Killing N.Y.’s horses for an extra buck
The shame of Aqueduct
By Lawrence Cunningham / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, October 25, 2012
A horse dies after finishing a race at Aqueduct.
With the appointment of Cornell President David Skorton to head a new board that is intended to steer the troubled New York Racing Association into calmer waters, Gov. Cuomo has a chance to reform the shameful manner in which racehorses are treated right here in New York City.
The deaths of 21 racehorses at the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, last season is an inhumane atrocity. Bad management and disempowered veterinarians are to blame, according to a new report issued by a task force formed at Cuomo’s behest.
In May, the state seized control of the track from NYRA — and the governor is rightly promising radical changes. But Skorton has his work cut out for him.
He should not ignore an important culprit: The track’s new gambling profits fueled these senseless deaths. Last year, the race track became a “racino” — a race track with a casino inside. At the Resorts World Casino, operated by Malaysian gambling giant Genting, bettors play the slots on video and wager in video games such as poker and roulette. Stakes are high, with casino profits reaching into the hundreds of millions.
The racino channels 6.5% of those profits to purses — winnings awarded to horse owners and trainers — which added up to $14.8 million during the 2011-12 racing season. Purses for certain types of races rose to multiples of what the horses were worth on the market. These included “claiming races” for less competitive horses, where all entered horses can be bought (i.e., “claimed”) for a given price.
For example, horses that could be claimed for as little as $7,500 were run in races where the purse had been inflated, thanks to incoming gambling funds, to be as high as $30,000 and $40,000. That radically devalued the horses: Those that win but die from running too hard are worth vastly more than those that live but lose. Consequently, horses are run harder than they should be, causing broken legs that lead to death.
Of the 21 horses killed last season, 17 were running in claiming races. The recent task force report concluded that “inadequate protection was afforded to this class of horse.”
The purse-to-claim multiple should never approach 2 to 1, the report said. The actual multiples — more than 5 to 1 — contributed to an attitude of anything-for-victory that now requires reform.
Debate over this subject stretches back a decade, when New York politicians began a push to expand the kinds of gambling that are legal in the state, starting with gaming machines at horse race tracks.
Some of the pressure that led to the installation of the racino at Aqueduct came from a surprising source that should have no place in the debate: federal prosecutors.
NYRA had been accused of tax fraud in 2003; a settlement required that NYRA continue its efforts to open a racino at the track.
Prosecutors never explained their reasoning when inking the settlement, but clearly, politics were in play. NYRA worked earnestly to move its gambling program along amid growing agitation and pressure.
It finally prevailed — Genting opened its doors at Aqueduct in 2011 — and the tragic results are in, with gambling money going to inflate race purses, which has in turn led to the irresponsible treatment of horses.
We can’t necessarily blame federal prosecutors or say what effect their deal had on NYRA’s quest to deliver a racino and related revenues to the track. The deadly results arose from naked greed.
The lesson, though, is important: Politicians and prosecutors should not direct business changes without understanding their significance. What’s happening to the horses at Aqueduct could have been prevented.
The lesson for Skorton is clear as well. He should exercise independent business judgment about the proper operation of horse tracks, putting the humane treatment of the horses over money.
Cunningham is a professor at George Washington University Law School and visiting professor at Fordham University School of Law. His latest book, written with Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, is “The AIG Story,” to be published this winter.
The deaths of 21 racehorses at the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, last season is an inhumane atrocity. Bad management and disempowered veterinarians are to blame, according to a new report issued by a task force formed at Cuomo’s behest.
In May, the state seized control of the track from NYRA — and the governor is rightly promising radical changes. But Skorton has his work cut out for him.
He should not ignore an important culprit: The track’s new gambling profits fueled these senseless deaths. Last year, the race track became a “racino” — a race track with a casino inside. At the Resorts World Casino, operated by Malaysian gambling giant Genting, bettors play the slots on video and wager in video games such as poker and roulette. Stakes are high, with casino profits reaching into the hundreds of millions.
The racino channels 6.5% of those profits to purses — winnings awarded to horse owners and trainers — which added up to $14.8 million during the 2011-12 racing season. Purses for certain types of races rose to multiples of what the horses were worth on the market. These included “claiming races” for less competitive horses, where all entered horses can be bought (i.e., “claimed”) for a given price.
For example, horses that could be claimed for as little as $7,500 were run in races where the purse had been inflated, thanks to incoming gambling funds, to be as high as $30,000 and $40,000. That radically devalued the horses: Those that win but die from running too hard are worth vastly more than those that live but lose. Consequently, horses are run harder than they should be, causing broken legs that lead to death.
Of the 21 horses killed last season, 17 were running in claiming races. The recent task force report concluded that “inadequate protection was afforded to this class of horse.”
The purse-to-claim multiple should never approach 2 to 1, the report said. The actual multiples — more than 5 to 1 — contributed to an attitude of anything-for-victory that now requires reform.
Debate over this subject stretches back a decade, when New York politicians began a push to expand the kinds of gambling that are legal in the state, starting with gaming machines at horse race tracks.
Some of the pressure that led to the installation of the racino at Aqueduct came from a surprising source that should have no place in the debate: federal prosecutors.
NYRA had been accused of tax fraud in 2003; a settlement required that NYRA continue its efforts to open a racino at the track.
Prosecutors never explained their reasoning when inking the settlement, but clearly, politics were in play. NYRA worked earnestly to move its gambling program along amid growing agitation and pressure.
It finally prevailed — Genting opened its doors at Aqueduct in 2011 — and the tragic results are in, with gambling money going to inflate race purses, which has in turn led to the irresponsible treatment of horses.
We can’t necessarily blame federal prosecutors or say what effect their deal had on NYRA’s quest to deliver a racino and related revenues to the track. The deadly results arose from naked greed.
The lesson, though, is important: Politicians and prosecutors should not direct business changes without understanding their significance. What’s happening to the horses at Aqueduct could have been prevented.
The lesson for Skorton is clear as well. He should exercise independent business judgment about the proper operation of horse tracks, putting the humane treatment of the horses over money.
Cunningham is a professor at George Washington University Law School and visiting professor at Fordham University School of Law. His latest book, written with Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, is “The AIG Story,” to be published this winter.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/killing-n-y-s-horses-extra-buck-article-1.1191320#ixzz2AYWInMmF
Posts
1 comment:
What a shocking story! I have heard of much race horse cruelty and it is pitiful that we still run horse races. MORE than just sad...it is criminal neglect and cruelty for animals.
We got rid of similar in our circuses...but then circuses do not have so much clout! xoox
Post a Comment