Times racing lightweight Joe Dope and Co missing the biggest story in the racing world by far. Seems Gov. Cuomo attack dogs hell bent on running racing on a day to day basis.Along with others,the newly appointed NYRA President being investigated by State for possible complicity in the takeout fiasco.
Bloodhorse:
NYRA Blasted for Hiring New President
By Tom Precious
New York regulators are blasting the New York Racing Association’s board of trustees for appointing a new president to take over for the ousted Charles Hayward, the latest development in the ongoing scandal over takeout levels. They raised the possibility that NYRA could lose its operating franchise over the matter.
The officials said the state has also ordered, effective immediately, an end to daily payments made by Genting New York, the operators of the new Aqueduct casino, to NYRA--with the funds, instead, being diverted to the state lottery agency that oversees racetrack-based casinos.
The nuclear letter from the regulators is the most dramatic sign that past and possibly present NYRA officials are facing growing legal troubles--but also that the very future of NYRA is now on the line.
The officials said NYRA will either “immediately” act in the best interest of racing or risk being replaced by a new entity to run its racetracks.
The May 14 appointment of Ellen McCalin as president, and Kenneth Handal as secretary is “entirely inappropriate,” violates NYRA’s own bylaws, and will not be recognized as valid by state officials, wrote the heads of New York’s two main racing regulatory bodies.
The regulators warned of a number of other problems at NYRA that, combined, could force them to issue an order to show cause whether “these actions by NYRA merit the revocation of its franchise.”
John Sabini, chairman of the state Racing and Wagering Board, and Robert Megna, chairman of a panel that oversees NYRA’s finances, said in an angry letter May 15 that the management and NYRA board of trustees will be examined to determine if they have the “character and fitness” to hold racing licenses in New York.
“NYRA has established a pattern of activity which demonstrates the association is not acting in the best interest of racing, but only in its own proprietary interest,” Sabini and Megna wrote in the letter to NYRA Chairman C. Steven Duncker.
NYRA has been accused by Sabini’s agency of knowingly failing to drop takeout rates on exotic bets for a 15-month period after a state law’s enactment--costing bettors more than $8.5 million.
The state inspector general’s office has already launched what could end up as a criminal probe of the affair, and the state has not ruled out trying to go after NYRA’s exclusive franchise to operate Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga racetracks.
The two regulators said there are still unanswered questions “as to which executives--and potentially NYRA board members--were aware of or participated in this misconduct.” They noted McClain has been serving as NYRA’s chief operating officer and that her role in the takeout scandal “remains unclear.” As such, they said, the board’s action to make her the new president “is entirely inappropriate.”
“The election of officers under these circumstances is only the latest action to demonstrate NYRA’s failure to comply with New York state regulatory and legal requirements,” Sabini and Megna wrote. Megna is also the top fiscal advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been sharply critical of NYRA for months. Importantly, Megna’s financial oversight board has the legal authority to take over the NYRA franchise.
The regulators said NYRA has continued to stonewall investigators’ demands for documents, forcing the inspector general’s office to rely on subpoenas to unearth paperwork in the case.
They said the failure to turn over documents “demonstrates a basic lack of moral character and fitness to fulfill its obligations” under the state’s Thoroughbred laws--legal language that could be setting the groundwork for the state to go after the racing licenses of NYRA officials.
The regulators raised the issue of equine deaths this year at Aqueduct and failure by NYRA “to provide basic living conditions to the backstretch workers” at Saratoga.
“We take none of these choices lightly, but unless NYRA immediately starts to act in the best interest of racing and the taxpayers of this state, we will pursue a course of action to reestablish the racing franchise with a qualified, ethical, and responsible steward of horse racing,” the two regulators wrote.
NYRA officials were not immediately available for comment.
