It is difficult for me to really have a problem with Messrs. Skorton or Kay. They
are political appointees whose main purpose is to guide NYRA through a
transitional period. There is probably no qualified man or woman in the racing
industry who would have accepted a position at NYRA on these terms and given
NYRA's record between 2000-2012. I do not think that it would have been
appropriate to appoint anyone from within the "old" NYRA regime.

In a situation such as this, it would seem that Skorton and Kay's mandate might
be, stated simply, not to embarrass themselves or the man who appointed them.

Skorton becomes director of the Smithsonian about one year from now; I do not
know if he will remain at NYRA after he takes that position. It will be
interesting to see if Kay remains around long enough to see the error of his ways
and to admit his mistake regarding live gate.

There is no miracle that Chris Kay or anyone else, industry experienced or
otherwise, can perform that would alter the attendance reality at Belmont and
Aqueduct: Weekdays 2,000 - 3,000, dipping to near 1,000 souls on bad weather days
in the dead of winter. For the "Stars and Stripes" Festival, there was perfect
weather on a holiday weekend, good racing, T-shirts, food trucks, etc, 11,000
folks turned out. When Belmont used to host "Super Saturdays" in the Fall, when
those days consisted of major preps for the Breeders Cup and were arguably
amongst the top five racing days on the calendar in terms of overall quality,
NYRA was happy to have between 12,000 and 15,000 come through the gate; on a
weekend day when no event is involved NYRA would be happy with 5,000 to 6,000.

On weekdays at Yankee and Met games it seems as if Yankee Stadium and Citi Field
are more than half empty. Does one see any headlines asking "Is Baseball Dead?"
based on these poorly attended games? The truth is that baseball games have
become longer, and the baseball "experience" as Chris Kay might call it, has
become more expensive, and attending weekday/night games seems to have fallen out
of fashion. Baseball is not suffering fiscally because other streams of income
(TV, luxury suites, corporate season ticket sales, and merchandising) have become
more significant.

The other source of income for a racetrack is, of course, intertrack wagering.
About a year ago, in a letter published in the Thoroughbred Daily News, it was
posited that offtrack handle is, going forward, more important to cultivate than
on track attendance. The response from racing insiders was to remind the writer
of the letter that racetracks retain more from wagers made on track; in retail
terms the ontrack wager is a more profitable item for racetracks.

The problem with increasing attendance, and thus increasing ontrack wagering, is
that attendance at tracks such as Arlington and Belmont and Fair Grounds and
Churchill and Santa Anita and others has basically been flat or slightly off for
more than a decade; the "boutique" meets have fared well, and "gimmicks" such as
"Downs after Dark" have brought out some large crowds, but the general trend is
that attendance is decreasing.

The bottom line to me is that it is unrealistic to believe that anyone -- New
NYRA, old NYRA, future NYRA or Frank Stronach -- would be able to increase
ontrack attendance significantly, barring of course a return to the day when the
only place one could bet on horses running at Belmont Park was at Belmont Park.

So the goal of realizing increased revenue from the high profit item, ontrack
dollars wagered (which includes NYRA Rewards wagers?)(I do not know what
calculation is involved here, because I am certain many folks wagering at the
track are doing so through their NYRA Reward account) is likely not attainable.
While it is not likely that weekend attendance at Belmont could consistently be
increased by even 20%, it seems within the realm of reason that NYRA could make
adjustments to its racing program which would lead to a significant increase in
terms of dollars wagered at off track facilities:

1) Effect a minimal decrease of takeout rates;

2) Make seasonal adjustments to post times to expose the product to the largest
audience possible;

3) Improve the quality of the racing program by severely curtailing overnight
races restricted to NYBs;

4) Restore the quality of the Winter racing program.

It should be noted that adjustments 1) - 4) would also likely lead to an increase
in on track dollars wagered, though not necessarily on track attendance.