The Day at the Races
By the time you read this, horse racing in New York could be finished.
New York City Off Track Betting, the nasty parasite that some say sucks the blood out of horse racing, will try for more when it claims it needs to reduce the share of dollars it gives back to the sport at a hearing this morning in Manhattan.
NYCOTB claims it should share money only after it makes a profit.
Imagine if you ran a factory that produces shoes. You ship them to stores to be sold, but would get paid back only if the shoe store made a profit.
PAID POSTWhat Is This?
This is what NYCOTB's ridiculous plan is.
The New York Racing Association and the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, along with representatives from Yonkers and Finger Lakes, will be present to voice their disapproval of this silly idea.
Jeff A. Cannizzo, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, will carry a four-foot tall mock headstone representing the state's thoroughbred breeding industry if NYCOTB's plan is successful.
"If OTB distributions to thoroughbred breeders disappear, on top of the current financial distress breeders are suffering, the breeding industry will be decimated, putting the racing industry here in New York out of business," Cannizzo said. "Without the product - the horse - there will be no race to hold, no ticket to wager and no handle to disburse."
Created in 1971, NYCOTB has since competed with racetracks in New York for the same betting dollar while being a haven for many political patronage jobs, filled by some people who clearly don't know what they're doing.
NYCOTB has handled close to $1billion dollars a year in wagers and can't show a profit.
It has signed faulty leases throughout the years at its aging parlors, and under the leadership of Ray Casey, the cousin of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, pushed for night-time simulcasting of thoroughbred racing, which has been a big bust.
No other racing state in the country has followed New York's example of running an OTB operation. There have been numerous studies done over the years since OTB was created and they all suggest that it be merged with the track.
Soon, the State Task Force on the Future of OTB is expected to announce a similar finding.
NYCOTB needs to be absorbed by the tracks.
There is no reason to have 21 betting parlors in Brooklyn, 19 in Queens and 15 in Manhattan with phone betting and Internet wagering now available.
End this political nightmare and give racing back to the tracks.
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