Year in review: Part 1
STORY OF THE YEAR: This has been a tumultuous year in New York thoroughbred racing. Topping the list of major events was the crisis at the New York Racing Association during Kentucky Derby week.
An investigation by the State Racing and Wagering Board said that former NYRA president and chief executive officer Charles Hayward and others were aware of bettors being charged the wrong parimutuel tax.
Of course, only in New York could the SRWB and other regulatory agencies also be on the hook for this mess, and then conduct an investigation that involved themselves.
At any rate, Hayward and NYRA counsel Pat Kehoe were fired, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted trustees and engineered an overhaul of the board makeup.
Gov. Cuomo floated the idea of offering Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga to separate private entities.
The idea of revoking the franchise was even part of the swirl of events.
Curiously, the reorganized "new" board that was promised by Cuomo and lawmakers turned out to be quite similar to the old one.
While reduced in number from 25 to 17, when the new board was announced in October it had 10 current or former NYRA trustees.
We have just begun the legislated three-year reform period of NYRA, although it would not surprise this writer if the association took on a more permanent state look as the years unfold.
SARATOGA WARHORSE: Bob Nevins and Marilyn Lane are doing great work for veterans of wars in the Middle East at their Saratoga WarHorse project just east of Saratoga Springs.
They bring together veterans and retired thoroughbreds, with the latter helping the former deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The suicide rate among our veterans is way too high, and Saratoga WarHorse is dealing successfully with it.
Nevins and Lane are on the way to making the Saratoga WarHorse a national model, with funding to help sustain the project in a professional manner.
It has received the sanction of the Veterans Administration.
Saratoga WarHorse was the subject of an ESPN documentary in November.
THE AQUEDUCT WINTER MEET: The 2011-2012 stand certainly had its ups and downs.
A strengthened early stakes schedule for 3-year-olds, the result of VLT revenue from the Genting racino, led to an interesting mix of horses in the middle of winter.
The Jan. 7 Count Fleet, with a purse of $150,000 that was double the 2011 value, was won by Alpha, who repeated in the $200,000 Withers Stakes on Feb. 4.
The Grade 3 Withers had not been run in 2011.
Alpha would go on to deadheat in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes with Golden Ticket.
The Gotham Stakes, which saw its purse increased to $400,000 from $250,000, was won by Eclipse Award champion Hansen on Mar. 3.
Not so good during the Aqueduct winter meet was the death of 21 horses on the inner dirt surface.
The New York Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety delivered an outstanding report on the probable factors, detailing each and every death in exhaustive fashion.
COMING WEDNESDAY: I'll review the continued threats to the existence of Aqueduct, the brilliant performances of I'll Have Another in the Triple Crown, and the dominance of Californians in the series.