I think the SA racing secretary's got it wrong.

[trying2win]

--If you read what Santa Anita's racing secretary Mike Harlow has to say in the article below, about what dictates how the Santa Anita race meet will go, you may agree or disagree. I disagree with what he says. Here's the link to the article:

http://espn.go.com/horse/news/2003/1223/1693461.html


--I think what dictates how the current Santa Anita meet goes, is how you please your customers with all the services you provide, not the weather. Friendly, attentive, and courtesy staff, and reasonable prices for services provided if you're attending in person...or... reasonably-priced and/or free information that's readily accessible for customers online or at simulcast centres or other OTB facilities. An abundance of full, or reasonably full and competitive fields of horses helps too. In addition, I believe reasonable track takeout rates are a factor as well (at least the takeout rates at Santa Anita for straight bets, are quite reasonable compared to a lot of other racetracks).

--I've mentioned this before, but I still believe the comments made by the late, great motivator Earl Nightingale said it best. His comments on customer service went something like this:

"The real boss is the customer. They pay for your salary and everything you own. If you don't please him or her, they will take their business elsewhere."

--I wonder if any of Magna's executive's have ever read Earl Nightingale's wise advice?

Trying2win

[VetScratch]

If the off-track and on-line sites were paying their fair share of costs to put on the show, what kind of service could we expect from them? Service follows the money... and the money is coming from off-track/online sites... I doubt we shall ever see the tracks overcome the convenience edge of other providers now that folks have become used to video racing presentations.

The real dilemma is that the tracks are not getting enough of the off-track/on-line handle to keep afloat or make improvements. NYRA has gone broke because of this, and the other track conglomerates are no better off.

I constantly see opinions like, "I am in this to win, so why should I give a damn about the problems that confront other players, tracks, horsemen, or wagering outfits?"

Duh... where do winners think their profits come from? I am amazed by the childlike perception of how things work that comes out of the mouths of folks who claim to be smart enough to beat the races. There will be no winners unless the losers, tracks, horsemen, and wagering outfits are nurtured such that enough financial equilibrium exists to avoid extinction. You can't eat all the grain and expect to keep planting new crops each year!

[Suff]

Originally posted by trying2win
--If you read what Santa Anita's racing secretary Mike Harlow has to say in the article below,
Trying2win

I bumped into that article 4 or 5 days ago ...somewhere ? maybe it was on ESPN's site... But I read only the first few sentences and moved on. Today I read the whole thing after reading yoru post... I get the same thing I got after reading it the other day..

a decline in business, a decline in purses, Bad Mix.

I am curious why he says the weather is so vital. he's in Socal? Are they that Turf Dependent? Even when it does rain out there..it rarely POURS for hours... at least not in the 2 years I lived out there... it never rained LONG and HARD...much. Rain isn't always a Card Killer for field size and handle? I'd say its decidedly not a CARD Killer in most places... Heavy , sustained rains will Kill a card.. But he implies thier success is directly tied to the weather. h eknows his business so he must know..

But regardless.. i hope they do well... Only show in town out west right now...so I suppose the Cut purses will not hurt business with the barns...They'll be there at less Money still...

For what its worth... There is a alot of NYRA bashing on the Board.. But if you think about it.. while NYRA was Mired in Controversey, Indictments Pending and Resignations.. They put out an improved product this year..imho.. and they have a business Plan that calls for the Highest Purses and Lowest Takeout in the Nation ...(actually its Mandated in the Federal agreement they reached)

The language states that by 2005 NYRA must offer the Highest Daily Avg purse of any Race Track in the US of A. A stipulation of getting the VLT's... with an expected 400 Mil gross per year... adding a few thou to the Daily is peanuts..

Purses Up, Takeout Down, Handle Up.... NYRA.

I'm provincial, but I do hope SA turns it around...I know alot of guys on the Board Play the west coast...and I do as well...a wee bit...

[VetScratch]

Suff,...they have a business Plan that calls for the Highest Purses and Lowest Takeout in the Nation ...(actually its Mandated in the Federal agreement they reached)C'mon, Suff, temper the BS and give us links to the "business plan" or to the federal agreement that "mandates" the highest purses and lowest takeout in the nation.

"Business plan" in the same sentence as NYRA is almost a joke. What do you want to bet that the 2003 results will show more dismal results than 2002 when NYRA lost $22 million (consisting mostly of other peoples money that they had no right to spend).

If they want the highest purses, why have they lobbied to exclude purses from the first two years of VLT revenues?

[Suff]

Here's the Jist of the agreement.


Deferred Prosecution Agreement With NYRA

An agreement was filed in U. S. District Court pursuant to which NYRA accepted and acknowledged responsibility for its conduct as set forth in a Stipulation of Facts, and agreed to fully cooperate with the United States Attorney's Office in its continuing investigation, in exchange for an agreement by the government to defer the prosecution of NYRA for a period of 18 months.


