring sport that is not a thrill, why would multi-millionaire owners want to get into this game? For a few slot purses? The sporting aspect of the game seems to be withering.

As owners continue to sell out to overseas investors and top stock moves overseas, American racing will continue to see cheap stock racing for inflated purses in short fields. It is a nasty problem and it is a trend that will continue for the next decade or so until the game hits rock bottom. With no improvement in sight this is the sort of problem that needs to bottom out before it gets any better.