"They(Casinos) seem to now be pretty much in control of racing's fate"


For those who missed it, the National Casino lobby is making loud noise to the States and Feds. They are putting up a good case as to why they should NO LONGER have to subsidize racing given the downward casino trend in places like Atlantic City and even Vegas.

In Albany NY,the Casino lobby is up Cuomo's derriere about NOT giving any subsidy guarantees to racing once the casinos open, in spite of legislation on the books. Genting(Aqueduct slots) is already asking for relief from giving NYRA any subsidies once full blown casinos open in NY State and take some of Genting's business.

Given the overall state of racing,its future does not lie with the creation of any central body or uniformity of rules on drugs/penalties et al.This will all come down to how the Governors in the major racing States(NY Cali KY FL)decide on future subsidies and I would not bet either way because its that close. Without subsidies there will have to be a major contraction, obviously.Without subsidies there is no guarantee the game survives except for maybe the premier boutique type meets.No certainty of that either as the flow of big investment money into the game may dry up.

Very cloudy racing environment going forward.My guess is the racing lights stay on but, if not, I'd bet the Clueless Clowns and politically appointed stooges running the game will still be arguing over nonsense like lasix,in the dark.