$1,000,000 for a Mural; $4.50 for a Bottle of Water
I apologize for the delay in recapping the NYRA open forum which was held
Saturday morning. After a brief afternoon nap (your correspondent is not so
young as he once was) I engaged in battle on three separate fronts
(Belmont/Hollywood/Churchill night races), while watching a good deal of the US
Open coverage, which kept me entertained between 4PM and 10 PM.
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 am in the Belmont Room on tne second
floor of the Clubhouse. The room was nearly full with about 80 or so alleged
racing fans who would be given a chance to speak their minds about Racing and
Wagering issues, marketing issues and customer service issues. Four NYRA
representatives, including Director of Racing PJ Campo and a representative of
the NYRA marketing department were there to answer questions. The session
opened with comments from Andy Serling who was acting as moderator.
The first speaker from the floor was a woman who said she liked to attend big
events (Belmont Stakes day/Super Saturdays) and wanted to know why these
events were not more widely publicized in the mainstream media.
A gentleman asked if NYRA would consider using a split screen format for
televising the races, and comments from Andy Serling lead one to believe that
this is an issue that was being debated internally at NYRA. One of the NYRA
reps mentioned that Trakus would be incorporated into NYRA\'s TV coverage
beginning in Fall. (Correspondent\'s note: Watching the feed from CD last night,
noticed that they employ a 3 way split screen: conventional shot of the lead
horses, wide shot showing entire field, with Trakus at the bottom).
The next speaker commented that he lived in Nassau County and loved coming to
the races, but that his 3 adult children, all of whom love Las Vegas, had no
interest in spending an afternoon at Belmont.
Next up, Ken Sherman. The same Ken Sherman from the Shermazin message board, I
do not know. Mr. Sherman read from a prepared statement, prefacing said
statement with a rhetorical question (paraphrasing): \"Who polices the
stewards?\" I thought possibly the inconsistency of stewards\' decisions with
regards to objections and inquiries was going to be discussed, but instead Mr.
Sherman used this public forum to expose a personal grievance: from what I
could tell (and I must admit, once I realized that this was a very
personalized grievance, I began glancing at the Racing Form) Mr. Sherman was a
member of a racing partnership and somehow did not receive a partnership share
he believed he was entitled to, and that the stewards were not helpful to him
in his quest to recover that which he believed he was entitled to.
Thus began a long segment of the forum concerned with what I will characterize
as \"Pet Peeves and Personal Agendas\":
Agendas (large): The Million Dollar Mural; A gentleman standing directly in
front of me stood up to ask how NYRA could commission the creation of a
$1,000,000 Belmont mural when some of the union members who clean the NYRA
facilities were living at the poverty level. At this point the meeting turned
into a shouting match and it became quite obvious that the house was \"packed\":
of the 80 or so alleged Racing fans in the room, maybe 50 or so were union
members/sympathizers, intent on disrupting the meeting. Mission accomplished
for about 30 minutes, despite the commendable efforts of Andy Serling to
control the room. I found myself engaged in some back and forth with some of
the union rank and file, bringing back memories of my college
days 1.
One of the NYRA reps not surprisingly failed to placate the union rank and
file by stating that the alleged Million Dollar Mural actually only cost
$250,000.
Agendas(large): Two and maybe three groups of representatives from
towns/villages/cities neighboring Belmont Park, Floral Park and Elmont, maybe,
talking about the siting of a clean energy facility at Belmont, an apparently
hot community issue which your correspondent promises to research. A
rhetorical statement was offered by one of the town\'s representatives as to
the fact that both Aqueduct and Saratoga are continuing to be upgraded,
renovated and improved, whereas the Belmont facility has not undergone major
renovation in 50 years. Another suggestion from one of the towns that NYRA
make more of an effort to host the Breeders Cup regularly, if not permanently.
(BC just announced 2014 BC at SA)(correspondent\'s comment: BC serves racing
better when rotating among different sites).
Agendas (small): A gentleman from the company responsible for \"Jockeycam\"
technology tried to convince NYRA and its fans that use of said technology
would enhance the experience of watching the races.
Agendas (small): A reporter from a Queens community newspaper lamented that
NYRA did not work with local journalists to promote Belmont. I think the core
of this gentleman\'s complaint was that he was not given press credentials,
because he was later heard to comment that the outdoor seat he had secured for
himself in the traditional NYRA way (leaving a piece of newspaper on the seat)
was taken by other racing fans. The \"heist\" was captured on youtube and was
apparently escalated to NYRA security.
Agendas (small): A gentleman from the NYRA \"Players\" club, who wanted to know
why serious horseplayers, many of whom wager in excess of $250,000 per year,
are asked to pay $4.50 for a bottle of water.
Agendas (small): A gentleman who wanted to know why the mutuel pool totals
were not updated more frequently on the NYRA wagering site.
Agendas (small): A gentleman asked why NYRA had no Pick 5. NYRA is in the
process of getting the necessary approval for said wager.
Magicnight: Speaking near the end of the program, Robert mentioned
the \"Elephant in the Room\", the use of performance enhancing materials and the
effect of PEMs on racing. UNBELIEVABLY the first mention of this issue in a
room which included when all was said an done maybe 15 racing fans. He asked
the question about the public gaining access to information as to which
veterinarians were responsible for the treatment of which horses on a daily
basis.
PJ Campo responded to the PEM inquiry by suggesting that racing fans had seen
some new developments in that area, a reference I would imagine to the recent
surveillance of trainers Rodriquez and Jacobson. The NYRA folks seemed unaware
as to why the release of veterinary information would be something racing fans
would find \"educational\".
An interesting development after the meeting regarding the release of
veterinary information; I will leave it to Bob to disclose.
Your Correspondent: About 15 minutes into the Union skirmish, I lost faith in
the democratic process and thought that the Union folks would succeed in
disrupting the meeting. I wanted to make my points about Racing quality to PJ
Campo, so I approached him at the podium and engaged him in conversation in
the midst of all the ruckus. Those points are: (1) Winter racing at NYRA is an
opportunity, not something to be discarded and (2) New York Bred racing as
currently conducted at NYRA will prevent NYRA Racing to return to past glory.
I may or may not expand on my participation in the near future, but as for now,
your Correspondent (some might say mercifully) stands silent.
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1. Richiebee v Teamsters, St.Louis County, 1975. Teamsters 1,
Richiebee 0.
