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Increased purses from casino cash seemed like winning bet until horses started breaking down

Long after the last race is run at Aqueduct, plenty of cars are still lining up to get into what was once considered one of the premier horse racing tracks in the country. They aren’t lining up to bet on the thoroughbreds, however, but to try their luck at the casino, playing slot machines or virtual roulette in what used to be the track’s grandstand, all hoping to score it big.

The Resorts World Casino has been a hit as a “net win” or profit-making entity since it opened on Oct. 28, making more than $228 million. Of that money, the New York Racing Association gets 7%, with another 6.5% going to race purses, which through March 17 translated into $14.8 million. NYRA, rich with found money, spread the wealth around, raising the purses at every level of racing to help all the horsemen in a sport struggling at every level.

In early December, NYRA issued a press release saying purses for the upcoming winter/spring meet, which began on Jan. 1, would total $3.75 million, a 44% increase over the $2.6 million offered in 2011. “We are very excited to announce this enhanced Aqueduct winter stakes schedule,” said NYRA vice president and director of racing P.J. Campo.

NYRA then announced that purses in stakes races at the upcoming Belmont meeting would rise 26.6% to $9.05 million and purses would rise 27% to $13.35 million at Saratoga, which opens in July.

“The enhanced purses should result in larger field sizes, stimulate additional wagering activity, and increase profitability for NYRA,” Campo said.

The purses were also increased for the cheaper horses that fill in the everyday claiming races. As a result, horses running for a claiming price of $7,500 were running for a purse worth $30,000, which increased the number of starters and seemed like a home run for all involved.

Instead, it turned out to be a nightmare for the NYRA when an astounding 18 horses suffered fatal breakdowns over the inner-dirt track during the winter meet. The majority of the breakdowns came in the cheaper claiming races, which tend to have the biggest field sizes and the horses with the most physical problems. The American Association of Equine Practitioners predicted this kind of calamity in a 2009 paper called, “Putting the Horse First: Veterinary Recommendations for the Safety and Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse.”

The paper noted there are two groups of horses that compete at the race track — the sport’s top level competitors, representing 30% of the horse population that competes in stakes and allowance races while the rest compete in claiming races. The AAEP paper offered five recommendations for claiming races, three of which NYRA follows, but the two that it doesn’t subscribe to could be the reason for the increased fatalities.

One of those recommended rules says that no claiming race should have a purse that exceeds the claiming price by more than 50%. For example, a horse with a $7,500 claiming tag should run for a purse of about $11,000, which leaves the horse still more valuable than the purse since the owner only gets 60% or $6,600 of the purse.

As the Daily News has reported, NYRA officials have acknowledged this imbalance in the wake of the extraordinary number of deaths on the track and have lowered purses beginning with the next condition book on April 4.

The other AAEP recommendation not followed in New York is that horses who do not finish the race or sustain a catastrophic injury during it remain the property of the original owner, voiding any claim —which would help ensure that a horse is in his or her best possible condition before the race. The rule is currently in effect in California.

One jockey, who requested anonymity, told The News that as he sat on the track after a spill after which his mount was euthanized, he saw two members of the barn high-five each other after finding out the horse had been claimed.

Following reports of the deaths in The News, Gov. Cuomo called for NYRA to set up a task force to investigate the 20 fatalities, which also included a horse who died of a heart attack and another who died of an infection, with the goal of finding the right answers in a sport that will always remain a business, and sometimes a dirty one.