A consortium of community and racing VIPs, assembled under the name Concerned Citizens for Saratoga Racing, have requested the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing put out a more protective request for proposal for bids to run New York’s race courses.
The citizens group has put together a list of nine items that should be addressed by whoever wins the bidding process to control the Saratoga Race Course. The current RFP addresses seven of the points, said Joseph Dalton, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and member of the Concerned Citizens for Saratoga Racing, at a press conference Monday, but the remaining two are crucial to Saratoga’s future.
The spring and fall training sessions at the race course should be retained and enhanced, members of the organization said. These training sessions create jobs in the area, they said, and also support breeding farms throughout the state.
The training location also benefits the horses, said Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito. If you’re a product of your environment, then there is no better place to train a horse than Saratoga, he said. `We have a gift from God that is Saratoga, and whoever is in charge of racing here in the future needs to understand that, and not ever leave that training out.`
The second major point that was left out the RFP, said Dalton, was a provision that any expansion plans be submitted to local authorities, to include the local zoning and planning boards, for approval. John Oxley, a Kentucky-based horse owner agreed that the look and feel of Saratoga should not be changed by any future racing authority.
`You go on a beautiful day, like today, to the track, and you realize there is no more a beautiful lifestyle than this, whether you’re an owner, trainer or a fan,` he said. `Let’s not allow the ambience to be changed.`
Fellow owner Tracy Farmer reiterated Oxley’s statement with a quote from famed sports writer Red Smith: `To get to Saratoga from New York City, you travel about 150 miles north, turn onto Union Avenue and travel back in time to the mid-19th century. Its elegance and charm is why Saratoga has been selected as among the top 10 sports venues of the 20th century.`
Ed Lewi of Ed Lewi Associates, NYRA’s public relations firm, said at the press conference that NYRA has always sought and received city approval before making architectural changes to the racecourse facility.
Dalton said the Concerned Citizens for Saratoga Racing has not put its weight behind any particular bidder, but will not endorse any bidder that doesn’t adhere to the group’s nine points. He said the group has petitioned the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing to adopt all nine points, but so far the response he has received is that the two additional points are implied in the RFP. This does not satisfy Dalton.
`I was pleased to see seven of the nine included but disappointed not to see two of them,` he said. `It has to be in documents by the state. Promises don’t count.`
Dalton also said the group would only endorse a bidder who recognizes that gambling machines, like video lottery terminals, should play a supporting role to thoroughbred racing, and not the other way around. When asked if the race course should accommodate VLTs, in the face of increased public demand, Dalton said the track and lottery terminals should remain separate.
`Right down the street, we’ve got a great facility that is willing to expand,` he said of the Nelson Street racino.
Dalton said he would hate to see Saratoga go the way of Florida’s Gulfstream Park, whose sizeable grandstand was reduced to 900 seats after a renovation that included the introduction of VLTs. Dogwood Stables owner Cot Campbell agreed, saying other race courses have lost their appeal with the addition of VLTs. He does not want to see that happen to Saratoga.
`Louisville is fine; Lexington is OK; Miami is good; but Saratoga is truly glamorous,` Campbell said. `Saratoga is in a class by itself.`
The Concerned Citizens outline comes a week after Churchill Downs and Magna Entertainment joined Empire Racing Associates in its bid to secure New York’s thoroughbred contract, and a month after an investigation was opened to see if the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing prepared a fair RFP that does not favor any one bidder over another.
Empire Racing is a group of owners and breeders bidding for the operation of the three race courses. Empire racing issued a press release last week saying it would comply with all nine points of protection.
Dalton was vague when asked if the citizens group would file suit against any winning bidder that did not adopt the nine points in their bid. `We’re open to any action to protect Saratoga,` he said. `Saratoga should not be a cash cow for the government. We will oppose any bidder that doesn’t support the nine points.`
He also shrugged off concerns that this biding process may be nothing more than a dress rehearsal for next year, when a new governor and committee are in place. `We’re just saying ‘Here are our nine points that we want to protect Saratoga.’ The bidding process, how they do it, that’s up to the state. Our stance remains the same.“