Also let go was
Patrick Kehoe, NYRA's senior vice president and counsel.
The termination of Hayward and Kehoe came May 4, the same
day the NYRA board was to provide its response to state regulators looking into
the matter. The state Inspector General's office launched an investigation into
the matter that could result in civil or criminal sanctions.
"C. Steven
Duncker, the chairman of NYRA's board of directors, stated that the board's
decision was based on a determination that these executives failed to perform
their duties at a level required by the board," NYRA said in a brief
written statement. "Mr. Duncker noted that there are ongoing governmental
inquirings relating to the circumstances surrounding the takeout issue, that
NYRA was cooperating with these inquiries, and that NYRA expects that those inquiries
will thoroughly and fairly investigate the matter."
Hayward and Kehoe
were both named in a recent interim report by the New York State Racing and
Wagering Board as having possible knowledge that NYRA illegally maintained a
26% takeout level for 15 months after expiration of a state law. The takeout
was not lowered until last December to its proper 25% level.Then on May 14th, the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo asked Tuesday that payments from the casino at Aqueduct racetrack to the New York Racing Association, which runs the track, be suspended immediately. It also said it was exploring revoking the association’s racing franchise.
“Unless NYRA immediately starts to act in the best interests
of racing and the taxpayers of this state, we will pursue a course of action to
re-establish the racing franchise with a qualified, ethical, and responsible
steward of horse racing,” a letter sent to NYRA’s chairman, Steven Duncker,
stated. It was signed by John Sabini, the chairman of the New York State Racing
and Wagering Board, and Robert Megna, the chairman of a NYRA oversight panel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/sports/new-york-racing-association-is-facing-loss-of-payments.html
Finally, Governor Cuomo takes control of the NYRA Board,
relieving us of unwanted and unneeded drama from NYRA this season.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean
Skelos, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and the New York Racing Association
(NYRA) on Tuesday announced an agreement to establish the NYRA Reorganization
Board that will place NYRA under temporary public control in order to reform
the association and transform oversight and management of horse racing in New
York State.
And the NYRA board wisely agrees: "I want to express my
appreciation to the Governor for his commitment to a world class horse racing
industry in New York," NYRA Board Chair Steven Duncker said. "The
NYRA Reorganization Board will help ensure that racing in New York has a strong
and stable future as the gaming and racing industry evolves. I thank the
members of the current NYRA Board for supporting the changes announced today
and together we will work to ensure a smooth transition and bright future for
New York racing."
"The New York Racing Association today announced the
reconfiguration of their Board of Directors. We are excited we have a Governor
who has announced he will champion our industry," NYRA Board Member and
New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President Rick Violette Jr. said.
"New York's Thoroughbred horsemen are willing to work hand in hand with
the new Board and the Governor's office to ensure we have a robust industry
that continues to provide the very best racing in the country."
The NYRA Reorganization Board will be comprised of a
majority of publicly appointed directors, with a Chair nominated by the
Governor. The Board will be in effect for three years to restructure and
reorganize NYRA, following which NYRA will revert back to majority private
control. The current NYRA Board will be dissolved. The NYRA Reorganization
Board will go into effect when a majority of the new public directors are
appointed. Once appointed, the new board will conduct a national search for a
new CEO and General Counsel for NYRA.
The NYRA Reorganization Board will consist of 17 directors.
Seven will be appointed by the Governor. The Senate and Assembly will appoint
two directors each and five directors will be selected by the current NYRA
Board. Breeders and Horsemen will each have an ex officio member. Additionally,
a chairperson will be nominated by the Governor subject to Board approval. The
current board is 25 directors, with 14 elected by NYRA and 11 appointed by
public officials.See also, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/sports/state-seizes-control-of-new-york-racing-association.html
And the takeover is received well in almost all quarters.
http://www.saratoga.com/whatsnew/2012/05/nyra-reorganizes.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/nyra-turns-the-page
In early 2010, New York Racing Association officials stopped
cooperating with the court-approved integrity counsel charged with making sure
horse racing in the state was clean. By that July, the racing association had
abandoned the use of prerace detention barns, a basic element of its efforts to
prevent the doping of horses running at its racetracks.
Then, in February 2011, the counsel asked to meet with the
racing association’s vice chairman and members of its oversight committee about
two continuing investigations. Not only did it not get the meeting, but the
firm was also fired by telephone two weeks later.
Now, with the racing association again under fire and being
investigated for a fresh set of misdeeds and inaction, the counsel says it
wants to give state investigators the 2011 corruption report it had prepared,
but that was dismissed by the association. NYRA has refused to allow the
counsel to turn it over, invoking client-attorney privilege.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/sports/counsel-for-nyra-wants-to-release-its-2011-corruption-report.html?_r=1
The New York Racing and Wagering Board, which oversees horse
racing in the state, has limited the size of the purses offered in races
involving cheaper horses. It acknowledged that fattened purses, many of them
being offered at racetracks where casinos had been opened in recent years, had
created a dangerous incentive to push sore or unfit horses onto the track.
The agency said racetracks could not offer purses greater
than twice the assigned value of the horses running in any claiming races, the
less glamorous races that make up the backbone of the daily programs at many
tracks.Cuomo and legislative leaders reached agreement Saturday on a bill for a temporary state government takeover of the New York Racing Association.
The bill, introduced Saturday night, calls for the creation
of a 17-member board to oversee the state’s three Thoroughbred tracks:
Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The new panel will replace the current
25-member NYRA board, which is made up of industry insiders, for up to three
years.
The bill declares that the temporary structural change is
needed "to ensure the viability and continuity" of the racing
industry."
"This temporary reorganization board shall be under
public control to ensure the New York Racing Association Inc. works in the best
interests of all stakeholders in horse racing, including fans, owners and
breeders, by managing the state and racing franchise with transparency and
accountability," the bill states.
Cuomo had announced
his desire last month to cleanup NYRA after the latest in a string of
controversies to strike the agency.
No comments:
Post a Comment