yonkers delay

[Buffaloboy]

outside of new york and its nearby states..is there any interest in racing at yonkers on a national scale...such as that offered by the big m?

Stride, In all fairness not too long ago, Yonkers was the #2 track and by that I mean since Roosevelt closed. Yonkers took over all the Roosevelt dates and a respectable part of their stakes races like the International, the Messenger, the Levy and their sire stakes races. Yonkers was racing eight ten race cards a week with a Tuesday doubleheader. During the summer stakes seasons it was routine for the top drivers to helicopter back and forth between Yonkers and The Big M.

In no special order, NY politics, OTB, The Big M and Yonkers themselves killed Yonkers. Slowly, eight cards a week dwindled down to three when they closed for construction. The $50,000 Opens were down to about $10-$15,000. The International trot was stopped, the Cane Pace and Messenger moved. Crowds of thousands were down to dozens.

If Yonkers gets the money from slots that they expect and the Rooneys do have a true commitment to racing that is needed, Yonkers can and should become a national player again but that is years away.

Can they rival or beat The Big M? Of course they can. The Big M beat Roosevelt and Roosevelt was the Taj Mahal. It comes down to politicians, track management and who does a bad job at the wrong time.

The success of Yonkers will dictate The Big M's next move. Will they work a deal with the AC casinos to add slots or even table games. They are already going to add a huge shopping mall to the Meadowlands Complex. I think there is a lot yet to be played out.

[bettor2belucky]

IMO, I don't think any 1/2 mile track will outdo the BigM and the WEG tracks.(purses and attendance).


   Bettor

ps it should be interesting at the end of 2007 when the contract with the AC casinos expire. BigM wants slots but the Governor nixes the idea.

[njhorseman]

NJ then you are saying Yonkers and the Rooneys are lying. The negotiations between the track and the City of Yonkers did not hold up construction for a second. The first delay was Yonkers itself saying they could not secure financing and loans while the slots law itself was in the courts and being rewritten. Yet all the other harness tracks and Finger Lakes went ahead and built.

Ever other delay has come from Yonkers Raceway stating there were problems with their own building and their own infrastructure. I understand everybody wants there cut but there hasent even been rumors of anything else causing delays.

There was already a law suit on the delays and not a peep on the city or unions causing delays. Thats a big secrtet to keep in this area.

The financial backing for the Yonkers Raceway project was withdrawn by the lenders until the legalities of slots in NY were cleared up by the courts and legislature. Saratoga and the other had opened long before that, and were allowed to remain in operation by the courts pending the final resolution of the issue. Had the slots been declared  illegal, Saratoga, et al would have been forced to shut down. The amount of money needed to open slot parlors at places like Saratoga and Finger Lakes was a tiny fraction of what the Yonkers project will cost, hence financial backing was more readily available. Once the legal issues were settled, the lenders for Yonkers got back on board and the work started.

What I am talking about is what happens after that point. Do you expect to see articles in the Wall Street Journal quoting the Rooneys about the need to line the pockets of union leaders, politicians and wise guys? It is a fact of life when doing business in  the NY City area, and the City of Yonkers itself has a long history of corruption.

It is likely that Jeff Gural would have gotten the job done more quickly, because it is already his principal business. As you probably know, he is chairman of Newmark and Company, a large real estate management and development company. Obviously he has more experience in dealing with all these characters. However, I'll wager that if Gural were rebuilding Yonkers Raceway, it still would have taken significantly longer than the work on Tioga and Vernon.

[njhorseman]

IMO, I don't think any 1/2 mile track will outdo the BigM and the WEG tracks.(purses and attendance).


   Bettor

ps it should be interesting at the end of 2007 when the contract with the AC casinos expire. BigM wants slots but the Governor nixes the idea.

Bettor:

It won't be due to the attendance and racing handle, but Yonkers purses will be higher than the Big M's because of the slots. Millions live within 30 minutes of Yonkers and millions more within an hour. The potential is enormous.

[bettor2belucky]

Paul,
I hope you're right as I live on L.I.and would like to stable out here instead of NJ.


Bettor

[edwardwilliam]

Paul,
I hope you're right as I live on L.I.and would like to stable out here instead of NJ.


Bettor

From what I've heard, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the purses will be higher -- the only question is how much.

We'll see how it all turns out though.....

Best,
EW