The agreement also requires NYRA to: (i) restructure its senior management, and its Pari-Mutuel, Legal, Security, Internal Audit, Accounting and Human Resources Departments, so that by the end of the first quarter of 2004, it will have replaced the chief operating officer, chief financial officer and controller who had been in place during the conduct alleged in the indictment, and will have replaced the managers, directors and vice-presidents who had been in charge of the restructured departments during the conduct alleged in the indictment.


(ii) seek an advisory opinion from the IRS regarding the proper accounting and tax treatment of funds that NYRA receives from and pays to New York State's Thoroughbred Racing Capital Improvement Fund;

(iii) make its financial statements available to the public, as permitted by law; (iv) pay $3,000,000 in fines and costs of prosecution; and (v) agree to the appointment of an independent monitor by the Court to ensure NYRA's compliance with the agreement. In addition, to minimize the risk to New York State of losing anticipated revenues from the operation of video lottery terminals at Aqueduct Raceway (the "VLT Project") in the event that the pendency of the charges announced today renders NYRA unable to complete the VLT Project under the current proposed plan in 2004, the government required NYRA to agree to make all reasonable and legally permissible efforts to allow another entity to complete and operate the VLT Project. If NYRA fully complies with the terms of the agreement, after 18 months the government will move to dismiss the charges against NYRA

[Suff]

For the calendar years 1994 through 1999, approximately 143 mutuel employees deducted a total of approximately $8,000,000 as unreimbursed employee expenses for account shortages on their federal income tax returns.


The Unlawful Labor Payments To A Union Official

The indictment alleges that HOGAN permitted Charles O'Connell, the Chairman of the Advisory Board of DME Local Three and a NYRA employee whose responsibilities did not include conducting betting transactions, to use a betting terminal for the purpose of falsely generating and reporting bogus shorts -- totaling $14,800 for 1996, $19,700 for 1997, $19,815 for 1998, and $16,000 for 1999 -- to enable O'Connell to falsely claim those amounts as deductions on his tax returns for unreimbursed employee expenses.

NYRA's Failure To Take Action To Halt The Scheme

The indictment charges that NYRA and its senior management were well aware of the benefits to NYRA of the bogus shorts/tax fraud scheme and took no steps to end it. Specifically:

(i) At a 1991 meeting at Aqueduct Raceway, IMPERATO and other members of NYRA's senior management acknowledged that NYRA allowed mutuel employees to use NYRA's money as if NYRA were the employees' personal bank and that mutuel employees took bogus shorts in order to claim tax deductions. It was further acknowledged at the meeting that NYRA permitted this conduct in order to please the mutuel employees, and to ensure that they would not slow down the processing of betting transactions;

(ii) In a January1995 audit report of NYRA, NYRA was advised by the outside auditing firm it had hired that shorts in the Pari-Mutuel Department were a "common occurrence" and that "[m]anagement believes that most shorts are the result of losing wagers placed by mutuel clerks, a practice prohibited by the rules of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board" (the "RWB"). NYRA did not implement any of the report's recommendations to reduce the reported shorts, and during the five years following the issuance of the report, a total of approximately $9,000,000 in shorts was reported to and certified by NYRA, of which nearly $7,000,000 was deducted as unreimbursed employee expenses by mutuel employees on their federal income tax returns.

(iii) In 1995, IMPERATO, HOGAN and other members of NYRA's senior management conducted labor negotiations with the Advisory Board of DME Local Three for the purpose of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and discussed the excessive, consistent and intentional nature of the shorts reported by the mutuel employees, the tax benefits to the employees of reporting shorts, and how the reporting of intentional shorts facilitated wagering by mutuel employees. NYRA, IMPERATO, HOGAN and others agreed not to include anything in the new contract to stop the reporting of bogus shorts and did not implement any policies or procedures to reduce the reporting of bogus shorts.

NYRA's Concealment Of The Scheme

In 1999, the RWB requested that NYRA conduct a special audit to address the RWB's concerns that mutuel employees were taking money from their teller boxes and dealer bags to place wagers. The accounting firm subsequently hired by NYRA advised NYRA in a memo dated September 14, 1999 that "[o]n a regular basis, mutuel clerks go short. A significant number of clerks have large cumulative shortages each year which reduce their taxable income." The memo included recommendations for reducing the shorts. A subsequent draft of the memo, dated September 14, 1999, contained virtually all of the original observations and recommendations, but omitted the sentence that the mutuel employees have large cumulative shortages that "reduce their taxable income." That same day, NYRA and its senior management issued a letter to the accounting firm stating, in part, that "sufficient controls exist to safeguard [NYRA's] assets maintained in the Mutuel Department Money Room" and represented that NYRA's management was not aware of any fraud involving management or mutuel employees. On September 29, 1999, NYRA issued a Management Report stating that its internal controls provided reasonable assurances that currency in the Mutuel Department's money room and teller operations was maintained in a secure environment.

On September 29, 1999, NYRA sent the RWB the Attestation Report issued by the accounting firm that performed the special audit. The Attestation Report concluded that NYRA's representations in the Management Report were fairly stated.

