Correction No racing at Meadowlands for Italian guests

As you know we are hosting a group of Italians here from as far as Sicily, as near, if correct Treviso and somewhere in between., if Tuscany is in between. 
The Italians were eager to race at the Meadowlands as have similar groups in the past. The race office welcomed us and then reversed oars under orders fro on high.

The alleged reason  raised centers around a protective NY state law, similar to that in NJ that in state residents can only bet through an in state ADW and a law  which mandates that a NY thoroughbred track must take  in state NY harness signal. This was a deal made many years ago when a law allowing the thoroughbreds to simulcast t-bred races in our nighttime space became law.  NYRA, through its NYRA Bets (In state ADW) takes NY harness racing exclusively and has its own separate  Oregon ADW, which takes bets on out of state ( non NY ) harness signals from NY residents. 
Problem for NYRA,  its Oregon ADW, like all out of state ADWs incurs  a surcharge, to give the in state ADWs , taking wagers from NY residents, a completive playing field.

That surcharge, collected  from ALL the out of state ADWs, Twin Spires etc., gets divided up  throughout the NY industry.  Part of the surcharge  ends up in NY harness  and thoroughbred purses. NYRA gets a big share of that money back, as  does Yonkers, Saratoga, etc. 

Harness  gets less of that money than NYRA. The reason being because NYRA Bets does a large volume of business. While our money dwarfs their share of the surcharge it is significant money to us and is based upon a formula for the divvying  up that money based upon  on track and ADW handle. Empire City Bets (Yonkers ADW)  does less volume than NYRA BETS.   

Yonkers and other harness tracks’  purses receive a good share of the surcharge money anyway as the handle from  all those out of state ADWs has grown exponentially over the years. 

NYRA in the last legislative session wanted to increase the amount of the surcharge and pretty much keep it all. That was pretty much universally not supported in NYS, except by NYRA. 
Now the Meadowlands guru has prohibited the Italians from racing in the Hambo amateur race because NY harness will not give up its revenue to benefit NYRA. 

NY harness interests will not voluntarily give up revenue to NYRA or any NJ interests advocating now on its behalf. 

This is complicated as you can see. I had to advise the Italians of this decision and ask you to support entering horses for the races beginning Friday August 5th at Yonkers the date originally set for them to race in the Hambo amateur race. The condition for trotters is on the sheet and in stead of a purse of $11,500 the race will go for $20,000. The Italians have hundreds of wins and if you ever go to Italy or Europe to race they are beyond great hosts. It is too bad that they have been punished or put in the middle. 

Please support the box for the Italians at Yonkers which  has stepped up to fill the void on August 5th. Yonkers has  put similar purses and conditions for a pace and trot on Monday the 8th of August, $20,000. If you can put one in for the Italians that would be kind and appropriate. 

Joe Faraldo

Buffalo Raceway Concludes 2022 Season

 by Brian J. Mazurek, for Buffalo Raceway

HAMBURG, N.Y. --- "It was nice to get through the racing season without any (Covid-19) restrictions," said Buffalo Raceway Assistant General Manager Jon Cramer as the track completed the live meet on Saturday (July 16).

 A switch from evening start times to afternoon racing resulted in pretty good results. "The handle was slightly down both on and off track for the year but the winter months played havoc," Cramer said.

He continued by saying, "We are going to also look at our promotions this fall, on what worked and what didn't. I am sure one of the promotions that will return is the Kentucky Derby Party."

Jim Morrill Jr. collected his second consecutive driving title and fourth overall at Buffalo Raceway by scoring 91 victories in just 303 starts. He was also the leading purse earner with $867,305. Drew Monti was second in the rankings with 75 wins with Kevin Cummings third with 65 victories.

Shawn McDonough won his first ever training crown by sending out 54 winners on the season and also posted 33 driving victories. He was also tops in money collected with $425,218. Gerry Sarama was second in the trainer's standings with 33 while Jennifer Giuliani and Ryan Swift shared third place honors with 31 each.

While enjoying the 'Trainer Of The Meet' award, McDonough also celebrated his trainee Mugshots Bro who was named 'Trotter Of The Meet.'

The 10-year-old Mugshots Bro (Jailhouse Jesse-Photo Emmy) is co-owned by Herman Niedhammer and Herman Niedhammer Jr. Mugshots Bro collected six wins, a second and a third place finish in 10 starts on the season. He earned $48,845 and had a five-race wins streak with four of those coming from outside posts.

Stop Action was a model of consistency and determination throughout the season and claimed the 'Pacer Of The Meet' award.

Owned by Super Mile LLC and trained by Angelo Nappo, the 5-year-old gelded Stop Action (Somebeachsomewhere-The Show Returns, started the campaign in the $5,500 level but steadily worked his way up the ladder and into the Open competition.

In 18 starts, Stop Action finished in the money 16 times including eight victories and bankrolled $69,595, the most of any horse at the track. His seasonal best was 1:54.0 and was driven by Kevin Cummings through much of the year.

There were eight track records broken during the season including three all-age standards.

The trotters saw two all-age marks fall by the wayside as Je Suis Si Belle snapped the all-age filly time with a 1:56.1 which also was good enough to re-write the 3-year-old filly barrier. Barn Hall established a new record for the all-age and 4-year-old trotting horses with a 1:56.2.

Gotthegreenlight made a name for herself by placing her name in the record book with a 1:52.2 which eclipsed the all-age and 3-year-old filly pacing marks. Vivians Dream broke the 2-year-old filly record with a 1:54.4 mile tour and American Fling erased the 2-year-old gelding record with a 1:55.1.

Statistically, Buffalo Raceway's post time favorites won at a 48.26 percent clip. 

For more information on Buffalo Raceway, go to www.buffaloraceway.com

Pleaseletmeknow Highlights Sire Stakes Card at Monticello

 

 

Monticello, N.Y. – Fresh off his victory at the MGM Messenger Stakes, the first leg of Harness Racing’s Triple Crown, Pleaseletmeknow will highlight the glamour division when three-year-old pacing colts take the stage at Monticello Raceway on Monday, July 18.

 

In addition to his Messenger Stakes’ win, he’s also triumphed in two New York Sire Stakes, along with a second-place finish, making him the top point leader in his division. The three-year-old son of American Ideal is trained by Travis Alexander and is owned by Fiddlers Creek Stables LLC of Naples Florida. His 2022 resume is seven starts, with five wins. He’s placed second twice, with seasonal earnings of $236,777 and a mark of 1:51.3. Regular pilot Matt Kakaley will drive him from Post Position 3. 

 

Other contenders in the race include Roll With The Flow (Roll With Joe), who will start from the rail with Mark McDonald at the helm. He was a winner last start out in an Excelsior event at Goshen in 1:53.2. Seven Hundred starts from Post 4 with Jordan Stratton handling the driving chores. The $105,000 yearling purchase, son of Huntsville, scored in NYSS action at Vernon Downs in 1:52.3.

 

The second heat, which is going for a purse of $60,300, is a full field of eight sidewinders. JD scorched the Goshen oval in a track record time of 1:52 last time out. The Ray Schnittker trainee is a son of So Surreal. Flip My Chip comes into the race sporting a two-race win streak. Last start, he won in 1:51.2 at Pocono Downs. Marcus Miller will drive. Twin B Deluxe (PP3) won a Sire Stakes event earlier this season at Saratoga in 1:53. Jason Bartlett will drive.

 

Also on tap are four Excelsior events racing for a purse of $15,000.