Billions from Racing

Various companies are vying for the rights to run the show when it comes to horse racing in New York. Both Empire Racing of Saratoga and the New York Racing Association gave their pitches on Tuesday as to why each of them should be allowed to run the show; Capital Play and Excelsior Racing Associations will be pitching next week.

Each of the groups are claiming that between reviving the horse racing industry and the slot machines that will be coming into tracks – they will be able to provide the state of New York with billions in tax revenues. They also say that they will save the Saratoga Race Course as well as giving upstate’s economy the boost that it needs.

Empire includes the state’s horse owners, NYRA has held the franchise for the past 52 years, Capital Play is an Australian Firm, and Excelsior is the brain child of Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts and Casinos. Capital is promising the biggest payoff to the state, which makes them a favorite, but the fact that the NYRA has held the franchise for so long has to mean something. They bring experience, but some say they shouldn’t go with them because they are the reason that the horse racing industry is in the mess that it is.

Not true, says others. They show that the horse racing industry is suffering nationwide, and that the NYRA has actually held it together when by all rights it should have collapsed years ago. NYRA says that their opponents are more interested in bringing in slot machines and casinos than they are in running horse racing.

Once all of the presentations have been made to the panel, they will go to the governor who will try to come to an agreement as to who will take it over with the Senate and the Assembly. NYRA’s franchise runs out at the end of the year, but the bidders have each said that they will not need an extension.

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