NYRA'S Coverup Unravels

On October 17, 1999, a NYRA senior manager advised HOGAN and others that when the RWB reviewed the work papers for the Special Audit on October 26, 1999, "they would conclude . . . that the clerks are probably betting, but worse, the clerks are going short for personal gains. Because of the timing of the October 26th meeting, and the upcoming mutuel negotiations, it seems imperative that a new policy be invoked as soon as possible." Thereafter, in January 2000, NYRA warned the mutuel employees that it would impose varying degrees of disciplinary measures in response to the reporting of shorts. Although there were no accompanying training measures or changes in betting transaction procedures, the tellers charged in this case reported no shorts from January 2000 through December 2000, and did not report any unreimbursed employee expenses for account shortages on their federal income tax returns for calendar year 2000. NYRA has acknowledged that for the calendar year 2000, it processed reported shorts in the total amount of only $34,000, a decrease of approximately 98% from the previous years.

In announcing the charges, Acting United States Attorney ANDREW C. HRUSKA stated, "For nearly twenty years NYRA and members of its senior management conspired to permit mutuel employees to use NYRA'S funds as if they belonged to the employees. This scheme went undetected for so long because the corruption pervaded the culture of the organization. The individual defendants routinely abused their positions of trust and took unlawful advantage of their access to large sums of cash for their substantial personal gain. This investigation and prosecution demonstrate our commitment to preventing systemic and corrupt business practices from being used to plunder federal and state treasuries, ultimately at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers." Mr. HRUSKA thanked the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for its assistance in the investigation, and stated that the investigation is continuing.

IRS Chief of Criminal Investigation DAVE PALMER stated, "Our mission at the IRS is to apply the tax law with integrity and fairness to all, and pursuing corporate fraud and white collar crime are among our top priorities. That means that all taxpayers must pay their full share. Large corporations, such as the New York Racing Association, and their officers are not above the law. Cheating the government will not be tolerated. Today's tax charges signal the commitment of the IRS to stop this type of corporate abuse of the American tax system." Nassau County Police Commissioner JAMES H. LAWRENCE stated, "I am most proud of the cooperation that I see between federal and local authorities. Combined effort and resources, along with dedicated and motivated personnel, enhance our ability to conduct and successfully conclude these important investigations."

[VetScratch]

Fine, but where was the federal mandate to offer the highest purses and lowest takeout in the nation... that is what you said the federal government mandated... but I can't find it and neither can you.

Why again have Pataki appointees to the NYRA board lobbied to exclude purses from the first two years of VLT revenues?

Where is the business plan for 2004? Who but NYRA is to blame for botching up the VLT program and delaying the infusion of $400-million per year into state education funds?

When NYRA puts the money back into the horsemen's accounts, we may have a reason to think they have reformed.

[PaceAdvantage]

Same old song and dance....

[Suff]

Originally posted by VetScratch
Fine, but where was the federal mandate to offer the highest purses and lowest takeout in the nation... that is what you said the federal government mandated... but I can't find it and neither can you.

.

Of course I can't find it.. because it aint lost.. I have it right here. But why should I post it? because You demanded I post it ? or because you think your right until proven wrong.

I did'nt post it.. because I feel absolutely no pressure to do so... Who are you to ask me to prove anything? I'm proved..thats all you need to know...

Btw.. another reason... I neither defend nor explain myself to no man (or woman).

Maybe tommorrow or Sunday I'll feel Like posting it. Check back.

[JustRalph]

When it rains for more than an hour in Socal the freeways practically grind to a halt. At the two hour mark they start having special weather bulletins on Television and business ends for the day. 3 hours and the floods start and nobody leaves their houses at all. anything beyond 3 hours of steady rain and the friggin world comes to an end and the mud starts moving around.
Nobody goes to the track........that is why the weather has such effect.

try these links for fun

http://cad.chp.ca.gov/

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

[Suff]

Originally posted by JustRalph
3 hours of steady rain and the friggin world comes to an end and the mud starts moving around.


7 dead in CA Mudslide. Just yesterday. Tragic. Not to make light of that terrible situation... But how exactly does one get Killed by MUD? I read a 1/2 dozen storys and the MUD at its highest was waist high... It happens and I'm sure it was horrific..

Its easy to understand how people get trapped in Floods and Fires...its a bit harder for me to imagine MUD taking me out...

[VetScratch]

Suff,Its easy to understand how people get trapped in Floods and Fires...its a bit harder for me to imagine MUD taking me out...Pure water dissipates by rapidly seeking the lowest level. Thick mud slides are slower to dissipate, so folks get caught and suffocate. Mud-raking is the usual clean-up process after mud slides. Jockeys are especially fearful of mud slides because suffocation gets the shorties first. :) :)

[freeneasy]

hey suff, youve seen those news clips of entire houses sliding down a hillside along the pacific coast highway, malibu, topanga canyon ect. you get caught in a 3 foot high slide and it knocks you over, thats 3 feet of mud your under. that shit'll push your car off the side of a winding road when it comes down. when i get a call up in those hills i just tell these people "cant make it up til i see the sun.