Horseracing: Saratoga Race gets $25 million bailout, NYRA wants “Racinos”
These are tough times for horseracing, tough times indeed. The financial crunch has shown the sport no mercy what so ever. Earlier this month, the historic Oak Tree Racing Association meet at Santa Anita racecourse, almost didn’t happen and next year it certainly won’t be happening in light of financial limitations. The largest name in American thoroughbred racing, Magna Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy. Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland is to shut down as the 1st of July and in Ohio two racetracks were auctioned to gambling interests following bankruptcy.
On the other hand, Saratoga Race course in its 142nd meet, the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the US, will go ahead as scheduled for the 23rd of July. After a 25 million dollars loan for the financially beleaguered race course was approved by State legislation. The loan saved Saratoga for now and it at least won’t be shutting down this season. Its 1450 employees still have a job and another 1500 would be hired as the race course prepares for an event that is expected to draw 800,000 people.
Saratoga, with the historical significance it commands, and the appeal it holds for horseracing enthusiasts still couldn’t fight off financial suffocation. The track will still however be able to hold 17 grade 1, 12 grade 2, and five G3 events and offer a stakes package worth 10.5 million dollars.
Chief Executive of the New York Racing Associations (NYRA), Charles Hayward, lobbied to get the loan approved. He feared that NYRA would face shutdowns unless the state provided financial assistance. Saratoga can now stay afloat during the lucrative Saratoga racing season. There is still hope.
Hayward explained that the overall horse population has declined dramatically over the last three years. Providing figures on the declining population, Hayward said that what it means is there are “fewer mainden, fewer quality horses.”
There was a great interest in the event as 3000 applications were submitted for the 1800 available stalls for the event and a record number of trainers this season. But the horse shortage, Hayward alluded to, is now really making an impact as the management tries to fill up the field with quality horses, six days a week and for a period of 40 days.
The 40 days meet, is a 4 day increase from last year. The NYRA decided to run more days in Saratoga then downstate in Belmont Park. The 28 days longer Belmont Park event attracted less than 400,000 people while Saratoga managed over 900,000. The decision to increase the number of days for Saratoga was a no brainer. "A bad day at Saratoga is better than a good day anywhere else", Hayward said. There are concerns as to how the increased number of days would be accommodated with ever decreasing number of horses.
The million dollar Travers Stake is the main event. Everyone would be watching as the possibility surfaces that Super Saver, Looking at Lucky and Drosselmeyer, winners of the Triple Crown races, might be among the starters. That said, everyday at Saratoga is a big day.
The NYRA is optimistic about turning Aqueduct Racetrack into a ‘Racino.’ The revenue it’s expected to generate after the state reaches an agreement with contractors to install video lottery terminals is ‘Fundamental’ for NYRA if it hopes to meet its franchise agreement with the State. The state would reserve the right to dig deep into NYRA revenues that could come from Aqueduct if the NYRA falls behind on its loan payment deadline of March next year.
Bidders are lining up to operate the proposed casino at Aqueduct. Six have made payment amounting to 1 million dollars to the State in order to compete for the project. NYRA operates the Aqueduct, Saratoga and Belmont racetracks. Belmont and Saratoga are two of the most important racetracks in all of America and the latest developments from New York bode well for the future of Horseracing in the State.
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