COULD THE BELMONT ACTUALLY BE SCRATCHED THIS YEAR?
It seems unfathomable, but there are apparently concerns from NYRA that due to a lack of funds for payroll, Belmont Park could not open up for its meet featuring the Belmont Stakes. This is due to the New York legislature not being able to agree on a plan to bring slots to Aqueduct.
According to NYRA president Charles Hayward, NYRA will run out of cash "in the May-June timeframe". Click here to read the entire article by the New York Daily News and then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think below.
Tags: belmont park, belmont stakes, bradford cummings, charles hayward, New York Daily News, nyra, Paulick Report
December 21st, 2009 at 9:51 am
Welcome to the world. Put your eggs in the pols’ basket and don’t take care of business and the reality gets ugly. Frankly, New York, NYRA and their OTB kin are all in need of major overhauls, have been in that condition for years and reading about it (and even commenting about it) is just more of yesterday’s news.
December 21st, 2009 at 10:16 am
While the country is falling prey to socialism at warp speed, racing needs to become private, cut in half, engineered and run by a single central authority to avoid cannibalism, redundancies, cut costs nationwide and boost quality, integrity, image and business. Slots are only a temporary dope and will not save racing forever. Only racing can save itself by being run as a solvent private league and as far away as possible from whoring pols.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:00 am
I assume this is just posturing. But when racing gave up private ownership for public guarantees and political invovlement this current mess was probably inevitable.
One solution might be to slash takeout and purses, dropping the sport down to a lower compensation level so it becomes more sport and not a big business.
California government is broke; New York government is running out of cash; and the elites stood idly by while this built up over the years.
A sport that has to be subsidized by another gambling activity obviously has a price cost structure that is unreal. When welfare becomes en embedded entitlement, whether for people or horses, there is a tendency for productivity to drop as bad money drives out good.
More borrowing and more debt is not the solution. Pain and adjustment is the way of capitalism. Will the elites learn to take their losses like everyone else and go back to capitalism some day?
December 21st, 2009 at 11:24 am
And yet they still have the funds to run hundreds of those ridiculous short-notice “stakes” races with a life expectancy of one or two years. I agree with Dan C, this is just an attempt to play hardball.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:24 am
What a complete and total disaster that would be. With that said…The Belmont Stakes must and will go on!
December 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
Many sports are somewhat subsidized with stadium deals, enticement to move, IRS tax breaks, etc. At the same time, horseracing is the only legitimate athlete performance sport that allows wagering with revenue benefit on site on that athlete. NY racing does contribute revenue to NY…why we are here is beyond my ability to know…read the comments at Daily News
Capatilism today is not what capatilism is/was meant to be. So called capitalists take serious risks and now skim their income well before the sinking of the ship. Why should they be rewarded?
What bothers me is how much wagering goes on with regard to NY racing (all of it) and how little of it goes back to the horses, horsemen and folks putting on the races (and the wagering community to some extent…depending on who you choose to place your bet with).
Albany pols couldn’t agree to pee on each other if they self-immolated. Maybe, in the end that would be a good thing for NY racing.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:57 am
They should sell it.The rights,the race,everything,for millions.Then get out of racing completely.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
If they want to play games…..Move it to Monmouth…… It’s a better track anyway…..
December 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
No. Brinksmanship. A lot of other things in NYS will go (and are going) down the tubes before the Belmont Stakes. Also no to prospect of slots anytime soon.
Those who measure such things consider NYS’s political system one of the most dysfunctional of the 50 states. Until New York voters as a whole create systemic change snafus like the current one will simply recur recut recur recur… someone please stop that record from skipping.
By the way, isn’t Joe in comment 2 advocating a key tenet of certain brands of socialism: centralized authority.
December 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Somehow, we were just supposed to roll merrily along, laughing at the famously-predicted (and by now, repeatedly confirmed) non-event:
The fifty-times promised slots being installed at Aqueduct -
And not imagine that there would be actual consequences.
Ho ho ho.
