PREZ OUT AT NYRA
Hayward axed over overages
LOUISVILLE — Five days after suspending Charles Hayward for his role in an exotic wagering scam, the New York Racing Association fired its president on Friday.
Senior vice president and general counsel Patrick Kehoe was also discharged.
C. Steven Duncker, the chairman of NYRA’S Board of Directors, said the board had terminated the pair because they had failed to live up to their duties. There was no mention of replacements.
Hayward and Kehoe were initially suspended on Monday after a report from the State Racing and Wagering Board said Hayward knew NYRA was overcharging gamblers for over 15 months on various exotic wagers.
NYRA was charging gamblers 26% on the bets rather than 25%.
Duncker noted that there were ongoing governmental inquiries relating to the takeout issue, and that NYRA was cooperating with those inquiries.
The RWB report uncovered several emails that showed Hayward discussing the takeout for more than a year before State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli inadvertently caught the error while auditing the New York Breeders Fund.
When notified of the overage in December, NYRA said it had made an “inadvertent error” and called it a “mistake.” During the 15-month period, which ran from Sept. 15, 2010, through Dec. 21, 2011, NYRA was charging bettors an extra percentage point on certain exotics wagers, collecting $8.6 million on what is known as the “takeout rate,” or the amount of a bettor’s winnings kept by NYRA.
During that time, NYRA was operating at a loss in both 2010 and 2011.
Hayward had been the president and chief executive officer since 2004, and was recently named a member of the prestigious Jockey Club. Kehoe had been NYRA’S general counsel since 2002.
Governor Cuomo onmonday asked the State Inspector General to investigate.
The state-run Franchise Oversight Board, which was created in 2008 and oversees NYRA, has the power to recommend that the association’s franchise be revoked but did not comment, while the Racing & Wagering Board also withheld comment as the investigation is still ongoing.