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http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/new-york-racings-imminent-takeover-by-the-state-is-cause-for-worry/2012/08/25/5f91db5c-ee14-11e1-afd6-f55f84bc0c41_story.html
New York racing’s imminent takeover by the state is cause for worry
By Andrew Beyer 08/25/2012

... People who don’t follow racing closely, and know about NYRA what they read in the New York newspapers, might think that any change would be an improvement

. For years, NYRA has been a whipping boy for politicians and the press, portrayed as incompetent and corrupt. But the supposed misdeeds of the organization were regularly overblown, and much of the hostility toward NYRA was driven by factors other than its record. Plenty of people in New York disliked the fact that the upper crust of the horsey set, the wealthy dynasties like the Phippses and the Vanderbilts, dominated NYRA and exerted so much control over New York racing. Former governor Mario Cuomo, father of Andrew, had a visceral dislike of the bluebloods.

http://www.drf.com/news/beyer-triple-crown-just-what-racing-needs
Beyer: Triple Crown is just what racing needs
By Andrew Beyer 06/07/2012

... Though most of racing's woesare national in scope, no segment of the industry has been so beleaguered as New York's. The New York Racing Association has been aperennial whipping boy for politicians and editorialists, and the anti-NYRAcrusade reached a climax this spring when Governor Andrew Cuomo executed avirtual state takeover over the sport − not a happy prospect.

Clearly Andrew Cuomo is the “whipping boy” for Beyer and the “bluebloods”. Rather than “drive hostility” toward the governor on the basis of HIS “record,” they instead cloak him in his father’s mantle, and whine that the worst is on its way without providing evidence to support that conclusion beyond the history of political corruption and ineptitude that occurred in prior administrations.

Meanwhile, they ignore the incompetence and/or intrigue involved in the takeout fiasco whose burden was borne primarily by unrebated recreational bettors for whom, I would argue, they may have a “visceral dislike”.