(Reminder: This long-spoiled commodity has been rotting in the NY State Legislature’s refrigerator for the last eight years. Don’t open that door!)
Meanwhile, California tracks are losing big-name trainers to - of all places - the one-time bottom-of-the-barrel racetrack, Philadelphia Park.
(Remember the utter disbelief that people expressed in their catatonic cadence, not too long ago - that a Derby winner could come out of that track?)
Ho ho…
Maybe the 2009 Belmont Stakes will be run at Yonkers. It’s got to be run somewhere. Or does it?
Has racing, as a business, committed the cardinal, non-reversible sin - allowing their customers to discover that they can get along very well without a facility or product, previously considered to be indispensable?
Racing’s going the way of the telephone booth.
Ho…
December 21st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
For a state that’s only hallmark is it’s total corruption and ineptitude, one should always be careful when asking the question “Can it get any worse?”. Here’s your sign.
December 21st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Fiona Farrell:
No…centralized authority is more a tenet of facism, not socialism or communisim (but they recognize interpretation of implementation for the greater to good… the latter suppose betterment based on dispersement to everyone even though they don’t completely participate..everyone racing participates). And even democracy recognizes that rules and law with edjudication in place to ensure same are necessary. US Racing has neither of the aforementioned as a point of exsistence…it’s still every man for himself depending on the venue/business arrangement, but certainly not Nationally. In other words…somebody has to be in charge. NFL is socialism? MLB is socilaism? NBA? The debate of socialism, communism or facism is not the point about the NYDN article. This is about government, racing paticipants not doing the right thing for NY racing in search of their corrupted piece of the pie and given too much time doing same.
NY is not the only dysfunctional kid on the block…they are in notable company…including the US Congress.
December 21st, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Fiona said:
“By the way, isn’t Joe in comment 2 advocating a key tenet of certain brands of socialism: centralized authority.”
By centralized I mean running flat or all of racing as a single, well run corporation. Racehorse owners (and all) could become shareholders. Racing could become a REIT which could include racetrack properties, or a MLP which would distribute all profits to its shareholders or partners. With a direct stake in the health and business of racing, owners, trainers, officials and other insiders and racetrack managers would have a monetary incentive to behave and keep racing safe, viable and popular as a SPORT. And keep unions out!
December 21st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
This wouldn’t make me overly confident if I were planning Breeders’ Cup 2011.
December 21st, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Nothing surprises me in the politics of Thoroughbred racing. But it is amazing that in a multi-billion-dollar business…..all the major players are broke.
December 21st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Everybody says they are broke yet nobody moves on and just firesales racing and parimutual assets? must have something to do with the cash component of the game? my guess is NY state is willing to let the NYRA suffer a bit, knowing there will be no more lifelines for this group. Sorry to see the Belmont Stakes is being used as a last gasp bargaining chip by a racing organization that should be able to make ends meet.
December 21st, 2009 at 7:20 pm
We knew this day is coming. New York State has the most dysfunctional government around. Special interests have corrupted it beyond repair, and now this great sport hangs in the balance. Say what you will about NYRA, but to cancel a classic like the Belmont Stakes would be a death blow to thoroughbred racing in New York State. That being said, why bother keeping Aqueduct going right now? NYRA should cancel the rest of the meet and wait until Belmont. Nobody’s going to Aqueduct anyway; the weather’s too cold and the track is a dump. Why they’re open five days a week or even four days a week for racing is crazy. Cancel Aqueduct for the winter/spring meet, save the money from running stakes races and focus on opening Belmont and Saratoga. Racing fans won’t even know the Wood Memorial will be cancelled; but losing the Belmont Stakes would be real bad for racing in this state.
December 21st, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I wonder where the Shinnecock Indians are going to put their casino(s)?
December 21st, 2009 at 9:12 pm
While they’re waiting for the slots to fix eveything, are they overpaying purses?
Doesn’t it make sense to have reasonable purse structure, based on handle, to avoid going broke?